Ezekiel 44
Lexham English Bible
The Prince, the Levites, and the Priests Described
44 And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that is facing east, and it was shut. 2 And Yahweh said to me, “This gate will be shut. It shall not be opened, and no one[a] will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered it, and it will be shut. 3 The prince, he may sit in it to eat food before[b] Yahweh; he will come from the way[c] of the portico of the gate and by means of its way he will also go out.”
4 Then he brought me by the way of the gate of the north to the front of the temple,[d] and I looked,[e] and look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple[f] of Yahweh, and I fell on my face. 5 And Yahweh said, “Son of man,[g] set your heart[h] and look with your eyes and with your ears hear everything[i] I am saying to you concerning all the statutes of the temple[j] of Yahweh and concerning all its laws,[k] and you must listen with your heart concerning the entrance of the temple[l] with all of the exits of the sanctuary. 6 And you must say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Enough for you, house of Israel, of[m] all of your detestable things! 7 At[n] your bringing foreigners[o] who are uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh to be in my sanctuary to profane it, my temple,[p] as you offered my food, fat, and blood,[q] so[r] you broke my covenant by all of your detestable things. 8 And you did not observe the responsibility of my sanctuary, but[s] you appointed them[t] as the keepers of my responsibility in my sanctuary for you.”
9 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every foreigner[u] uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh shall not come into my sanctuary—not any of the foreigners[v] who are in the midst of the Israelites.[w] 10 But[x] the Levites who removed themselves from me at the going astray of Israel,[y] who went astray from me and went after their idols, as a result they will bear their guilt. 11 Then they will be[z] in my sanctuary, those serving in my sanctuary, as sentries[aa] at the gates of the temple[ab] and as those serving the temple;[ac] they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will stand before them[ad] to serve them, 12 because[ae] they used to serve them before[af] their idols and they were for the house of Israel like a stumbling block of iniquity. Therefore I swore[ag] concerning them,” declares[ah] the Lord Yahweh, “that they will bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not approach me to serve as a priest for me and to come near to all of[ai] my holy objects, to the most holy objects, [aj] and they will bear their disgrace and the results of their detestable things they have done. 14 And I will appoint them as the keepers of the responsibility of[ak] the temple, for all of its work[al] and everything [am]which will be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the descendants[an] of Zadok, who cared for the responsibility of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray[ao] from me, they will approach me to serve me, and they will stand before me[ap] to offer to me fat and blood,” declares[aq] the Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall come to my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table to serve me, and they will observe my requirement. 17 And then[ar] when they come[as] to the gates of the inner courtyards, they shall put on their[at] inner linen garments and not wear wool garments when they serve[au] in the gates of the inner courtyard and inside[av] the temple. 18 Linen turbans shall be on their head and linen undergarments shall be on their waists; they shall not gird themselves with material causing perspiration. 19 When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their garment in which they were serving, and they must place them in the holy chambers,[aw] and they must put on other garments, so that they will not make the people holy with their garments. 20 And their head they shall not shave, or long hair they shall not let grow; short they shall clip their heads. 21 And no priest shall drink wine when they come into the inner courtyard. 22 And a widow or divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives, but only[ax] a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or the widow who is a widow for a priest they may take.
23 And they will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is unholy, and the difference between unclean and clean they must show them. 24 And at a legal dispute they themselves shall stand to judge; employing[ay] my judgments they shall judge it, and with respect to my laws and my statutes. All my festivals they shall keep and my Sabbaths they shall consecrate. 25 And near a dead person[az] he[ba] shall not come to be defiled, but only[bb] for a father and for a mother and for a son and for a daughter, for a brother and for a sister who was not married[bc] may they defile themselves. 26 And, after his[bd] cleansing, they shall count for him seven days, 27 and then on the day of his coming into the sanctuary to the inner courtyard to serve in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares[be] the Lord Yahweh.
28 And thus it will be to them as regards inheritance, that I am their inheritance, and so you shall not give to them property in Israel; I am their property. 29 The grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, they themselves may eat them, and also all the consecrated possessions[bf] in Israel will be theirs. 30 And also what is first of all of the firstfruits of everything, and of all of the contribution of everything from all of your contributions, to the priest it belongs,[bg] and what is first of your dough you shall give to the priest, so that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 Any dead body or mangled carcass from the birds[bh] or from the animals,[bi] the priests shall not eat.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:2 Literally “and a man not”
- Ezekiel 44:3 Literally “to the face of”
- Ezekiel 44:3 Or “direction”
- Ezekiel 44:4 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:4 Or “saw”
- Ezekiel 44:4 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:5 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 44:5 Or “pay close attention” or “listen closely”
- Ezekiel 44:5 Literally “all of which/what”
- Ezekiel 44:5 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:5 According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS
- Ezekiel 44:5 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:6 Or “from”
- Ezekiel 44:7 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 44:7 Literally “children/people of a foreign land”
- Ezekiel 44:7 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:7 Literally “in/at your offering my food and fat and blood”
- Ezekiel 44:7 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 44:8 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 44:8 That is, foreigners
- Ezekiel 44:9 Literally “child of a foreign land”
- Ezekiel 44:9 Literally “child of a foreign land”
- Ezekiel 44:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Ezekiel 44:10 Literally “For if”
- Ezekiel 44:10 Or “when Israel went astray”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “may be”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “guards”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Literally “to the face of them”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “because that”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “to the face of”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “I raised my hand”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:13 Or “any of”
- Ezekiel 44:13 Literally “to the holy objects of the holy objects”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Or “toward”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Or “tasks”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Literally “all”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Or “sons”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “at going astray the children of Israel”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “to the face of me”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “and it will happen”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “at their coming”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Hebrew “the”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “at their serving”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “and toward”
- Ezekiel 44:19 Literally “in the chambers of the holiness”
- Ezekiel 44:22 Literally “but if”
- Ezekiel 44:24 Or “with”
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “and to a dead person of a man”
- Ezekiel 44:25 That is, the priest
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “but if”
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “who not she was for a man”
- Ezekiel 44:26 That is, the priest
- Ezekiel 44:27 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:29 Hebrew “possession”
- Ezekiel 44:30 Literally “it shall be”
- Ezekiel 44:31 Hebrew “bird”
- Ezekiel 44:31 Hebrew “animal”
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.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible