Ezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me towarde the gate of the outwarde Sanctuarie, which turneth towarde the East, and it was shut.

The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.

2 Then saide the Lord vnto me, This gate shalbe shut, and shall not bee opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel hath entred by it, and it shalbe shut.

And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.

3 It appertaineth to the Prince: the Prince himselfe shall sit in it to eate bread before the Lord: he shall enter by the way of the porche of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

4 Then brought he mee toward the North gate before the House: and when I looked, beholde, the glorie of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell vpon my face.

Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

5 And the Lord sayd vnto me, Sonne of man, marke well, and behold with thine eyes, and heare with thine eares, all that I say vnto thee, concerning al the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and al the lawes thereof, and marke well the entring in of the house with euery going forth of the Sanctuarie,

The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, euen to ye house of Israel, Thus saith ye Lord God, O house of Israel, ye haue ynough of al your abominations,

Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.

7 Seeing that yee haue brought into my Sanctuarie strangers, vncircumcised in heart, and vncircumcised in flesh, to bee in my Sanctuarie, to pollute mine house, when yee offer my bread, euen fat, and blood: and they haue broken my couenant, because of all your abominations.

In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.

8 For yee haue not kept the ordinances of mine holy things: but you your selues haue set other to take the charge of my Sanctuarie.

And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

9 Thus saieth the Lord God, No stranger vncircumcised in heart, nor vncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my Sanctuarie, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel,

This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

10 Neither yet ye Leuites that are gone backe from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray from thee after their idoles, but they shall beare their iniquitie.

Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

11 And they shall serue in my Sanctuarie, and keepe the gates of the House, and minister in the House: they shall slay the burnt offring and the sacrifice for the people: and they shall stand before them to serue them.

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

12 Because they serued before their idoles, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquitie, therfore haue I lift vp mine had against the, saith the Lord God, and they shall beare their iniquity,

Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.

13 And they shall not come neere vnto me to do ye office of ye Priest vnto me, neyther shall they come neere vnto any of mine holy things in the most holy place, but they shall beare their shame and their abominations, which they haue comitted.

They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.

14 And I will make them keepers of ye watch of the House, for all the seruice thereof, and for all that shalbe done therein.

Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

15 But the Priests of the Leuites, the sonnes of Zadok, that kept the charge of my Sanctuarie, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come neere to me to serue me, and they shall stande before me to offer me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

16 They shall enter into my Sanctuarie, and shall come neere to my table, to serue me, and they shall keepe my charge.

They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

17 And whe they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come vpon the while they serue in ye gates of the inner court, and within.

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

18 They shall haue linnen bonets vpon their heades, and shall haue linnen breeches vpon their loynes: they shall not girde them selues in the sweating places.

They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

19 But when they goe foorth into the vtter court, euen to the vtter court to the people, they shall put off their garments, wherein they ministred, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments: for they shall not sanctifie the people with their garments.

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 They shall not also shaue their heades, nor suffer their lockes to growe long, but rounde their heades.

They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

21 Neither shall any Priest drinke wine when they enter into the inner court.

No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.

22 Neither shall they take for their wiues a widowe, or her that is diuorced: but they shall take maidens of the seede of the house of Israel, or a widow that hath bene the widow of a Priest.

And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference betweene the holy and prophane, and cause them to discerne betweene the vncleane and the cleane.

They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

24 And in controuersie they shall stande to iudge, and they shall iudge it according to my iudgements: and they shall keepe my lawes and my statutes in all mine assemblies, and they shall sanctifie my Sabbaths.

In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile theselues, except at their father, or mother, or sone, or daughter, brother or sister, that hath had yet none husband: in these may they be defiled.

A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,

26 And when he is clensed, they shall reckon vnto him seuen dayes.

and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself.

27 And when he goeth into ye Sanctuarie vnto the inner court to minister in the Sanctuarie, he shall offer his sinne offring, saith ye Lord God.

And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

28 And the Priesthood shall bee their inheritance, yea, I am their inheritance: therefore shall ye giue them no possessio in Israel, for I am their possession.

In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 They shall eate the meat offring, and the sinne offring, and the trespas offring, and euery dedicate thing in Israel shall be theirs.

They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

30 And all the first of all the first borne, and euery oblation, euen all of euery sort of your oblations shall be the Priestes. Ye shall also giue vnto the Priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.

31 The Priests shall not eate of any thing, that is dead, or torne, whether it be foule or beast.

The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.