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 hath said the Lord Eternal, The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall remain locked the six working days; but on the sabbath day shall it be opened, and on the new-moon day shall it 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 by the way of the porch of the gate, from without, and shall stand by the door-post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall bow himself down at the threshold of the gate, and he shall then go forth; but the gate shall not be locked until the 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 bow themselves down at the door of this same gate on the sabbaths and on the new-moons before 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.

And the burnt-offering which the prince is to offer unto the Lord, shall be on the sabbath-day six sheep without blemish, and a ram without blemish;

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].

And as a meat-offering an ephah for the ram, and for the sheep a meat-offering as his hand may be able to give, and a hin of oil for every 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.

And on the day of the new moon, a young bullock without blemish, and six sheep and a ram; without blemish shall they be.

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 an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, shall he prepare as a meat-offering, and for the sheep according as his means may reach, and a hin of oil for every 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 doth enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and by the same way shall he go forth.

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.

But when the people of the land come before the Lord on the appointed feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to bow himself down shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in; but by that opposite to him shall he go out.

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

And as for the prince—in the midst of them, when they go in, shall he go in; and when they go out, shall they go out [together].

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 on the feasts and on the appointed festivals shall the meat-offering be an ephah for each bullock, and an ephah for each ram, and for the sheep as his hand may be able to give, and a hin of oil for every 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.

And when the prince doth prepare as a voluntary gift a burnt-offering, or a peace-offering, as a voluntary gift unto the Lord: then shall be opened for him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offering, as he usually doth on the sabbath-day; and he shall go out, and the gate shall be locked after his going 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 a sheep of the first year without blemish shalt thou prepare as a burnt-offering every day unto the Lord: morning by morning shalt thou prepare it.

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 as a meat-offering shalt thou prepare with it, morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third of a hin of oil, to mingle with the fine flour—a meat-offering unto the Lord, as ordinances for ever continually.

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.

Thus shall they prepare the sheep, and the meat-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, as a continual burnt-offering.

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 hath said the Lord Eternal, If the prince make gift unto any one of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons: it shall be their possession as their 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 make a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants: then shall it remain his to the year of freedom, when it shall return to the prince; but his inheritance shall only remain for 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.’”

But the prince shall not take any thing from the inheritance of the people, to wrong them out of their possession: out of his own possession can he give an inheritance to his sons; in order that not one of my people be deprived of 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 then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place by the back wall on the west side.

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 unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, where [also] they shall bake the meat-offering; so as not to carry the same out into the outer court, to mingle with the people.

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;

Then did he lead me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass along the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

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

In the four corners of the court there were uncovered courts of forty cubits in length and thirty in breadth: there was one measure for all these four in the corners.

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 shelf of masonry round about in them, round about all these four, and it was furnished with hearths for boiling under the shelves round about.

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.”

Then said he unto me, These are the places of those that boil, where the servants of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.