Ezekiel 46

1 “‘The Lord GOD says: “The gate of the inner court that looks towards the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

This is what the Lord God says: “The east gate of the inner court is to be kept shut during the six working days, but it shall be opened on the Sabbath and on the day of the New Moon

2 The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

The prince must come through the gateway porch from outside and he will stand by the gatepost, and the priests will sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in respect at the gate's threshold of the gate and leave, but the gate is not to be shut until evening.

3 The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

The people of Israel will also bow before the Lord at the gateway entrance on Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to the LORD shall be on the Sabbath day, six lambs without defect and a ram without defect;

The burnt offering that the prince is to offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six male lambs and a ram, all without defects.

5 and the meal offering shall be an efah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an efah.

The grain offering to accompany the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he chooses, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

6 On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without defect, six lambs, and a ram. They shall be without defect.

On the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram. They are all to be without defects.

7 He shall prepare a meal offering: an efah for the bull, and an efah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an efah.

He is also to provide a grain offering of an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and as much as he is chooses with the lambs, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

8 When the prince enters, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by its way.

When the prince enters, he is to come in through the gateway porch, and leave the same way.

9 “‘“But when the people of the land come before the LORD in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters 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 by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him.

When the people of Israel gather before the Lord at the regular religious festivals, anyone who enters through the north gate to worship has to leave through the south gate, and anyone who enters through the south gate leave through the north gate. No one is allowed to go back through the same gate through which they entered. Everyone must leave by the opposite gate.

10 The prince shall go in with them when they go in. When they go out, he shall go out.

The prince is to enter when the people do; and leave when they leave.

11 “‘“In the feasts and in the appointed holidays, the meal offering shall be an efah for a bull, and an efah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an efah.

At the religious festivals and regular meetings, the grain offering will be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as people choose with the lambs, together with a hin of olive oil for every ephah of grain.

12 When the prince prepares a free will offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a free will offering to the LORD, one shall open for him the gate that looks towards the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out; and after his going out one shall shut the gate.

When the prince decides to make a freewill offering to the Lord, whether it's a burnt offering or a peace offering, the east gate is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or peace offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath. When he leaves, the gate must be closed after him.

13 “‘“You shall prepare a lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD daily. Morning by morning you shall prepare it.

Every morning a year-old lamb without defects is to be sacrificed as a daily burnt offering to the Lord.

14 You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an efah, and the third part of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to the LORD continually by a perpetual ordinance.

Every morning a grain offering of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of olive oil to moisten the best flour is to be provided as a grain offering to the Lord. This regulation is to be followed forever.

15 Thus they shall prepare the lamb, the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.”

Make sure the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil is presented every morning as a regular burnt offering.

16 “‘The Lord GOD says: “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It shall belong to his sons. It is their possession by inheritance.

This is what the Lord God says: If the prince gives a gift of property to any of his sons to own, it will belong to his descendants. They will be able to inherit the property.

17 But if he gives of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.

However, if he gives a gift of his property to one of his servants, that servant will only own it until the Jubilee Year. Then ownership will return to the prince. His property that he passes on through inheritance belongs only to his sons—it is theirs.

18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.”’”

The prince is not to take people's land, driving them off their property. He is to give land to his sons from his own property, so that none of my people shall be evicted from their property.”

19 Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked towards the north. Behold, there was a place on the back part westward.

The man took me through the entrance beside the gate into the north-facing holy rooms that belonged to the priests. He showed me a place at the far western end

20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering, that they not bring them out into the outer court, to sanctify the people.”

and told me, “This is where the priests cook guilt offerings and sin offerings, and where they bake the grain offering. This is so that they don't take them to the outer courtyard and carry holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

He took me into the outer courtyard and led me to each of its four corners. I saw a separate courtyard in each corner.

22 In the four corners of the court there were courts enclosed, forty cubits long and thirty wide. These four in the corners were the same size.

There were separate walled courtyards in the four corners of the outer courtyard. They each measured forty cubits by thirty cubits—they were all the same size.

23 There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around.

Each of the four courts had a stone ledge with ovens built into the base of the walls on every side.

24 Then he said to me, “These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.”

He told me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve in the Temple will cook the people's sacrificial offerings.”