Ezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looked toward the east, —but, it was shut.

And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut.

2 Then said Yahweh unto me This gate shut, shall remain It shall not be opened And no man shall enter thereby, Because Yahweh, God of Israel, doth enter thereby, - Therefore shall it remain—shut.

And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut

3 The prince! as prince, he, shall sit therein, To eat food before Yahweh, — By way of the porch of the gate, shall he go in, and By way thereof, shall he come out.

For the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord: he shall enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.

4 Then he brought me in by way of the north gate unto the front of the house, and I looked and lo! the glory of Yahweh, filled the house of Yahweh, — so I fell upon my face.

And he brought me by the way of the north gate, in the sight of the house: and I saw, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.

5 And Yahweh said unto me, Son of man Apply thy heart And see with thine eyes And with thine ears, hear thou All that I am speaking with thee, As to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and As to all the laws thereof, - And thou shalt apply thy heart To the entering in of the house, With all the exits of the sanctuary.

And the Lord said to me: Son of man, attend with thy heart, and behold with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears, all that I say to thee concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all the laws thereof: and mark well the ways of the temple, with all the goings out of the sanctuary.

6 So then thou shalt say unto the perverse [house] unto the house of Israel, Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh: Let it more than suffice you Out of all your abominations, O house of Israel:

And thou shalt say to the house of Israel that provoketh me: Thus saith the Lord God: Let all your wicked doings suffice you, O house of Israel:

7 That ye brought in the sons of the foreigner Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, To be in my sanctuary. So that he profaned my house, - That ye brought near as my food the fat and the blood, And so they brake my covenant—Among all your abominations;

In that you have brought in strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to defile my house: and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood: and you have broken my covenant by all your wicked doings.

8 Neither kept ye the charge of my holy things, - But ye did set men to be keepers of my charge in my sanctuary, for your own pleasure,

And you have not kept the ordinances of my sanctuary: but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, No son of a foreigner Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, —of any son of a foreigner, who is in the midst of the sons of Israel.

Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, no stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.

10 But as for the Levites. Who went far from me, when Israel went astray. Who went astray from me, after their manufactured gods, Therefore shall they bear their iniquity,

Moreover the Levites that went away far from me, when the children of Israel went astray, and have wandered from me after their idols, and have borne their iniquity:

11 Yet shall they remain in my sanctuary As attendants in charge at the gates of the house, — And attending upon the house, — They shall slay the ascending-offering, and the sacrifice of the people, And they, shall stand before them to wait upon them.

They shall be officers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers of the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the holocausts, and the victims of the people: and they shall stand in their sight, to minister to them.

12 Because they used to wait upon them before their manufactured gods, and became to the house of Israel a stumbling-block of iniquity, For this cause have I lifted up my hand concerning them Declareth My Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity;

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and were a stumblingblock of iniquity to the house of Israel: therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity:

13 So then they shall not come near unto me To minister as priests unto me, Nor come near unto any of my holy things, As regardeth things most holy, — But they shall bear their rebuke, and their abominations which they have committed;

And they shall not come near to me to do the office of priest to me, neither shall they come near to any of my holy things that are by the holy of holies: but they shall bear their shame, and their wickednesses which they have committed.

14 Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, — As to all the labour thereof, and As to all which shall be done therein.

And I will make them doorkeepers of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

15 But the priests the Levites the sons of Zadok, Who kept the charge of my sanctuary— when the sons of Israel went astray from me, They shall draw near unto me to wait upon me, And shall stand before me, to bring near unto me the fat and the blood Declareth My Lord, Yahweh:

But the priests, and Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies or my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me, to minister to me: and they shall stand before me, to offer me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord God.

16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and They shall draw near unto my table to wait upon me, - So shall they keep my charge.

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my ceremonies.

17 And it shall be when they shall enter into the gates of the inner court, Garments of linen, shall they put on, Yea there shall come upon them no wool, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within:

And when they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments: neither shall any woollen come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

18 Chaplets of linen, shall be upon their head, and Breeches of linen shall be upon their loins, — They shall not gird themselves, so as to perspire,

They shall have linen mitres on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins, and they shall not be girded with any thing that causeth sweat.

19 And when they go forth into the outer court into the outer court unto the people, They shall put off their garments, wherein they do minister, and lay them in the chambers of the holy place, - And shall put on other garments, That they may not hallow the people by their garments.

And when they shall go forth to the outward court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them up in the store chamber of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people with their vestments.

20 And their heads, shall they not shave, Nor let the hair grow long, — They shall only poll, their heads.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long heir: but they shall only poll their heads.

21 And wine, shall no priest drink, —when they enter into the inner court.

And no priest shall drink wine when he is to go into the inner court.

22 Neither widow nor divorced woman, shall they take to them to wife, — But, virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, Or a widow who shall be the widow of a priest shall they take.

Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is, the widow of a priest.

23 And my people, shall they instruct, between the holy and the common, — And between the unclean and the clean, shall they cause them to distinguish.

And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and shew them how to discern between clean and unclean.

24 And in a controversy, They shall stand up for justice, With my judgments, shall they judge it, And my laws and my statutes in all mine appointed assemblies, shall they observe, And my sabbaths, shall they hallow.

And when there shall be a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge: they shall keep my laws, and my ordinances in all my solemnities, and sanctify my sabbaths.

25 And unto no dead person, shall they go in. to defile themselves, - Save that for father or for mother or for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who hath belonged to no husband they may defile themselves.

And they shall come near no dead person, lest they be defiled, only their father and mother, and son and daughter, and brother and sister, that hath not had another husband: for whom they may become unclean.

26 Yet after he is cleansed, seven days shall they count to him.

And after one is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

27 And in the day when he entereth into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, He shall bring near his sin-bearer, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God.

28 So shall it become to them an inheritance, I, am their inheritance, - And possession, shall ye not give them in Israel, I am their possession.

And they shall have no inheritance, I am their inheritance: neither shall you give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 As for the meal-offering and the sin-bearer and the guilt-bearer, they shall eat them, —And everything devoted in Israel to them, shall belong.

They shall eat the victim both for sin and for trespass: and every vowed thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 And the first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every heave-offering of everything, from among all your heave-offerings to the priests, shall it belong, — The first of your meal, shall ye give to the priest, To cause a blessing to rest upon by house.

And the firstfruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations of all things that are offered, shall be the priest’s: and you shall give the firstfruits of your meats to the priest, that he may return a blessing upon thy house.

31 Nothing that died of itself or was torn in pieces, of bird or of beast shall be eaten by the priests.

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself or caught by a beast, whether it be fowl or cattle.