Ezekiel 44

1 The man took me back to the outside gate of the sanctuary that faced to the east, but it was shut.

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.

2 The Lord told me, “This gate will stay shut. It is not be opened. No one is allowed to come in through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has passed through it. So it will stay shut.

Then said Jehovah to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because Jehovah, the God of Israel, entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3 The prince himself is permitted to come and sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to come in through the gateway's porch and leave the same way.”

The prince, because he is prince, shall sit in it, to eat food before Jehovah; he shall enter through the porch of that gate, and by the same way shall he go out.

4 The man took me to the front of the Temple through the north gate. As I looked, I saw the glory of the Lord filling his Temple, and I fell with my face to the ground.

Then he brought me to the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. And I fell upon my face.

5 The Lord told me, “Son of man, concentrate! Keep your eyes open! Listen carefully to everything I tell you about all the regulations and laws of the Lord's Temple. Pay close attention to the Temple entrance and all the exits of the sanctuary.

And Jehovah said to me: Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say to thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah, and all the laws thereof; and mark well all the entrances of the house, and all the outward passages of the sanctuary.

6 Tell those rebels, the people of Israel, that this is what the Lord God says: I've had more than enough of all your disgusting sins, people of Israel!

And say to the rebellious house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Let it suffice you of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

7 As well as all your other offensive practices, you invited unconverted, pagan foreigners to come into my sanctuary. You made my Temple unclean even while you offered food to me, the fat and the blood. You broke my agreement.

in that ye brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, so that ye polluted my house when ye offered my food, the fat and the blood, and broke my covenant by all your abominations.

8 In addition you have not taken care of my sanctuary as you were required to, but instead you employed others to look after my sanctuary for you.

And ye kept not the charge of my holy place, but appointed for yourselves such keepers of my charge in my sanctuary.

9 This is what the Lord God says: No unconverted, pagan foreigners are allowed to enter my sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives with the Israelites.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: No stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the strangers that are among the sons of Israel.

10 The Levites who abandoned me when Israel turned from worshiping me and went off to follow their idols will experience the consequences of their sins.

But even the Levites, who departed from me when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear their iniquity.

11 However, they will serve in my sanctuary, supervising the Temple gates and working in the Temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices brought by the people and be there to serve them.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering at the house; they shall slay the burnt-offering and sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

12 But because they served the people in front of their idols and encouraged the people of Israel to sin, I held up my hand to promise on oath that they would experience the consequences of their sin, declares the Lord God.

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, that they shall bear their iniquity.

13 They are not allowed to come near me to serve me as priests, and they are not to touch anything I regard as holy or most holy. They will have to experience the shame of the disgusting sins they committed.

And they shall not come near to me to do the office of a priest to me, and to come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place, but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

14 However, I will put them in charge of all Temple work and everything that needs to be done there.

But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all which is to be done therein.

15 It is the Levitical priests, descended from Zadok and who took care of my sanctuary when the Israelites abandoned me, are the ones to come near to me and minister before me. They will stand in my presence to offer me fat and blood, declares the Lord God.

But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah.

16 Only they are allowed to enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister before me. They will do what I say.

They shall come into my sanctuary, and they shall draw near to my table to minister to me, and shall keep my charge.

17 When they come in through the entrances of the inner courtyard, they shall wear linen garments. They must not wear any woolen clothes when they serve at the entrances of the inner courtyard or inside the Temple.

And when they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within the house.

18 They shall wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underwear. They are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.

They shall have linen coverings upon their heads, and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.

19 When they go to the outer court where the people are, they must take off their priestly clothes they wore when they were serving, and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothes so that they don't carry holiness to the people with their clothing.

And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered, and lay them in the holy rooms, and shall clothe themselves with other garments, that they may not sanctify the people with their garments.

20 They are not permitted to shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they must have a proper haircut.

They shall neither shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall shear their heads.

21 No priest shall drink wine before he enters the inner courtyard.

And no priest shall drink wine when they enter into the inner court.

22 They are not to marry a woman who is a widow or divorced; they can only marry a virgin of Israelite descent, or a widow of a priest.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, or her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the race of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.

23 They are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common, and explain to them how to distinguish between what is clean and what is unclean.

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

24 They are to serve as judges in legal cases, and base their decisions on my laws. They are to follow my instructions and regulations regarding all my regular religious festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

And in controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my statutes shall they judge. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my festivals, and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

25 A priest must not make himself unclean by going near a dead body. However, if it's his father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister that's not married, then he may do so.

And they shall come to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

26 Afterwards, once he is purified, he must wait for seven days.

And after his cleansing they shall reckon to him seven days.

27 Then when he enters the sanctuary, going into the inner courtyard and ministering there in the sanctuary, he has to present his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.

28 Regarding their share of the land, I will take care of them. You are not to give them any property in Israel, because I will provide for them.

And it shall be to them for an inheritance, that I am their inheritance. And ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29 They are to eat the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Everything brought by the people of Israel and dedicated to the Lord will be theirs.

They shall eat the flour-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 The best of all the firstfruits and all your offerings are for the priests. You shall give the first loaf you bake to the priest, so that your home may be blessed.

And the first of all the first-fruits, and every oblation of all your oblations, shall belong to the priests. Ye shall also give to the priest the first of your meal, that he may cause a blessing to rest on thine house.

31 The priests are not permitted to eat any bird or animal found dead or killed by wild beasts.”

The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or that is torn, whether it be fowl or beast.