Ezekiel 44

1 Then [in the vision] the man brought me back to the outer entryway to the temple [area], the one on the east side, but the outer entrance was shut.

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.

2 Yahweh said to me, “This entrance must remain shut. It must not be opened [by anyone]; no one will be permitted to enter it. It must remain shut because [I], Yahweh, the God of Israel, have [caused it to be sacred by] entering through it.

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 Only the king [of Israel] will be permitted to sit inside this entryway to eat food in the presence of Yahweh. But he will must enter and leave [the temple area] through the entry room of this entryway.”

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 the man brought me through the north entryway to the front of the temple. I looked and saw that the glory of Yahweh filled his temple, and I prostrated myself on the ground.

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 Yahweh said to me, “You human, look carefully, and listen carefully to everything that I tell you about all the regulations concerning the temple. Note carefully the temple entrance and all the exits.

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 Say this to the rebellious Israeli people: ‘This is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: You Israeli people, I will no longer endure the detestable things that you do!

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 In addition to all the other detestable things that you do, you brought into my temple foreign men who had not been circumcised and who were godless [IDM]. By doing that, you caused my temple to be an unacceptable place to worship me, while you offered food and fat and blood, and you disobeyed my agreement with you.

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 Instead of doing what I commanded you to do in regard to my holy things, you appointed foreigners to be in charge of my temple.

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

9 But this is what [I], Yahweh, have said: No foreigners, no men who are not circumcised, no godless people are permitted to enter my temple, not even foreigners who live among you [Israelis permanently].

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 [Most of] the descendants of Levi abandoned me along with [most of] the Israeli people, and started to worship idols. They must be punished for their sin.

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 They are [still] permitted to work in my temple and to be in charge of the entrances of the temple, and they are permitted to slaughter the animals that will be completely burned on the altar, and [to burn other] sacrifices for the people, and they will [be able to] help the people.

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 But because they helped the people to worship idols and caused [many of] the Israeli people [MTY] to sin [by worshiping idols], I have lifted up my arm and solemnly declared that they must be punished for their sin.

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 They must not come near me to serve as priests. They must not come near any sacred things or the holy offerings. They must be ashamed of the shameful things that they did.

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 But I will still put them in charge of the work in the temple and allow them to do all the work that needs to be done there.

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 [most of] the priests who are descendants of Levi and from the clan of Zadok worked in my temple when the [other] Israelis abandoned me. [So they] are permitted to come near to me to work for me. They will stand in my presence to offer [sacrifices of animals’] fat and blood.

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 [are the only ones who] are permitted to enter my temple. They are [the only ones who are] permitted to come near my altar to serve me and do what I tell them to do.

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

17 When they enter [one of] the entrances into the inner courtyard, they must wear linen clothes. They must not wear any clothes [made] of wool while they do their work at the entrances of the inner courtyard or inside [the temple].

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 They must have linen turbans [wrapped] around their heads and wrap linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that would cause them 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 Before they go out into the outer courtyard where [other] people are, they must take off the clothes that they have been wearing and leave them in the sacred rooms, and they must put on other clothes, in order that the other people are not punished because of [their touching] the sacred clothes.

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 The priests must not shave their heads or allow their hair to become long; but they must regularly trim [the edges of] their hair.

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

21 Priests must not drink wine before they enter the inner courtyard.

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

22 [Also], priests must not marry widows [of men who were not priests] or women who have been divorced. [Priests are permitted to marry only] Israeli [MTY] virgins or widows of [other] priests.

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 Priests must teach the people the difference between things that are holy/sacred and things that are not, and they must teach them the difference between things that are acceptable to me and things that are not.

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 When there are disputes [between people], the priests are the ones who must be the judges and decide according to my laws what must be done. They must obey all my laws and decrees concerning the sacred festivals, and they must keep my Sabbath days (holy/set apart).

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 A priest is permitted to go near the corpse of his father or his mother or his son or his daughter or his brother or his unmarried sister; but he is still defiled by doing that. But a priest must not defile himself by going near a corpse of anyone else.

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 But [even] if a priest touches the corpse [of a close relative, he must perform the rituals to become acceptable to serve me again]. After he performs those rituals, he must wait seven days.

And after his cleansing they shall reckon to him seven days.

27 Then, on the day that he enters the inner courtyard [again] to serve me in the temple, he must give an offering to remove his guilt for his sin. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.

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 The priests are not permitted to own any property. They will have only what I [provide for them].

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 They will eat the offerings [other people make] from grain, offerings to remove people’s guilt for having sinned, and offerings made when people fail to give to Yahweh the things that they are required to give. Everything [else] in Israel that is completely dedicated to [me], Yahweh, will belong to the priests.

They shall eat the flour-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 The best fruits of the first part of each harvest and all the [other] special gifts that are given to me will belong to the priests. You must give them the first part of your finely-ground flour, in order that I will bless [the people who live in] [MTY] your houses.

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 Priests must not eat the flesh of any bird or animal that was found dead or that has been killed by wild animals.’”

The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or that is torn, whether it be fowl or beast.