Rules for Worship

46 “‘This is what the Lord God says: The east gate of the inner courtyard will be shut on the six working days. But it will be opened on the Sabbath day. And it will be open on the day of the New Moon. ² The ruler will enter through the porch of the gateway. He will enter from outside and stand by the gatepost. Then the priests will offer the ruler’s burnt offering and fellowship offerings. The ruler will worship at the entrance of the gate. Then he will go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ The people of the land will worship at the entrance of that gateway. They will worship there in the presence of the Lord on the Sabbaths and New Moons. ⁴ This is the burnt offering the ruler will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day. It will be six male lambs that have nothing wrong with them. And it will be a male sheep that has nothing wrong with it. ⁵ He must give a half bushel grain offering with the male sheep. But he can give as much grain offering with the lambs as he pleases. He must also give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon he must offer a young bull. It must have nothing wrong with it. He must also offer six lambs and a male sheep. They also must have nothing wrong with them. ⁷ The ruler must give a half bushel grain offering with the bull. And he must give the same with the male sheep. With the lambs, he can give as much grain as he pleases. But he must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain. ⁸ And when the ruler enters, he must go in through the porch of the gateway. He must go out the same way.

⁹ “‘The people of the land must come before the Lord at the special feasts. Anyone who enters through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. Anyone who enters through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one will return the same way he entered. Each person will go out straight ahead. ¹⁰ When the people go in, the ruler will go in with them. When they go out, the ruler will go out.

¹¹ “‘At the feasts and regular times of worship a half bushel of grain must be offered. It will be offered with a young bull. And a half bushel of grain must be offered with a male sheep. But with an offering of lambs, the ruler may give as much grain as he pleases. He should give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain. ¹² The ruler may give an offering as a special gift to the Lord. It may be a burnt offering or fellowship offering. When he gives it to the Lord, the inner east gate will be opened for him. He must offer his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out. After he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

¹³ “‘Every morning you will give a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it. It will be for a burnt offering to the Lord every day. ¹⁴ Also, you must offer a grain offering with the lamb every morning. With it you will give three and a third quarts of grain and one and a third quarts of olive oil. This is to make the fine flour moist. It will be a grain offering to the Lord. This is a rule that must be kept from now on. ¹⁵ So they must always give the lamb, the grain offering and the olive oil every morning as a burnt offering.

Rules for the Ruler

¹⁶ “‘This is what the Lord God says: The ruler might give a gift from his land to one of his sons. Then that land will belong to that son’s children. It is their property from their family. ¹⁷ But the ruler might give a gift from his land to one of his slaves. That land will belong to the slave only until the year of freedom. Then the land will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler’s sons may keep a gift of land from the ruler. ¹⁸ The ruler must not take any of the people’s land. He must not force them out of their land. He must give his sons land from his own land. Then my people will not be scattered out of their own land.’”

The Special Kitchens

¹⁹ The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gateway. He led me to the priests’ holy rooms that face north. There I saw a place at the west end. ²⁰ The man said to me, “This is where the priests will boil the meat of the penalty offering and sin offering. There the priests will bake the grain offering. Then they will not need to bring these offerings into the outer courtyard. That would hurt the people.”

²¹ Then the man brought me out to the outer courtyard. He led me to its four corners. In each corner of the courtyard was a smaller courtyard. ²² Small courtyards were in the four corners of the courtyard. Each small courtyard was 70 feet long and 52½ feet wide. All four corners measured the same. ²³ A stone wall was around each of the four small courtyards. Places for cooking were built in each of the stone walls. ²⁴ The man said to me, “These are the kitchens. The Temple priests will boil the sacrifices for the people here.”