Ezekiel 44

1 And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which looked toward the east: and it was locked.

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

2 Then said the Lord unto me, This gate shall remain locked, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore shall it remain locked.

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 As for the prince, being the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord: by the way of the porch of that gate shall he enter, and by the way of the same shall he go out.

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 me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell upon 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 said unto me, Son of man, direct thy mind, and see with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears all that I am speaking with thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and of all its laws; and direct thy mind to the entrance of the house, with every place of egress of the sanctuary.

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, to the house of Israel, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Ye have done enough with all your abominations, O house of Israel!

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 In your having brought the sons of the stranger, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, while you were offering my food, the fat and the blood: so that they broke my covenant 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 And [because] ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set [those unworthy ones] as keepers of my charge in my sanctuary at your own pleasure.

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

9 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, No son of the stranger, uncircumcised in heart, or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the sons of the stranger that are in the midst of 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 But as respecteth the Levites that were gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray away from me, after their idols, they shall surely bear their iniquity;

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 be in my sanctuary, servants, appointed to watch at the gates of the house, and to be servants for the house: these are they that shall slay the burnt-offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they shall stand before them to do the service for 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 that they used to serve them before their idols, and have been unto the house of Israel as a stumbling-block of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Eternal, and they shall bear 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 near unto me, to officiate as priests unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the most holy things; but they shall bear their shame, yea, for their abominations which they have committed.

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 appoint them to be keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be 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 the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, —these are they that shall come near unto me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Eternal:

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 These are they that shall enter into my sanctuary, and these shall come near to my table, to minister unto me; and they shall keep 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 it shall come to pass, that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall clothe themselves with linen garments; and there shall no wool come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within the house.

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 Linen bonnets shall be upon their heads, and linen breeches shall be upon their loins: they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

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 And when they go forth into the outer court, into the outer court to the people: then shall they put off their garments wherein they have ministered, and they shall lay them down in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not mingle among 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 And their heads shall they not shave close, nor suffer their hair to grow long: they shall only crop [the hair of] their heads.

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

21 And wine shall none of the priests drink when they enter into the inner court.

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

22 And a widow, or one that is divorced from her husband shall they not take to themselves as wives; but only virgins of the seed of the house of Israel; but whatever widow it may be, the [common] priests may take.

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 my people shall they teach the difference between the holy and profane, and that between the unclean and the clean shall they make known unto them.

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 a controversy shall they stand up to judge, according to my ordinances shall they decide it: and my laws and my statutes at all my festivals shall they observe, and my sabbaths shall they sanctify.

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 to a dead person shall they not come to defile themselves; but on father, or on mother, or on son, or on daughter, on brother, or on sister that hath had no husband, may they defile themselves.

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 after he is become clean, —they shall reckon unto him seven days, —

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

27 Then shall he on the day that he cometh into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Eternal.

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 it shall be unto them as an inheritance, I am their inheritance: and any possession shall you not give them in Israel, 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 The meat-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering—these shall they eat; and every devoted thing in Israel shall belong to them.

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 the first of all kinds of first-fruits of all, and every kind of heave-offering of every thing of all your heave-offerings, shall belong to the priests; and the first of your dough shall you give to the priest, to cause a blessing to rest on thy 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 Any thing that hath died of itself, or that is torn, whether it be fowl or beast, shall the priests not eat.

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