Ezekiel 44
New Living Translation
The Prince, Levites, and Priests
44 Then the man brought me back to the east gateway in the outer wall of the Temple area, but it was closed. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate must remain closed; it will never again be opened. No one will ever open it and pass through, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered here. Therefore, it must always remain shut. 3 Only the prince himself may sit inside this gateway to feast in the Lord’s presence. But he may come and go only through the entry room of the gateway.”
4 Then the man brought me through the north gateway to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw that the glory of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord, and I fell face down on the ground.
5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, take careful notice. Use your eyes and ears, and listen to everything I tell you about the regulations concerning the Lord’s Temple. Take careful note of the procedures for using the Temple’s entrances and exits. 6 And give these rebels, the people of Israel, this message from the Sovereign Lord: O people of Israel, enough of your detestable sins! 7 You have brought uncircumcised foreigners into my sanctuary—people who have no heart for God. In this way, you defiled my Temple even as you offered me my food, the fat and blood of sacrifices. In addition to all your other detestable sins, you have broken my covenant. 8 Instead of safeguarding my sacred rituals, you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.
9 “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigners, including those who live among the people of Israel, will enter my sanctuary if they have not been circumcised and have not surrendered themselves to the Lord. 10 And the men of the tribe of Levi who abandoned me when Israel strayed away from me to worship idols[a] must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness. 11 They may still be Temple guards and gatekeepers, and they may slaughter the animals brought for burnt offerings and be present to help the people. 12 But they encouraged my people to worship idols, causing Israel to fall into deep sin. So I have taken a solemn oath that they must bear the consequences for their sins, says the Sovereign Lord. 13 They may not approach me to minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things or the holy offerings, for they must bear the shame of all the detestable sins they have committed. 14 They are to serve as the Temple caretakers, taking charge of the maintenance work and performing general duties.
15 “However, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok continued to minister faithfully in the Temple when Israel abandoned me for idols. These men will serve as my ministers. They will stand in my presence and offer the fat and blood of the sacrifices, says the Sovereign Lord. 16 They alone will enter my sanctuary and approach my table to serve me. They will fulfill all my requirements.
17 “When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard, they must wear only linen clothing. They must wear no wool while on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple itself. 18 They must wear linen turbans and linen undergarments. They must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire. 19 When they return to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must take off the clothes they wear while ministering to me. They must leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes so they do not endanger anyone by transmitting holiness to them through this clothing.
20 “They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow too long. Instead, they must trim it regularly. 21 The priests must not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard. 22 They may choose their wives only from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They may not marry other widows or divorced women. 23 They will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common, what is ceremonially clean and unclean.
24 “They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based on my regulations. And the priests themselves must obey my instructions and decrees at all the sacred festivals, and see to it that the Sabbaths are set apart as holy days.
25 “A priest must not defile himself by being in the presence of a dead person unless it is his father, mother, child, brother, or unmarried sister. In such cases it is permitted. 26 Even then, he can return to his Temple duties only after being ceremonially cleansed and then waiting for seven days. 27 The first day he returns to work and enters the inner courtyard and the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, says the Sovereign Lord.
28 “The priests will not have any property or possession of land, for I alone am their special possession. 29 Their food will come from the gifts and sacrifices brought to the Temple by the people—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Whatever anyone sets apart[b] for the Lord will belong to the priests. 30 The first of the ripe fruits and all the gifts brought to the Lord will go to the priests. The first batch of dough must also be given to the priests so the Lord will bless your homes. 31 The priests may not eat meat from any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that dies after being attacked by another animal.
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”
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