Ezekiel 44

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

And he took me back to the outer doorway of the holy place, looking to the east; and 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 doorway is to be shut, it is not to be open, and no man is to go in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has gone in by it; and it is to be 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.

But the ruler will be seated there to take his food before the Lord; he will go in by the covered way to the door, and will come out by 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.

And he took me to the north doorway in front of the house; and, looking, I saw that the house of the Lord was full of the glory of the Lord; and I went down on my face.

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,

And the Lord said to me, Son of man, take to heart, and let your eyes see and your ears be open to everything I say to you about all the rules of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and take note of the ways into the house and all the ways out of the holy place.

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,

And say to the uncontrolled children of Israel, This is what the Lord has said: O you children of Israel, let it be enough for you, among the disgusting things which you have done,

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.

To have let men from strange lands, without circumcision of heart or flesh, come into my holy place, making my house unclean; and to have made the offering of my food, even the fat and the blood; and in addition to all your disgusting ways, you have let my agreement be broken.

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 taken care of my holy things; but you have put them as keepers to take care of my work in my holy place.

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,

For this cause the Lord has said, No man from a strange land, without circumcision of heart and flesh, of all those who are living among the children of Israel, is to come into my holy place.

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.

But as for the Levites, who went far from me, when Israel went out of the right way, turning away from me to go after their images; their punishment will come on them.

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.

But they may be caretakers in my holy place, and overseers at the doors of the house, doing the work of the house: they will put to death the burned offering and the beasts offered for the people, and they will take their place before them as their servants.

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 did this work for them before their images, and became a cause of sin to the children of Israel; for this cause my hand has been lifted up against them, says the Lord, and their punishment will be on them.

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.

And they will not come near me to do the work of priests to me, or come near any of my holy things, or the things which are most holy: but their shame will be on them, and the punishment for the disgusting things which they have done.

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.

But I will make them responsible for the care of the house and all its work and everything which is 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 as for the priests, the sons of Zadok, who took care of my holy place when the children of Israel were turned away from me, they are to come near me to do my work, they will take their places before me, offering to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord;

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

They are to come into my holy place and they are to come near to my table, to do my work and have the care of my house.

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.

And when they come in by the doorways of the inner square, they are to be clothed in linen robes; there is to be no wool on them while they are doing my work in the doorway of the inner square and inside the house.

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 have linen head-dresses on their heads and linen trousers on their legs, and they are to have nothing round them to make their skin wet with heat.

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.

And when they go out into the outer square to the people, they are to take off the robes in which they do the work of priests, and put them away in the holy rooms, and put on other clothing, so that the people may not be made holy by their robes.

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

They are not to have all the hair cut off their heads, and they are not to let their hair get long, but they are to have the ends of their hair cut.

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

The priests are not to take wine when they go into the inner square.

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 are not to take as wives any widow or woman whose husband has put her away: but they may take virgins of the seed of Israel, or a widow who is the 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.

And they are to make clear to my people the division between what is holy and what is common, and to give them the knowledge of what is clean and what is 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 cause, they are to be in the position of judges, judging in harmony with my decisions: they are to keep my laws and my rules in all my fixed feasts; and they are to 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.

They are not to come near any dead person so as to become unclean: but for a father or mother or son or daughter or brother or for a sister who has no husband, they may make themselves unclean.

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

And after he has been made clean, seven days are to be numbered for him.

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 when he goes into the inner square, to do the work of the holy place, he is to make his sin-offering, says the Lord.

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.

And they are to have no heritage; I am their heritage: you are to give them no property in Israel; I am their property.

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

Their food is to be the meal offering and the sin-offering and the offering for error; and everything given specially to the Lord in Israel will be theirs.

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.

And the best of all the first-fruits of everything, and every offering which is lifted up of all your offerings, will be for the priests: and you are to give the priest the first of your bread-making, so causing a blessing to come on your house.

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

The priests may not take for food any bird or beast which has come to a natural death or whose death has been caused by another animal.