Ezekiel 44

1 Then the man brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faced east; it was closed tightly.

Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.

2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate has been sealed shut; it will not be opened. No man will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has come through it, so it has been closed tightly.

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

3 The ruler of Israel will sit in it to eat food before Yahweh. He will enter by way of the gate's portico and go out the same way.”

It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before Yhwh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

4 Then he brought me by way of the northern gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I fell on my face.

Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of Yhwh filled the house of Yhwh: and I fell upon my face.

5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, set your heart and look with your eyes and listen with your ears to all that I am declaring to you, to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and all its regulations. Think about the house's entrance and exits.

And Yhwh said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Yhwh, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.

6 Then say to the rebellious ones, the house of Israel, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Let all of your disgusting actions be enough for you, house of Israel—

And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,

7 that you brought foreigners with uncircumcised hearts and uncircumcised flesh to be in my sanctuary, profaning my house, while you were offering me food, fat and blood—you have broken my covenant by all your disgusting actions.

In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.

8 You have not carried out your duties regarding my holy things, but you appointed others to take up your duties, and you assigned them to care for my holy place.

And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9 The Lord Yahweh says this: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, from any of those who live among the people of Israel, may enter my holy place.

Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

10 Yet the Levites went far from me—they wandered away from me, going after their idols—but they will pay for their sin.

And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

11 They are servants in my sanctuary, watching the gates of the house and serving in the house and they slaughter the burnt offerings and the people's sacrifices, and they will stand before the people and serve them.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.

12 But because they performed the sacrifices before their idols, they became stumbling blocks for sin for the house of Israel. Therefore I will lift up my hand to swear an oath against them—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—they will bear their punishment.

Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord Yhwh, and they shall bear their iniquity.

13 They will not come near me to act as my priests or to approach any of my holy things, the most holy things. Instead, they will bear their reproach and their guilt for the disgusting actions that they have done.

And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor 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 place them as keepers of the work in the house, for all of its duties and everything that is done in it.

But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

15 Then the Levitical priests, those sons of Zadok who fulfilled the duties of my sanctuary when the people of Israel were wandering away from me—they will come near me to worship me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Yhwh:

16 They will come to my sanctuary; they will approach my table to worship me and to fulfill their duties to me.

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

17 So it will be that when they come to the gates of the inner courtyard, they will have to dress in linen clothes, for they must not come in wool inside the gates of the courtyard and its house.

And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

18 There should be linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their hips. They must not dress in clothes that make them sweat.

They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

19 When they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer courtyard in order to go to the people, they must take off the clothes they wore when they served; they must take them off and lay them down in a holy room, so they do not make other people holy by contact with their special clothing.

And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

20 Also they must neither shave their heads nor allow their hair to hang loosely, but they must trim the hair of their heads.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

21 No priest may drink wine when he comes to the inner court,

Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

22 nor take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife for himself, but only a virgin from the line of the house of Israel or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

23 For they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane; they will make them know the unclean from the clean.

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

24 In a dispute they will stand to judge with my decrees; they must be just. They will keep my law and my statutes in every feast, and they will celebrate my holy Sabbaths.

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

25 They will not go to a dead person so as to become unclean, unless it is their father or mother, son or daughter, brother or a sister who has not slept with a man; otherwise, they will become unclean.

And they shall come at 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 After a priest has become unclean, they will count off a period of seven days for him.

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

27 On the day he enters the holy place, into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must bring a sin offering for himself—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

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

28 This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I will be their property!

And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

29 They will eat the food offerings, the sin offerings, the guilt offerings, and everything devoted to Yahweh in Israel, will be theirs.

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

30 The best of the firstfruits of all things and every contribution, anything from all of your contributions will belong to the priests, and you will give the best of your meal offerings to the priests so that blessing may rest on your house.

And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

31 The priests will not eat any carcass or animal torn by a beast, whether bird or beast.

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