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Miscellaneous Regulations

46 “Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall remain closed on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.(A) The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his offerings of well-being, and he shall bow down at the entryway of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until evening.(B) The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.(C) The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish,(D) and the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.(E) On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish;(F) as a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.(G) When the prince enters, he shall come in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.(H)

“When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return by way of the gate by which they entered but shall go out straight ahead.(I) 10 When they come in, the prince shall come in with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

11 “At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain offering with a bull shall be an ephah and with a ram an ephah and with the lambs as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah.(J) 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or offerings of well-being as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering or his offerings of well-being as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be closed.(K)

13 “You shall provide a lamb, a yearling, without blemish, for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.(L) 14 And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for all time.(M) 15 Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering.(N)

16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance,[a] it shall belong to his sons; it is their holding by inheritance.(O) 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance.(P) 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; he shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own holding, so that none of my people shall be dispossessed of their holding.”(Q)

19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them.(R) 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the purification offering and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so communicate holiness to the people.”(S)

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and in each corner of the court there was a court: 22 in the four corners of the court were small[b] courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts,[c] was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”(T)

Water Flowing from the Temple

47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there water was flowing from below the entryway of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east), and the water was flowing down from below the south side of the temple, south of the altar.(U) Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east,[d] and the water was trickling out on the south side.(V)

Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.(W) Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was up to the waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Mortal, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back along the bank of the river.(X) As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other.(Y) He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh.(Z) Wherever the river goes,[e] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes. 10 People will stand fishing beside the sea[f] from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.(AA) 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”(AB)

Footnotes

  1. 46.16 Gk: Heb it is his inheritance
  2. 46.22 Gk Syr Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 46.23 Heb the four of them
  4. 47.2 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  5. 47.9 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb the two rivers go
  6. 47.10 Heb it

46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court(A) facing east(B) is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon(C) it is to be opened. The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico(D) of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering(E) and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.(F) On the Sabbaths(G) and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway.(H) The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah,[a] and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin[b] of olive oil for each ephah.(I) On the day of the New Moon(J) he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect.(K) He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(L) When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico(M) of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.(N)

“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals,(O) whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. 10 The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out.(P) 11 At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(Q)

12 “‘When the prince provides(R) a freewill offering(S) to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.(T)

13 “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning(U) you shall provide it.(V) 14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah[c] with a third of a hin[d] of oil(W) to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.(X) 15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular(Y) burnt offering.(Z)

16 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance.(AA) 17 If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom;(AB) then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. 18 The prince must not take(AC) any of the inheritance(AD) of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.’”

19 Then the man brought me through the entrance(AE) at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north,(AF) which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering[e] and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating(AG) the people.”(AH)

21 He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. 22 In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed[f] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide;[g] each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. 23 Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all around under the ledge. 24 He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.”

The River From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water(AI) coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.(AJ) He then brought me out through the north gate(AK) and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line(AL) in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits[h] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river(AM) that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.(AN) He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.(AO) He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,[i](AP) where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh.(AQ) Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.(AR) 10 Fishermen(AS) will stand along the shore; from En Gedi(AT) to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets.(AU) The fish will be of many kinds(AV)—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.(AW) 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.(AX) 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.(AY) Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit(AZ) fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary(BA) flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.(BB)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, probably about 35 pounds or about 16 kilograms; also in verses 7 and 11
  2. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters; also in verses 7 and 11
  3. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms
  4. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, about 1 1/2 quarts or about 1.3 liters
  5. Ezekiel 46:20 Or purification offering
  6. Ezekiel 46:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  7. Ezekiel 46:22 That is, about 70 feet long and 53 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 16 meters wide
  8. Ezekiel 47:3 That is, about 1,700 feet or about 530 meters
  9. Ezekiel 47:8 Or the Jordan Valley