Ezekiel 44

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

And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which looked toward the east: and it was locked.

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 the Lord unto me, This gate shall remain locked, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore shall it remain locked.

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.”

As for the prince, being the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord: by the way of the porch of that gate shall he enter, and by the way of the same shall he go out.

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 by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: 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 the Lord said unto me, Son of man, direct thy mind, and see with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears all that I am speaking with thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and of all its laws; and direct thy mind to the entrance of the house, with every place of egress 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, to the house of Israel, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Ye have done enough with all your abominations, O house of Israel!

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 your having brought the sons of the stranger, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, while you were offering my food, the fat and the blood: so that they broke 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 [because] ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set [those unworthy ones] as keepers of my charge in my sanctuary at your own pleasure.

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 hath said the Lord Eternal, No son of the stranger, uncircumcised in heart, or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the sons of the stranger that are in the midst of 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.

But as respecteth the Levites that were gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray away from me, after their idols, they shall surely 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.

And they shall be in my sanctuary, servants, appointed to watch at the gates of the house, and to be servants for the house: these are they that shall slay the burnt-offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they shall stand before them to do the service for 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 that they used to serve them before their idols, and have been unto the house of Israel as a stumbling-block of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Eternal, 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 officiate as priests unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the most holy things; but they shall bear their shame, yea, for 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.

And I will appoint them to be 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, —these are they that shall come near unto me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Eternal:

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

These are they that shall enter into my sanctuary, and these 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 clothe themselves with linen garments; and there shall no wool come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within the house.

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.

Linen bonnets shall be upon their heads, and linen breeches shall be 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 outer court, into the outer court to the people: then shall they put off their garments wherein they have ministered, and they shall lay them down in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not mingle among 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.

And their heads shall they not shave close, nor suffer their hair to grow long: they shall only crop [the hair of] their heads.

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

And wine shall none of the priests drink 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.

And a widow, or one that is divorced from her husband shall they not take to themselves as wives; but only virgins of the seed of the house of Israel; but whatever widow it may be, the [common] priests may take.

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 my people shall they teach the difference between the holy and profane, and that between the unclean and the clean shall they make known unto them.

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 a controversy shall they stand up to judge, according to my ordinances shall they decide it: and my laws and my statutes at all my festivals shall they observe, and my sabbaths shall they sanctify.

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 to a dead person shall they not come to defile themselves; but on father, or on mother, or on son, or on daughter, on brother, or on sister that hath had no husband, may they defile themselves.

26 After a priest has become unclean, they will count off a period of seven days for him.

And after he is become clean, —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.

Then shall he on the day that he cometh into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Eternal.

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 as an inheritance, I am their inheritance: and any possession shall you not give them 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.

The meat-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering—these shall they eat; and every devoted thing in Israel shall belong to them.

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 kinds of first-fruits of all, and every kind of heave-offering of every thing of all your heave-offerings, shall belong to the priests; and the first of your dough shall you give to the priest, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house.

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

Any thing that hath died of itself, or that is torn, whether it be fowl or beast, shall the priests not eat.