Ezekiel 44-46

New American Standard Bible

Gate for the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by way of the ^(A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ^(B)Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the ^(C)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^(D)eat bread before the Lord; he shall ^(E)enter by way of the ^(F)porch of the gate and shall go out ^[a]by the same way.”

⁴ Then He brought me by way of the ^(G)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^(H)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I ^(I)fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^[b](J)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the ^(K)statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and ^[c]pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the ^[d](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord ^[e]God says: “^(M)Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, ⁷ when you brought in ^(N)foreigners, ^(O)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you ^(P)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they ^(Q)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not ^[f](R)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners ^[g]to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(S)No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ^(T)went astray from Me ^[h]following their idols, shall ^(U)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ^(V)ministers in My sanctuary, having ^(W)oversight at the gates of the house and ^(X)ministering in the house; they shall ^(Y)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^(Z)stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Since they ministered to them ^(AA)before their idols and became a ^(AB)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^[i](AC)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^(AD)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹³ And they shall ^(AE)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^(AF)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will ^[j]appoint them ^[k]to ^(AG)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the ^(AH)Levitical priests, the sons of ^(AI)Zadok, who ^[l](AJ)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^(AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^(AL)stand before Me to offer Me the ^(AM)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall ^(AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^(AO)table to serve Me and ^[m]assume the responsibility I give them. ¹⁷ And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with ^(AP)linen garments; and wool shall not ^[n]be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. ¹⁸ Linen ^(AQ)turbans shall be on their heads and ^(AR)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^(AS)take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will ^(AT)not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ Also they shall ^(AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not ^(AV)let their locks ^[o]grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (AW)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. ²² And they shall not ^[p]marry a widow or a ^(AX)divorced woman, but shall ^(AY)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^(AZ)difference between the holy and the ^[q]common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute ^(BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^(BB)appointed feasts, and ^(BC)sanctify My Sabbaths. ^25 [r](BD)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ And after he is ^(BE)cleansed, seven days ^[s]shall elapse for him. ²⁷ On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the ^(BF)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^(BG)sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that ^(BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. ²⁹ They shall ^(BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything ^(BJ)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the ^(BK)first fruits of every kind and every ^[t]contribution of every kind, from all your ^[u]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^(BL)first of your ^[v]dough, to make a ^(BM)blessing rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^(BN)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.

The Lord’s Portion of the Land

45 “Now when you ^(BO)divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer ^[w]an ^(BP)allotment to the Lord, a ^(BQ)holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand ^[x](BR)cubits, and the width shall be ^[y]twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary. ² Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing ^(BS)five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its ^[z](BT)open space round about. ³ From this ^[aa]area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the ^(BU)priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who ^(BV)come near to serve the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵ An area ^(BW)twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession ^[ab]cities in which to live.

⁶ “And you shall give the ^(BX)city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the ^[ac]allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.

Portion for the Prince

⁷ “And the ^(BY)prince shall have land on either side of the holy ^[ad]allotment and the ^[ae]property of the city, adjacent to the holy ^[af]allotment and the ^[ag]property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. ⁸ This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer ^(BZ)oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel ^(CA)according to their tribes.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord ^[ah]God says: “^(CB)Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of ^(CC)violence and destruction, and ^(CD)practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your ^(CE)evictions of My people,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ “You shall have ^(CF)accurate balances, an accurate ^[ai](CG)ephah, and an accurate ^[aj](CH)bath. ¹¹ The ephah and the bath shall be ^[ak]the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a ^(CI)homer, and the ephah a tenth of a ^[al]homer; ^[am]their standard shall be according to the homer. ¹² And the ^(CJ)shekel shall be twenty ^(CK)gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

¹³ “This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley; ¹⁴ and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer); ¹⁵ and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a ^(CL)grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to ^(CM)make atonement for them,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “^(CN)All the people of the land shall ^[an]give to this offering for the ^(CO)prince in Israel. ¹⁷ And it shall be the ^(CP)prince’s part to provide the ^(CQ)burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the ^(CR)feasts, on the ^(CS)new moons, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the ^(CT)peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

¹⁸ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “In the ^(CU)first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a ^[ao]bull ^(CV)without blemish and ^(CW)cleanse the sanctuary from sin. ¹⁹ And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the ^(CX)four corners of the ^(CY)ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does ^(CZ)wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make ^(DA)atonement for the house.

²¹ “In the ^(DB)first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the ^(DC)Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a ^(DD)bull as a sin offering. ²³ And during the ^(DE)seven days of the feast he shall provide as a ^(DF)burnt offering to the Lord ^(DG)seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering. ²⁴ And he shall provide as a ^(DH)grain offering an ^[ap]ephah ^[aq]with a bull, an ^[ar]ephah ^[as]with a ram, and a ^[at]hin of oil ^[au]with an ephah. ²⁵ In the ^(DI)seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like these, seven days ^[av]for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”

The Prince’s Offerings

46 ‘This is what the Lord ^[aw]God says: “The ^(DJ)gate of the ^(DK)inner courtyard facing east shall be ^(DL)shut for the six ^(DM)working days; but it shall be opened on the ^(DN)Sabbath day and opened on the day of the ^(DO)new moon. ² The ^(DP)prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the ^(DQ)post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be ^(DR)shut until the evening. ³ The ^(DS)people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the ^(DT)new moons. ⁴ The ^(DU)burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be ^(DV)six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; ⁵ and the ^(DW)grain offering shall be an ^[ax]ephah ^[ay]with the ram, and the grain offering ^[az]with the lambs ^[ba]as much as he is ^(DX)able to give, and a ^[bb]hin of oil ^[bc]with an ephah. ⁶ On the day of the ^(DY)new moon he shall offer a ^[bd]bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷ And he shall provide a ^(DZ)grain offering, an ephah ^[be]with the bull and an ephah ^[bf]with the ram, and ^[bg]with the lambs as ^[bh]much as he is ^(EA)able, and a hin of oil ^[bi]with an ephah. ⁸ When the ^(EB)prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate, and go out by ^[bj]the same way. ⁹ But when the people of the land come ^(EC)before the Lord at the appointed feasts, one who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And one who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. ^[bk]No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but shall go straight out. ¹⁰ And when they go in, the prince shall go in ^(ED)among them; and when they go out, ^[bl]he shall go out.

¹¹ “At the ^(EE)festivals and the appointed feasts, the ^(EF)grain offering shall be an ephah ^[bm]with a bull and an ephah ^[bn]with a ram, and ^[bo]with the lambs as ^[bp]much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil ^[bq]with an ephah. ¹² And when the prince provides a ^(EG)[br]voluntary offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a ^[bs]voluntary offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be ^(EH)opened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the ^(EI)Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.

¹³ “And you shall provide a ^(EJ)lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord daily; ^(EK)morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴ You shall also provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a ^(EL)sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour, a grain offering to the Lord continually by ^[bt]a permanent ordinance. ¹⁵ So they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil, morning by morning, as a ^(EM)continual burnt offering.”

¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “If the prince gives a ^(EN)gift from his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the ^(EO)year of ^[bu]release; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’; it shall belong to them. ¹⁸ And the prince shall ^(EP)not take from the people’s inheritance, ^[bv](EQ)depriving them of their property; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own property, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his property.”’”

The Boiling Places

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the ^(ER)entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, a place was there at the extreme rear toward the west. ²⁰ And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the ^(ES)guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall ^(ET)bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard ^[bw]and transfer holiness to the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was a small courtyard. ²² In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty ^[bx]cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were ^[by]the same size. ²³ And there was a row of masonry all around in them, around the four of them, and cooking hearths were made under the rows all around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the cooking ^[bz]places where the ministers of the house shall cook the sacrifices of the people.”