Ezekiel 46

1 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall remain locked the six working days; but on the sabbath day shall it be opened, and on the new-moon day shall it be opened.

This is what the Lord God says: “The east gate of the inner court is to be kept shut during the six working days, but it shall be opened on the Sabbath and on the day of the New Moon

2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, from without, and shall stand by the door-post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall bow himself down at the threshold of the gate, and he shall then go forth; but the gate shall not be locked until the evening.

The prince must come through the gateway porch from outside and he will stand by the gatepost, and the priests will sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in respect at the gate's threshold of the gate and leave, but the gate is not to be shut until evening.

3 And the people of the land shall bow themselves down at the door of this same gate on the sabbaths and on the new-moons before the Lord.

The people of Israel will also bow before the Lord at the gateway entrance on Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 And the burnt-offering which the prince is to offer unto the Lord, shall be on the sabbath-day six sheep without blemish, and a ram without blemish;

The burnt offering that the prince is to offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six male lambs and a ram, all without defects.

5 And as a meat-offering an ephah for the ram, and for the sheep a meat-offering as his hand may be able to give, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

The grain offering to accompany the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he chooses, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

6 And on the day of the new moon, a young bullock without blemish, and six sheep and a ram; without blemish shall they be.

On the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram. They are all to be without defects.

7 And an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, shall he prepare as a meat-offering, and for the sheep according as his means may reach, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

He is also to provide a grain offering of an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and as much as he is chooses with the lambs, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

8 And when the prince doth enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and by the same way shall he go forth.

When the prince enters, he is to come in through the gateway porch, and leave the same way.

9 But when the people of the land come before the Lord on the appointed feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to bow himself down shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in; but by that opposite to him shall he go out.

When the people of Israel gather before the Lord at the regular religious festivals, anyone who enters through the north gate to worship has to leave through the south gate, and anyone who enters through the south gate leave through the north gate. No one is allowed to go back through the same gate through which they entered. Everyone must leave by the opposite gate.

10 And as for the prince—in the midst of them, when they go in, shall he go in; and when they go out, shall they go out [together].

The prince is to enter when the people do; and leave when they leave.

11 And on the feasts and on the appointed festivals shall the meat-offering be an ephah for each bullock, and an ephah for each ram, and for the sheep as his hand may be able to give, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

At the religious festivals and regular meetings, the grain offering will be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as people choose with the lambs, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

12 And when the prince doth prepare as a voluntary gift a burnt-offering, or a peace-offering, as a voluntary gift unto the Lord: then shall be opened for him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offering, as he usually doth on the sabbath-day; and he shall go out, and the gate shall be locked after his going out.

When the prince decides to make a freewill offering to the Lord, whether it's a burnt offering or a peace offering, the east gate is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or peace offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath. When he leaves, the gate must be closed after him.

13 And a sheep of the first year without blemish shalt thou prepare as a burnt-offering every day unto the Lord: morning by morning shalt thou prepare it.

Every morning a year-old lamb without defects is to be sacrificed as a daily burnt offering to the Lord.

14 And as a meat-offering shalt thou prepare with it, morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third of a hin of oil, to mingle with the fine flour—a meat-offering unto the Lord, as ordinances for ever continually.

Every morning a grain offering of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of olive oil to moisten the best flour is to be provided as a grain offering to the Lord. This regulation is to be followed forever.

15 Thus shall they prepare the sheep, and the meat-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, as a continual burnt-offering.

Make sure the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil is presented every morning as a regular burnt offering.

16 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, If the prince make gift unto any one of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons: it shall be their possession as their inheritance.

This is what the Lord God says: If the prince gives a gift of property to any of his sons to own, it will belong to his descendants. They will be able to inherit the property.

17 But if he make a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants: then shall it remain his to the year of freedom, when it shall return to the prince; but his inheritance shall only remain for his sons.

However, if he gives a gift of his property to one of his servants, that servant will only own it until the Jubilee Year. Then ownership will return to the prince. His property that he passes on through inheritance belongs only to his sons—it is theirs.

18 But the prince shall not take any thing from the inheritance of the people, to wrong them out of their possession: out of his own possession can he give an inheritance to his sons; in order that not one of my people be deprived of his possession.

The prince is not to take people's land, driving them off their property. He is to give land to his sons from his own property, so that none of my people shall be evicted from their property.”

19 And then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place by the back wall on the west side.

The man took me through the entrance beside the gate into the north-facing holy rooms that belonged to the priests. He showed me a place at the far western end

20 And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, where [also] they shall bake the meat-offering; so as not to carry the same out into the outer court, to mingle with the people.

and told me, “This is where the priests cook guilt offerings and sin offerings, and where they bake the grain offering. This is so that they don't take them to the outer courtyard and carry holiness to the people.”

21 Then did he lead me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass along the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

He took me into the outer courtyard and led me to each of its four corners. I saw a separate courtyard in each corner.

22 In the four corners of the court there were uncovered courts of forty cubits in length and thirty in breadth: there was one measure for all these four in the corners.

There were separate walled courtyards in the four corners of the outer courtyard. They each measured forty cubits by thirty cubits—they were all the same size.

23 And there was a shelf of masonry round about in them, round about all these four, and it was furnished with hearths for boiling under the shelves round about.

Each of the four courts had a stone ledge with ovens built into the base of the walls on every side.

24 Then said he unto me, These are the places of those that boil, where the servants of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

He told me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve in the Temple will cook the people's sacrificial offerings.”