Ezekiel 44
Legacy Standard Bible
The Gate of the Prince
44 Then He brought me back by the way of the (A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for (B)Yahweh, the 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 Yahweh; 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 Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I (I)fell on my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, (J)set your heart on and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the (K)statutes of the house of Yahweh and concerning all its laws; and set your heart on the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6 And you shall say to the [b](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “(M)Enough of all your abominations, O 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, even My house, when you (P)brought near My food, the fat and the blood. So they (Q)made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not (R)kept the responsibility of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners as keepers of the responsibility given by Me for My sanctuary.”
9 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “(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 after their idols, shall (U)bear the punishment for their iniquity. 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 Because they ministered to them (AA)before their idols and became a (AB)stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have [c](AC)sworn against them,” declares Lord Yahweh, “that they shall (AD)bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13 And they shall (AE)not approach Me to minister as a priest to Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will (AF)bear their dishonor and their abominations which they have done. 14 Yet I will [d]appoint them as (AG)keepers of the responsibility for the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.
The Levitical Responsibilities
15 “But the (AH)Levitical priests, the sons of (AI)Zadok, who (AJ)kept the responsibility of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel (AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall (AL)stand before Me to bring near to Me the (AM)fat and the blood,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall (AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My (AO)table to minister to Me and keep the responsibility given by Me. 17 And it will be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with (AP)linen garments; and wool shall not [e]be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 Linen (AQ)headdresses shall be on their heads, and (AR)linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall (AS)put 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 transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall (AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not (AV)let their locks [f]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 court. 22 And they shall not [g]take a widow or a (AX)divorced woman as a wife but shall (AY)take virgins from the seed of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall instruct My people about the (AZ)difference between the holy and the profane, and make them know the difference between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in a dispute, (BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My judgments. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My (BB)appointed times and (BC)keep My sabbaths holy. 25 But [h](BD)they shall not go to a dead person to make themselves unclean; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may make themselves unclean. 26 And after he is (BE)cleansed, seven days shall be counted for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the (BF)inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring near his (BG)sin offering,” declares Lord Yahweh.
28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that (BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession. 29 They shall (BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every [i](BJ)devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the (BK)first fruits of every kind and every [j]contribution of every kind, from all your [k]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the (BL)first of your [l]dough to cause a (BM)blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has (BN)died of itself or has been torn to pieces.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:3 Lit by his way
- Ezekiel 44:6 Lit rebellion
- Ezekiel 44:12 Lit lifted up My hand, bore up my hand; cf. 44:12b
- Ezekiel 44:14 Lit give
- Ezekiel 44:17 Lit come upon
- Ezekiel 44:20 Or hang loose
- Ezekiel 44:22 Lit take as wives for themselves
- Ezekiel 44:25 Lit he
- Ezekiel 44:29 Or dedicated
- Ezekiel 44:30 Or heave offering(s)
- Ezekiel 44:30 Or heave offering(s)
- Ezekiel 44:30 Or coarse meal
Ezekiel 44
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Prince
44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was closed. 2 The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain closed and not be opened. No man may enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore, it is to remain closed. 3 The prince, because he is the prince, may sit in it to eat food in the presence of the Lord. He must enter through the vestibule of the gateway, and he must go out the same way.”
The Purity of the Temple
4 Next, he brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and the Glory of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord, and I fell on my face. 5 The Lord said this to me.
Son of man, pay attention. Watch carefully and listen carefully[a] to what I am telling you regarding all the regulations of the temple of the Lord and all the instructions concerning it. Pay attention to the entrance of the temple and to all the exits of the sanctuary.
6 Say this to the rebellion, that is, to the house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. There has been more than enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. 7 You even brought foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, into my sanctuary to desecrate it—into my own house!—even while you were offering my food, namely, the fat and the blood. In this way they broke my covenant in addition to all your abominations.
8 You have not faithfully guarded my holy things. Instead, you appointed others to be guards at my sanctuary in your place. 9 This is what the Lord God says. No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter my sanctuary—no foreigner at all from those who are among the people of Israel.
The Purity of the Priests and Levites
10 What’s more, the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed away, those who wandered away from me to follow their filthy idols, they must bear the consequences of their guilt. 11 Nevertheless, the Levites shall be in my sanctuary serving as guards over the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices for the people. They shall stand before the people to serve them. 12 But because they formerly served them in front of their filthy idols and became a stumbling block that made the house of Israel guilty, therefore I have raised my hand in an oath against them, declares the Lord God, and they must bear the consequences of their guilt. 13 They may not approach me to serve as priests for me, nor may they approach any of my holy things or the most holy offerings. They must bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they committed. 14 Yet I will make them guardians of the ministry of the temple, in charge of all the duties of the temple and of everything that has to be done in it.
15 But the levitical priests who are the sons of Zadok, those who faithfully performed the duty of guarding the ministry of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel strayed away from me, they may approach me to serve me, and they may stand before me to offer the fat and the blood to me, declares the Lord God. 16 They alone may enter my sanctuary. They alone may approach my table to minister to me, and they shall perform the duty of guarding the ministry of the temple for me.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen clothing. No wool should be on them while they minister in the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. 18 They are to have linen turbans on their heads and linen shorts on their hips. They should wear nothing that causes sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer courtyard[b] to the people, they must take off their vestments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy rooms. Then they must put on other clothing so that they do not transmit holiness to the people by their vestments.
20 They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long and unkempt. They must keep the hair on their heads neatly trimmed. 21 No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. 22 The priests must not take a widow or a divorced woman for themselves as a wife, but only virgins who are seed from the house of Israel. But priests may marry a widow who is a widow of a priest. 23 They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and make them knowledgeable in distinguishing the unclean from the clean.
24 In case of a dispute, they are to officiate as judges, and they must render their judgment concerning that case on the basis of the precedents in my judgments. They must observe my instructions and my regulations regarding all my appointed festivals, and they must keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 They must not go near a dead person and make themselves ceremonially unclean by doing so. Only in the case of father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister may they make themselves unclean. 26 After a priest has been purified, seven days must be counted off for him. 27 On the day he enters into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Lord God.
28 This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You must not give them property in Israel. I am their property. 29 They may eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the restitution offerings, and every devoted thing in Israel will belong to them. 30 The first from all firstfruits of all kinds and every special contribution of any kind from all your contributions will belong to the priests. The first of your ground grain[c] you must give to the priest in order that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 No animal that died naturally or was torn by wild animals, whether a bird or an animal, may be eaten by the priests.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:5 Literally set your heart on, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears
- Ezekiel 44:19 The Hebrew text has the words into the outer courtyard two times.
- Ezekiel 44:30 The meaning of this term is uncertain.
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