以西结书 44
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
關閉東門
44 他又領我回到聖所朝東的外門，這門關閉著。 2 耶和華對我說：“這門必須關閉，不可打開；任何人也不得從那裡進入；因為耶和華以色列的 神已經從那裡進入，所以這門必須關閉。 3 只有君王可以坐在裡面，在耶和華面前吃餅；他必須從門廊進入，也必須從原路出來。”
外族人不准進殿
4 他又領我經過北門來到殿前；我觀看，見耶和華的榮耀充滿耶和華的殿，我就臉伏在地。 5 耶和華對我說：“人子啊！我所告訴你耶和華殿的一切規條和法則，你都要留心，用眼看，用耳聽，並要留心聖殿的入口和聖所的所有出口。 6 你要對悖逆的以色列家說：‘主耶和華這樣說：以色列家啊！你們所行一切可憎的事，該夠了吧！ 7 你們除了行這一切可憎的事之外，還在你們把脂肪和血獻給我作食物的時候，把身心都未受割禮的外族人帶進我的聖所，玷污了我的殿，違背了我的約。 8 你們自己沒有看守我的聖物，卻委派別人在我的聖所裡代你們看守。’”
利未人的職責
9 主耶和華這樣說：“以色列人中一切身心都未受割禮的外族人，都不可進入我的聖所。 10 以色列人走迷了路的時候，有利未人遠離我，走迷了路。他們離開我去隨從他們的偶像，他們必擔當自己的罪孽。 11 他們要在我的聖所作僕役，看管殿門，在聖殿中供職；他們要為人民宰殺燔祭牲和其他祭牲，又要站在人民面前侍候他們。 12 因為這些利未人曾在他們的偶像前侍候這人民，成了陷以色列家在罪孽中的絆腳石。因此，我向他們舉手起誓，他們必要擔當自己的罪孽。這是主耶和華的宣告。 13 他們不可親近我，作我的祭司，也不可親近我的一切聖物，或至聖之物。他們必要擔當自己的羞辱和他們所行可憎之事的報應。 14 然而我要委派他們看守聖殿，辦理聖殿的一切事務，作一切當作的工。
祭司當守的條例
15 “以色列人走迷了路，離開我的時候，有祭司利未人，就是撒督的子孫，仍然看守我的聖所；只有他們可以親近我，事奉我，侍立在我面前，把脂肪和血獻給我。這是主耶和華的宣告。 16 他們可以進入我的聖所，可以走近我的桌前來事奉我，守我所吩咐的職責。 17 每逢他們進入內院的門，必須穿上細麻衣；每逢他們在內院的門和聖殿裡供職，他們不可穿上羊毛的衣服。 18 他們頭上要戴細麻布的頭巾，腰間要穿細麻布的褲子；不可穿上使身體容易出汗的衣服。 19 每逢他們出到外院民眾那裡，就要把供職的衣服脫下，存放在聖殿的房子裡，然後穿上別的衣服，免得因自己的聖衣使人民成聖。 20 他們不可剃頭，也不可留長頭髮，只可剪短頭髮。 21 所有祭司進入內院的時候，都不可喝酒。 22 他們不可娶寡婦或被休的婦人；只可娶以色列後裔中的處女，或是祭司留下的寡婦。 23 他們要教導我的子民分別聖俗，使他們分辨潔淨的和不潔淨的。 24 他們要在爭訟的事上作判斷，要按著我的典章判斷。他們要在我所有的節期裡謹守我的律法和條例，守我的安息日為聖日。 25 他們不可接近死人，玷污自己，但如果死人是他們的父親、母親、兒子、女兒、兄弟或是未嫁的姊妹，他們就可以玷污自己。 26 祭司潔淨以後，還要再等七天。 27 他進入內院，到聖所去，在聖所供職的時候，他要獻上贖罪祭。這是主耶和華的宣告。
耶和華是祭司的產業
28 “祭司必有產業；我就是他們的產業。你們不可在以色列中給他們基業；我就是他們的基業。 29 素祭、贖罪祭和贖愆祭，他們都可以吃。以色列中所有獻給耶和華之物，都要歸給他們。 30 所有初熟之物中最好的和你們獻上的一切供物，都要歸給祭司；你們也要把最先磨好的麵給祭司，好讓福氣臨到你的家。 31 無論是飛鳥或是走獸，凡是自然死的，或是被撕裂的，祭司都不可吃。
Ezekiel 44
New King James Version
The East Gate and the Prince
44 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary (A)which faces toward the east, but it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, (B)because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the (C)prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to (D)eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”
Those Admitted to the Temple
4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the [a]temple; so I looked, and (E)behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; (F)and I fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, (G)“Son of man, [b]mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the (H)ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.
6 “Now say to the (I)rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “O house of Israel, (J)let Us have no more of all your abominations. 7 (K)When you brought in (L)foreigners, (M)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered (N)My food, (O)the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And you have not (P)kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” 9 Thus says the Lord God: (Q)“No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.
Laws Governing Priests
10 (R)“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, (S)as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; (T)they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and (U)they shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and (V)caused[c] the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have (W)raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. 13 (X)And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall (Y)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will make them (Z)keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.
15 (AA)“But the priests, the Levites, (AB)the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary (AC)when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they (AD)shall stand before Me to offer to Me the (AE)fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. 16 “They shall (AF)enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near (AG)My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. 17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that (AH)they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. 18 (AI)They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, (AJ)they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall (AK)not sanctify the people.
20 (AL)“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow (AM)long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. 21 (AN)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They shall not take as wife a (AO)widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.
23 “And (AP)they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to (AQ)discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 (AR)In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, (AS)and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
25 “They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. 26 (AT)After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, (AU)he must offer his sin offering (AV)in the inner court,” says the Lord God.
28 “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I (AW)am their inheritance. You shall give them no (AX)possession in Israel, for I am their possession. 29 (AY)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; (AZ)every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The (BA)best[d] of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you (BB)shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, (BC)to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that (BD)died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:4 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 44:5 Lit. set your heart
- Ezekiel 44:12 Lit. became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel
- Ezekiel 44:30 Lit. first
Ezekiel 44
Common English Bible
The closed gate
44 He brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faces east. It was closed. 2 The Lord said to me, This gate remains closed. It shouldn’t be opened. No one should come in through it because the Lord, Israel’s God, has entered through it. It will remain closed. 3 As for the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread in the Lord’s presence. He may come in and go out by way of the gate’s porch.
Foreigners, Levites, Zadokites
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and suddenly the Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s temple, and I fell on my face. 5 Then the Lord said to me: Human one, pay close attention! Use your eyes and ears and listen to all that I say to you concerning the regulations of the Lord’s temple and all its instructions. Pay close attention to the access to the temple through all the sanctuary portals.[a] 6 Speak to the rebels, to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: Enough of your detestable practices, house of Israel! 7 You made my temple unclean because you brought into my sanctuary foreigners who were physically and spiritually uncircumcised. When you offered my food of fat and blood to me, you[b] broke my covenant with all your detestable practices. 8 You didn’t keep charge of my holy things. On the contrary, you appointed them[c] to keep charge in my sanctuary for you.
9 The Lord God proclaims: Foreigners who are spiritually and physically uncircumcised must not enter my sanctuary; that is, all foreigners among the Israelites. 10 But the Levites, who went far from me when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, will bear their guilt. 11 They will keep charge in my sanctuary, and they will oversee the temple gates and keep charge of the temple. They will slaughter the entirely burned offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, they brought about the downfall of the house of Israel. For that reason I made a solemn pledge against them—this is what the Lord God says—and they will bear their guilt. 13 They won’t approach me to officiate for me as priests or approach any of my holy things or the most holy place. Though they will bear their humiliation and the consequences of their detestable practices, 14 I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all its work, and all that is done in it.
15 As for the priests of the levitical family of Zadok who did keep charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed away from me, they will draw near to me to serve me. They will stand in my presence to present fat and blood to me. This is what the Lord God says. 16 They will come into my sanctuary, and they will approach my table to minister to me. They will keep my charge. 17 When they come through the gates to the inner courtyard, they will wear linen garments. They won’t wear any wool when they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard or in the temple. 18 They will have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They won’t wear anything that makes them sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they will remove the garments in which they were ministering. They will lay them aside in the holy chambers and wear other clothing. They must not transfer holiness to the people through their clothing. 20 They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they will trim the hair on their heads. 21 None of the priests should drink wine when they come into the inner courtyard. 22 They must not marry widows or divorced women, but only Israelite virgins. Priests may, however, marry the widows of other priests. 23 They must teach my people the difference between the holy and the ordinary, and show them the difference between clean and unclean. 24 They must execute judgments according to my case laws in cases of civil conflict. They must observe my instructions and my regulations regarding all my festivals. They must keep my sabbaths holy. 25 In order to avoid uncleanness, they must not approach the dead. They may, however, become unclean for their father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister. 26 Once the priest is clean again, he must count off seven days. 27 On the day that he comes into the holy place, the inner courtyard, to minister in the holy place, he will present his purification offering. This is what the Lord God says. 28 As for their inheritance, I am their inheritance. They won’t be given family property in Israel; I am their family property. 29 They will eat the grain offerings, the purification offerings, and the compensation offerings. Every dedicated thing in Israel belongs to them. 30 The best of the early produce of every kind, and every contribution, all of them, belong to the priests. You will give the best of your bread dough to the priest so that a blessing may come to rest on your household. 31 The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies naturally or is torn apart by prey.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:5 Or exits
- Ezekiel 44:7 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT they
- Ezekiel 44:8 Heb lacks them.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible