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 took me back to the outside gate of the sanctuary that faced to the 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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 unconverted, pagan foreigners are allowed to enter my sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives with 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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 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.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 what is holy and what is common, and explain to them how to distinguish between 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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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