Ezekiel 44

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

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward 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.

Then said Jehovah to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because Jehovah, the God of Israel, entered in by it, therefore 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.

The prince, because he is prince, shall sit in it, to eat food before Jehovah; he shall enter through the porch of that gate, and by the same way shall he go out.

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.

Then he brought me to the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. And I fell upon 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 Jehovah said to me: Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say to thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah, and all the laws thereof; and mark well all the entrances of the house, and all the outward passages 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 say to the rebellious house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Let it suffice you of all your abominations, 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 ye brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, so that ye polluted my house when ye offered my food, the fat and the blood, and broke my covenant by all your abominations.

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 ye kept not the charge of my holy place, but appointed for yourselves such keepers of my charge in my sanctuary.

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 Jehovah: No stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the strangers that are among the sons 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,

But even the Levites, who departed from me when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear 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.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering at the house; they shall slay the burnt-offering and sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them 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 caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, that 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 a priest to me, and to come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place, but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations 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.

But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all which is to 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, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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 come into my sanctuary, and they shall draw near to my table to minister to me, and shall keep my charge.

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 enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within the house.

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 coverings upon their heads, and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything 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 go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered, and lay them in the holy rooms, and shall clothe themselves with other garments, that they may not sanctify the people with their garments.

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

They shall neither shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall shear their heads.

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

And no priest shall drink wine when they enter 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 for their wives a widow, or her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the race of the house of Israel, or a widow 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 the holy and unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

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 in controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my statutes shall they judge. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my festivals, and they shall hallow 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 to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.

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

And after his cleansing they shall reckon to 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, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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 it shall be to them for an inheritance, that I am their inheritance. And ye shall give them no possession in Israel; 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 flour-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every dedicated 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 first of all the first-fruits, and every oblation of all your oblations, shall belong to the priests. Ye shall also give to the priest the first of your meal, that he may cause a blessing to rest on thine 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 anything that dieth of itself, or that is torn, whether it be fowl or beast.