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Ezekiel 44:1-45:12
New American Standard Bible

Gate for the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by way of the (A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the (B)Lord 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 the Lord; 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 the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I (I)fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, [b](J)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the (K)statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and [c]pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 You shall say to the [d](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord [e]God says: “(M)Enough of all your abominations, 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, My house, when you (P)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they (Q)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not [f](R)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners [g]to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

9 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “(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 [h]following their idols, shall (U)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 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 Since they ministered to them (AA)before their idols and became a (AB)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have [i](AC)sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall (AD)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13 And they shall (AE)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will (AF)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will [j]appoint them [k]to (AG)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 “But the (AH)Levitical priests, the sons of (AI)Zadok, who [l](AJ)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel (AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall (AL)stand before Me to offer Me the (AM)fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16 “They shall (AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My (AO)table to serve Me and [m]assume the responsibility I give them. 17 And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with (AP)linen garments; and wool shall not [n]be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. 18 Linen (AQ)turbans shall be on their heads and (AR)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall (AS)take 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 transfer holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall (AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not (AV)let their locks [o]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 courtyard. 22 And they shall not [p]marry a widow or a (AX)divorced woman, but shall (AY)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall teach My people the (AZ)difference between the holy and the [q]common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a dispute (BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My (BB)appointed feasts, and (BC)sanctify My Sabbaths. 25 [r](BD)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. 26 And after he is (BE)cleansed, seven days [s]shall elapse for him. 27 On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the (BF)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his (BG)sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28 “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that (BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. 29 They shall (BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything (BJ)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the (BK)first fruits of every kind and every [t]contribution of every kind, from all your [u]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the (BL)first of your [v]dough, to make a (BM)blessing rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has (BN)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.

The Lord’s Portion of the Land

45 “Now when you (BO)divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer [w]an (BP)allotment to the Lord, a (BQ)holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand [x](BR)cubits, and the width shall be [y]twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary. 2 Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing (BS)five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its [z](BT)open space round about. 3 From this [aa]area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the (BU)priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who (BV)come near to serve the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area (BW)twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession [ab]cities in which to live.

6 “And you shall give the (BX)city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the [ac]allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.

Portion for the Prince

7 “And the (BY)prince shall have land on either side of the holy [ad]allotment and the [ae]property of the city, adjacent to the holy [af]allotment and the [ag]property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. 8 This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer (BZ)oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel (CA)according to their tribes.”

9 ‘This is what the Lord [ah]God says: “(CB)Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of (CC)violence and destruction, and (CD)practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your (CE)evictions of My people,” declares the Lord God.

10 “You shall have (CF)accurate balances, an accurate [ai](CG)ephah, and an accurate [aj](CH)bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be [ak]the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a (CI)homer, and the ephah a tenth of a [al]homer; [am]their standard shall be according to the homer. 12 And the (CJ)shekel shall be twenty (CK)gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 44:3 Lit its way
  2. Ezekiel 44:5 Lit set your heart
  3. Ezekiel 44:5 Lit set your heart
  4. Ezekiel 44:6 Lit rebellion
  5. Ezekiel 44:6 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  6. Ezekiel 44:8 Lit kept charge of
  7. Ezekiel 44:8 Lit as keepers of duty to Me in My
  8. Ezekiel 44:10 Lit after
  9. Ezekiel 44:12 Lit lifted up My hand
  10. Ezekiel 44:14 Lit give
  11. Ezekiel 44:14 Lit keepers of the charge of
  12. Ezekiel 44:15 Lit kept charge of
  13. Ezekiel 44:16 Lit keep the duty to Me
  14. Ezekiel 44:17 Lit go up on
  15. Ezekiel 44:20 Or hang loose
  16. Ezekiel 44:22 Lit take as wives for themselves
  17. Ezekiel 44:23 Lit profane
  18. Ezekiel 44:25 Lit He
  19. Ezekiel 44:26 Lit they shall count
  20. Ezekiel 44:30 Or uplifted offering(s)
  21. Ezekiel 44:30 Or uplifted offering(s)
  22. Ezekiel 44:30 Or coarse meal
  23. Ezekiel 45:1 Or a contribution
  24. Ezekiel 45:1 Each of these cubits equals about 21 in. or 53 cm
  25. Ezekiel 45:1 As in LXX; MT 10,000
  26. Ezekiel 45:2 Or pasture land
  27. Ezekiel 45:3 Lit measure
  28. Ezekiel 45:5 As in LXX; MT twenty chambers
  29. Ezekiel 45:6 Or contribution
  30. Ezekiel 45:7 Or contribution
  31. Ezekiel 45:7 Lit possession
  32. Ezekiel 45:7 Or contribution
  33. Ezekiel 45:7 Lit possession
  34. Ezekiel 45:9 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  35. Ezekiel 45:10 I.e., a dry measure, about 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  36. Ezekiel 45:10 I.e., a liquid measure, about 6 gallons or 23 liters
  37. Ezekiel 45:11 Lit one
  38. Ezekiel 45:11 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubic meters
  39. Ezekiel 45:11 Lit its measure
Close NLT

Ezekiel 44:1-45:12
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.

Division of the Land

45 “When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you must set aside a section for the Lord as his holy portion. This piece of land will be 8 1⁄3 miles long and 6 2⁄3 miles wide.[c] The entire area will be holy. 2 A section of this land, measuring 875 feet by 875 feet,[d] will be set aside for the Temple. An additional strip of land 87 1⁄2 feet[e] wide is to be left empty all around it. 3 Within the larger sacred area, measure out a portion of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide.[f] Within it the sanctuary of the Most Holy Place will be located. 4 This area will be holy, set aside for the priests who minister to the Lord in the sanctuary. They will use it for their homes, and my Temple will be located within it. 5 The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.[g]

6 “Adjacent to the larger sacred area will be a section of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 1 2⁄3 miles wide.[h] This will be set aside for a city where anyone in Israel can live.

7 “Two special sections of land will be set apart for the prince. One section will share a border with the east side of the sacred lands and city, and the second section will share a border on the west side. Then the far eastern and western borders of the prince’s lands will line up with the eastern and western boundaries of the tribal areas. 8 These sections of land will be the prince’s allotment. Then my princes will no longer oppress and rob my people; they will assign the rest of the land to the people, giving an allotment to each tribe.

Rules for the Princes

9 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord. 10 Use only honest weights and scales and honest measures, both dry and liquid.[i] 11 The homer[j] will be your standard unit for measuring volume. The ephah and the bath[k] will each measure one-tenth of a homer. 12 The standard unit for weight will be the silver shekel.[l] One shekel will consist of twenty gerahs, and sixty shekels will be equal to one mina.[m]

Footnotes

  1. 44:10 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung; also in 44:12.
  2. 44:29 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  3. 45:1 As in Greek version, which reads 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 20,000 [cubits] [10.6 kilometers] wide; Hebrew reads 25,000 [cubits] long and 10,000 [cubits] [3 1⁄3 miles or 5.3 kilometers] wide. Compare 45:3, 5; 48:9.
  4. 45:2a Hebrew 500 [cubits] [265 meters] by 500 [cubits], a square.
  5. 45:2b Hebrew 50 cubits [26.5 meters].
  6. 45:3 Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 10,000 [cubits] [5.3 kilometers] wide; also in 45:5.
  7. 45:5 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They will have as their possession 20 rooms.
  8. 45:6 Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 5,000 [cubits] [2.65 kilometers] wide.
  9. 45:10 Hebrew Use honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.
  10. 45:11a The homer measures about 50 gallons or 220 liters.
  11. 45:11b The ephah is a dry measure; the bath is a liquid measure.
  12. 45:12a The shekel weighs about 0.4 ounces or 11 grams.
  13. 45:12b Elsewhere the mina is equated to 50 shekels.
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Ezekiel 43
Ezekiel 46
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