Ezekiel 44

Wycliffe Bible

44 And he turned me (again) to the way of the gate of the outermore saintuary, which gate beheld to the east, and was closed. (And he returned me to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which gate faced east, and was closed.)

² And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be closed, and shall not be opened, and a man shall not pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel entered [in] by it, and it shall (also) be closed to the prince.

³ The prince himself shall sit therein, that he eat bread before the Lord (But the prince himself may sit there, to eat the holy food before the Lord); he shall go in by the way of the gate of the porch, and he shall go out by the (same) way thereof.

⁴ And he led me by the way of the north gate, in the sight of the house (of the Lord); and I saw, and lo! the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell down on my face.

⁵ And the Lord said to me, Thou, son of man, set thine heart, and see with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all things which I speak to thee, of all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and of all the laws thereof; and thou shalt set thine heart in the ways of the temple, by all the goings out of the saintuary.

⁶ And thou shalt say to the house of Israel stirring me to wrath, The Lord God saith these things, Ye house of Israel, (let) all your great trespasses suffice to you (let all your great trespasses now suffice for you),

⁷ for ye bring in alien sons, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, that they be in my saintuary, and defoul mine house. And ye offer my loaves, inner fatness, and blood, and break my covenant in all your great trespasses. (for ye bring in foreigners, or strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, who be in my sanctuary, and defile my House, when ye offer my loaves, and the inner fatness, and the blood; and so ye break my covenant with all your great trespasses.)

⁸ And ye kept not the commandments of my saintuary, and ye setted keepers of my keepings in my saintuary to yourselves. (And ye kept not charge of the holy things yourselves, but ye have put these foreigners, or these strangers, in charge of my sanctuary.)

⁹ The Lord God saith these things, Each alien, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my saintuary; (not even) each alien son, which is in the midst of the sons of Israel. (The Lord God saith these things, No foreigner, or no stranger, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary; not even any foreigner, who liveth in the midst of the Israelites.)

¹⁰ But also [the] Levites, [or deacons,] that went far away from me, in the error of the sons of Israel, and erred from me after their idols, and bare their wickedness, (But the Levites, or the deacons, though they went far away from me, in the error of the Israelites, and went astray from me after their idols, and bare their wickedness,)

¹¹ they shall be keepers of [the] houses in my saintuary, and porters of gates of the house (of the Lord), and ministers of the house (of the Lord); they shall slay burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices for victory of the people; and they shall stand in the sight of the priests for to minister to them. (they shall still do service in my sanctuary, and as door-keepers, or as guards, they shall be in charge of the gates of the Temple, and shall also minister, or shall serve, at the Temple; they shall kill the burnt sacrifices, and the sacrifices for the people; and they shall stand before the priests to serve the people.)

¹² For that that they ministered to those in the sight of their idols, and were made to the house of Israel into offending, either hurting, of wickedness; therefore I raised mine hand on them, saith the Lord God, and they bare their wickedness. (But because they ministered to the people before their idols, and were made to the house of Israel the cause of their falling into wickedness; therefore I have raised up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their wickedness.)

¹³ And they shall not nigh to me, that they use priesthood to me, neither they shall nigh to all my saintuary, (or) beside (the) holy of holy things, but they shall bear their shame, and their great trespasses which they did. (And they shall not come near me, so that they serve me in the priesthood/so that they serve me as priests, nor shall they come near to my holy things, or into the Holy of Holies, that is, into the Most Holy Place, but they shall bear their shame, and their great trespasses which they did.)

¹⁴ And I shall make them porters of the house (of the Lord), in all the service thereof, and in all things that be done therein. (And I shall make them servants at the Temple, in all its service, and for all the things that need to be done there.)

¹⁵ Forsooth priests and deacons, the sons of Zadok, that kept the ceremonies of my saintuary, when the sons of Israel erred from me, they shall nigh to me, for to minister to me; and they shall stand in my sight, that they offer to me inner fatness and blood, saith the Lord God. (But the levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept, or continued, the ceremonies of my sanctuary, when the Israelites went astray from me, they shall come near me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me, to offer me the inner fatness and the blood, saith the Lord God.)

¹⁶ They shall enter into my saintuary, and they shall nigh to my board, that they minister to me, and keep my ceremonies. (They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, so that they can minister to me, and keep, or conduct, my ceremonies.)

¹⁷ And when they shall enter into the gates of the inner foreyard, they shall be clothed with linen clothes, neither any woolen thing shall go on them, when they minister in the gates of the inner foreyard, and within; (And when they shall enter into the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with linen clothes, yea, no woolen thing shall be upon them, when they serve me at the gates of the inner courtyard, and within;)

¹⁸ linen caps, either mitres, shall be in the heads of them, and linen breeches shall be in the loins of them, and they shall not be gird in sweat. (linen caps, or linen mitres, shall be upon their heads, and linen breeches, or linen pants, shall be upon their loins, and so they shall not be covered in sweat.)

¹⁹ And when they shall go out at the outermore foreyard to the people, they shall despoil them(selves) of their clothes in which they ministered, and they shall lay those up in the chamber(s) of the saintuary; and they shall clothe themselves in other clothes, and they shall not hallow my people in their clothes (And when they shall go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they shall remove the clothes in which they ministered, and they shall put them away, or shall leave them, in the rooms of the sanctuary; and so they shall not hallow, or shall not sanctify, my people/and so they shall not harm my people with the clothes in which they ministered.)

²⁰ Forsooth they shall not shave their head[s], neither they shall nurse long hair, but they clipping shall clip their heads.

²¹ And each priest shall not drink wine, when he shall enter into the inner foreyard. (And no priest shall drink wine, before that he shall go into the inner courtyard.)

²² And priests shall not take (for) wives a widow, and a forsaken woman, but virgins of the seed of the house of Israel; but also they shall take a widow, which is the widow of a priest. (And priests shall not take for wives a widow, or an abandoned, or a divorced, woman, but only virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel; and they may also take in marriage a widow, who is the widow of a priest.)

²³ And they shall teach my people, what is betwixt holy thing and defouled; and they shall show to them, what is betwixt clean thing and unclean.

²⁴ And when debate is, they shall stand in my dooms, and shall deem (by) my laws; and they shall keep my commandments in all my solemnities, and they shall hallow my sabbaths. (And when there is debate, or a dispute, they shall stand in my judgements, and shall judge by my laws; and they shall keep my commands for all my solemn feasts, and they shall hallow my sabbaths/and they shall keep my sabbaths holy.)

²⁵ And they shall not enter to a dead man, lest they be defouled; no but to father, and mother, and to son, and daughter, and to brother, and sister that had not an husband, in which they shall be defouled. (And they shall not go to a dead person, lest they be defiled; except for their father, or their mother, or their son, or their daughter, or their brother, or their sister who did not have a husband, only for them shall they be defiled.)

²⁶ And after that he is cleansed, seven days shall be numbered to him. (And then after that he is cleansed, or is purified, he shall count, or shall wait, seven days.)

²⁷ And in the day of his entering into the saintuary, to the inner foreyard, that he minister to me in the saintuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God. (And on the day of his entrance into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard, so that he minister to me in the sanctuary/so that he serve me in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God.)

²⁸ Forsooth none heritage shall be to them, (for) I am the heritage of them; and ye shall not give to them (a) possession in Israel, for I am the possession of them. (And no inheritance shall be for them, for I am their inheritance; and ye shall not give them a possession, or any parcel of land, in Israel, for I am their possession, or their portion.)

²⁹ They shall eat (the) sacrifice, and (that) for sin, and (that) for trespass, and each avow of Israel shall be theirs.

³⁰ And the first things of all first engendered things, and all moist sacrifices, of all things that be offered, shall be the priests’ part; and ye shall give the first things of your meats to the priest, that he lay up blessing to his house. (And the first things of all the first begotten things, and of all the other things that be offered, shall be the portion for the priests; and ye shall give the first things of your food to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon thy house.)

³¹ Priests shall not eat anything dead by itself, and taken of a beast, of fowls, and of sheep. (Priests shall not eat anything that dieth naturally, or is killed by a wild beast, neither bird, nor beast.)