Ezekiel 44
1 And he causes me to turn back the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary that is looking eastward, and it is shut.
The man took me back to the outside gate of the sanctuary that faced to the east, but it was shut.
2 And YHWH says to me, “This gate is shut, it is not opened, and none go in by it, for YHWH, God of Israel, has come in by it, and it has been 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 The prince, who [is] prince, he sits by it to eat bread before YHWH, he comes in by the way of the porch of the gate, and by its way he goes out.”
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 And he brings me in the way of the north gate to the front of the house, and I look, and behold, the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH, and I fall on 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 YHWH says to me, “Son of man, set your heart, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, all that I am speaking with you, all of the statutes of the house of YHWH, and all of its laws; and you have set your heart to the entrance of the house, with all the outlets of the sanctuary,
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 have said to [the] rebellion, to the house of Israel, Thus said Lord YHWH: Enough from you—of all your abominations, O house of Israel.
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 In your bringing in sons of a stranger, uncircumcised of heart, and uncircumcised of flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to defile it, even My house, in your bringing near My bread, fat, and blood, and they break My covenant by 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 and you have not kept [the] charge of My holy things, and you set [others] for keeping My charge in My sanctuary for you.
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 said Lord YHWH: No son of a stranger, uncircumcised of heart, and uncircumcised of flesh, comes into My sanctuary, even any son of a stranger, who [is] in the midst of the sons 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 And the Levites who have gone far off from Me, in the wandering of Israel when they went astray from Me after their idols, and they have borne their iniquity.
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 have been servants in My sanctuary, overseers at the gates of the house, and servants at the house; they slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they stand before them to serve 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 that they serve them before their idols, and have been for a stumbling-block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them—a declaration of Lord YHWH—and they have borne 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 do not draw near to Me to act as My priest, and to draw near to any of My holy things, to the Holy of Holies, and they have borne their shame and their abominations that they have done,
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 made them keepers of the charge of the house, for all its service and for all that is done in it.
However, I will put them in charge of all Temple work and everything that needs to be done there.
15 And the priests, the Levites, sons of Zadok, who have kept the charge of My sanctuary in the wandering of the sons of Israel from off Me, they draw near to Me to serve Me, and have stood before Me, to bring fat and blood near to Me—a declaration of Lord YHWH:
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 come into My sanctuary, and they draw near to My table to serve Me, and they have kept 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 it has come to pass, in their going into the gates of the inner court, they put on linen garments; and no wool comes up on them in their ministering in the 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 Linen headdresses are on their head, and linen trousers are on their loins, they are not restrained with sweat.
They shall wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underwear. They are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.
19 And in their going forth to the outer court—to the outer court to the people—they strip off their garments, in which they are ministering, and have placed them in the holy chambers, and have put on other garments; and they do not sanctify the people in their own 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 And they do not shave their head, and they do not send forth the lock; they certainly trim their heads.
They are not permitted to shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they must have a proper haircut.
21 And no priest drinks wine in their coming into the inner court.
No priest shall drink wine before he enters the inner courtyard.
22 And they do not take a widow or divorced woman to themselves for wives, but they take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, and the widow who is 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 direct My people between holy and common, and they cause them to discern between unclean and clean.
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 concerning controversy, they stand up for judgment; they judge it with My judgments; and they keep My law and My statutes in all My appointed places; and they sanctify 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 he does not come near to any dead man to be defiled, but if for father, and for mother, and for son, and for daughter, for brother, for sister who has not been to a man, they may defile themselves.
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 after his cleansing, they number seven days to him.
Afterwards, once he is purified, he must wait for seven days.
27 And in the day of his coming into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he brings his sin-offering near—a declaration of Lord YHWH.
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 it has been for an inheritance to them; I [am] their inheritance, and you do not give a possession to them in Israel; 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 The present, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering, they eat, and every devoted thing in Israel is 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 the first of all the first-fruits of all, and every raised-offering of all, of all your raised-offerings, are the priests’; and you give the first of your dough to the priest, to cause a blessing to rest on your 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 do not eat any carcass or torn thing, from the bird or from the beast.”
The priests are not permitted to eat any bird or animal found dead or killed by wild beasts.”
