Ezekiel 46

1 “‘This is [also] what [I], Yahweh the Lord, declare: The east entryway of the inner courtyard must be shut during the six days in which people work each week, but on the Sabbath days and on the days when there is a new moon, that entryway must [remain] open until that evening.

Thus says the Lord God: “The gate of the inner court which looks toward the east shall be closed for the six days on which work is done. Then, on the Sabbath day, it shall be opened. But also on the day of the new moon, it shall be opened.

2 The king must enter the courtyard through the entry room of the entryway, and stand alongside the entry post. [Then] the priests must sacrifice the animal that the king brought to be completely [on the altar], and also his offering to maintain fellowship with me. The king must worship me at the entrance of the entryway, and then he must go out. [After he leaves], the entryway will not be shut until that evening.

And the prince shall enter from outside, by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and he shall stand at the threshold of the gate. And the priests shall offer his holocaust and his peace offerings. And he shall adore upon the threshold of the gate, and then depart. But the gate shall not be closed until evening.

3 On the Sabbath days and on the [days when there is a] new moon, the people must worship [me] at the entrance of the entryway.

And the people of the land shall adore at the entrance of the same gate, on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, in the sight of the Lord.

4 The offering that the king brings to be completely burned on the Sabbath day must be six lambs and one ram, all with no defects.

Now this holocaust, which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day, shall be six immaculate lambs, and one immaculate ram.

5 The offering [that he gives] with the ram must be a bushel of grain, and the grain [that he offers] with the lambs should be as much as he desires to offer, along with (1 gallon/3.8 liters) of [olive] oil for each bushel [of grain].

The sacrifice shall be one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be whatever his hand shall give. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.

6 [Then] each day that there is a new moon, he must offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all with no defects.

Then, on the day of the new moon, he shall offer one immaculate calf from the herd. Both the six lambs and the rams shall be immaculate.

7 He must [also] provide one bushel of grain with the bull, one bushel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he wants with the lambs, along with one quart/liter of [olive] oil with each bushel [of grain].

And he shall offer the sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and also one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, it shall be just as his hand will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.

8 When the king enters [the temple area], he must enter through the entry room of the entryway, and he must go out through that same entry room [when he leaves].

And when the prince will enter, let him enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and let him go out by the same way.

9 When the Israeli people come to worship me at the festivals that I have appointed, those who enter the temple area through the north entryway must go out through the south entryway. And those who enter through the south entryway must go out through the north entryway. People must not go out through the entryway through which they entered; they must go out through the opposite entryway.

And when the people of the land will enter in the sight of the Lord on the solemnities, whoever enters by the north gate so that he may adore, shall depart by the way of the south gate. And whoever enters by the way of the south gate shall depart by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he entered. Instead, he shall depart from the direction opposite to it.

10 The king must go in when the other people go in, and go out when the people go out.

But the prince in their midst shall enter when they enter, and he shall depart when they depart.

11 During the festivals and sacred feasts, the king must present a bushel of grain along with each bull or ram, and as much grain as he wants to bring, along with the lambs and (1 gallon/3.8 liters) of olive oil with each bushel of grain.

And during the feasts and the solemnities, there shall be the sacrifice of one ephah for each calf, and one ephah for each ram. But for the lambs, the sacrifice shall be just as his hand will find. And there shall be one hin of oil for each ephah.

12 When the king gives an offering that is not required, either one to be completely burned [on the altar] or an offering to maintain fellowship with [me, Yahweh, the entryway on the east side of the courtyard] must be opened for him. Then he must present those offerings like he does on the Sabbath days. Then he must go out, and after he goes out, the entryway must be shut.

But when the prince will offer a voluntary holocaust or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate which looks toward the east shall be opened to him. And he shall offer his holocaust and his peace offerings, just as is usually done on the Sabbath day. And he shall depart, and the gate shall be closed after he has gone out.

13 Every day, during the morning, someone must provide a one-year-old lamb with no defects to be an offering to me that will be completely burned.

And daily he shall offer, as a holocaust to the Lord, an immaculate lamb of the same age. He shall offer it always in the morning.

14 Someone must also provide each morning an offering of flour. It must be one sixth of a bushel of flour mixed with one quart/liter of [olive] oil. These offerings of flour and olive oil to must be presented [to me], Yahweh, each day.

And he shall offer as a sacrifice with it, morning after morning, one sixth part of an ephah, and one third part of a hin of oil, to be mixed with the fine flour, as a sacrifice to the Lord, by a continual and everlasting ordinance.

15 The lamb and the offering of flour and [olive] oil must be presented to me every morning, to be completely burned on the altar.

He shall offer the lamb and the sacrifice and the oil, morning after morning, as an everlasting holocaust.

16 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: If the king gives some of his land to one of his sons, to belong to him permanently, it will then belong to his son’s descendants forever.

Thus says the Lord God: If the prince grants a gift to any of his sons, the inheritance of it will go to his sons; they shall possess it as an inheritance.

17 However, if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, the servant is allowed to keep that land until the Year of Celebration. Then the king will own it again; the king’s land must belong to his descendants forever.

But if he grants a legacy from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his only until the year of remission, and then it shall be returned to the prince. For his inheritance shall go to his sons.

18 The king must not take any land that the people own and force them to live somewhere else. The land that he gives to his sons must be from his own property, [not from anyone else’s property], in order that none of my people will be forced to leave his own property.’”

And the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by force, nor from their possession. Instead, from his own possession, he shall give an inheritance to his sons, so that my people will not be scattered, each one from his possession.”

19 Then, [in the vision], the man [who was showing the temple area to me] brought me through the entrance alongside the entryway and led me to the sacred rooms on the north side, the rooms that the priests used, and he showed me a place at the western end [of those rooms].

And he led me in by the entrance which was at the side of the gate, into the storerooms of the sanctuary for the priests, which looked toward the north. And there was a place there which verged toward the west.

20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must cook the meat of the offerings that people bring in order to no longer be guilty for having sinned, and offerings for their sins, and where they will bake bread made with the flour brought to be offerings. [They will cook those things in their rooms] in order to avoid bringing them into the outer courtyard [to cook them there], lest someone [be punished because of] touching them.”

And he said to me: “This is the place where the priests will cook the offering for sin and the offering for trespasses. Here, they shall cook the sacrifice, so that they need not carry it to the outer court, and so that the people may be sanctified.”

21 Then the man brought me to the outer courtyard and led me to its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosed area;

And he led me away to the outer court, and he led me around by the four corners of the court. And behold, there was a little atrium at the corner of the court; a little atrium was at each corner of the court.

22 each of those areas was (70 feet/21.2 meters) long and (52-1/2 feet/15.9 meters) wide.

At the four corners of the court, little atriums were positioned, forty cubits in length, and thirty in width; each of the four were of the same measure.

23 Around the inside of each of those enclosed areas was a stone ledge, with places to make fires all around under each ledge.

And there was a wall all around, encircling the four little atriums. And kitchens had been constructed under the porticos on all sides.

24 The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where [the descendants of Levi] who work in the temple must cook the sacrifices that the people bring.”

And he said to me: “This is the house of the kitchens, in which the ministers of the house of the Lord will cook the victims of the people.”