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The Prince’s Offerings

46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east[a] will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from the outside and will stand by the doorpost of the gate. The priests will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he will bow down at the threshold of the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be closed until evening. The people of the land will bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. The burnt offering that the prince will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram. The grain offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to give,[b] and a gallon[c] of olive oil with an ephah. On the day of the new moon he will offer[d] an unblemished young bull and six lambs and a ram, all without blemish. He will provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes,[e] and a gallon[f] of olive oil with each ephah of grain.[g] When the prince enters, he will come by way of the porch of the gate and will go out the same way.

“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will go out by way of the south gate; whoever enters by way of the south gate will go out by way of the north gate. No one will return by way of the gate they entered but will go out straight ahead. 10 When they come in, the prince will come in with them, and when they go out, he will go out.

11 “‘At the festivals and at the appointed feasts the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able,[h] and a gallon[i] of olive oil with each ephah of grain.[j] 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a voluntary offering to the Lord, the gate facing east will be opened for him, and he will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings just as he did on the Sabbath. Then he will go out, and the gate will be closed after he goes out.[k]

13 “‘You[l] will provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering daily to the Lord; morning by morning he will provide it. 14 And you[m] will provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a gallon[n] of olive oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is a perpetual statute. 15 Thus they will provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil morning by morning, as a perpetual burnt offering.

16 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince should give a gift to one of his sons as[o] his inheritance, it will belong to his sons; it is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty;[p] then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will only remain with his sons. 18 The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”

19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north. There I saw[q] a place at the extreme western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and I noticed[r] that in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court were small[s] courts, 70 feet[t] in length and 52½ feet[u] in width; the four were all the same size. 23 There was a row of masonry around each of the four courts, and places for boiling offerings were made under the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the houses for boiling, where the ministers of the temple boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:1 sn The east gate of the outer court was permanently closed (Ezek 44:2).
  2. Ezekiel 46:5 tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”
  3. Ezekiel 46:5 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
  4. Ezekiel 46:6 tn The phrase “he will offer” is not in the Hebrew text but is warranted from the context.
  5. Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “with the lambs as his hand can reach.”
  6. Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
  7. Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
  8. Ezekiel 46:11 tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”
  9. Ezekiel 46:11 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
  10. Ezekiel 46:11 tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
  11. Ezekiel 46:12 tn Heb “he shall shut the gate after he goes out.”
  12. Ezekiel 46:13 tc A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Vulgate read the verb as third person singular (referring to the prince), both here and later in the verse.
  13. Ezekiel 46:14 tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac, and the Vulgate read the verb as third person singular.
  14. Ezekiel 46:14 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
  15. Ezekiel 46:16 tn The Hebrew text has no preposition; the LXX reads “from” (see v. 17).
  16. Ezekiel 46:17 sn That is, the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8-15).
  17. Ezekiel 46:19 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  18. Ezekiel 46:21 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  19. Ezekiel 46:22 tc The meaning of the Hebrew term is unclear. The LXX and Syriac render: “small.”
  20. Ezekiel 46:22 tn Heb “40 cubits” (i.e., 21 meters).
  21. Ezekiel 46:22 tn Heb “30 cubits” (i.e., 15.75 meters).

Sabbaths and gift offerings

46 The Lord God proclaims: The east-facing gate of the inner courtyard will remain closed for the six days of the workweek. But on the Sabbath and on the day of the new moon it will be opened, and the prince will come in from outside by way of the porch of the gate and stand at the gate’s doorposts. The priests will present the prince’s entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices, and then he will bow down on the threshold of the gate and go out. The gate won’t be closed until evening so that the people of the land may bow in the presence of the Lord on sabbaths and new moons at the opening of that gate. On the Sabbath day, the prince will offer to the Lord an entirely burned offering of six flawless lambs and a flawless ram, a grain offering of one ephah for the ram, and a grain offering at his discretion for the lambs, with one hin of oil for each ephah. For the day of the new moon, the offering will be a flawless young bull from the herd, six lambs, and a flawless ram, and he will provide a grain offering of one ephah each for the bull and the ram, and for the lambs as much as he likes, with one hin of oil for each ephah.

When the prince enters, he comes in by way of the porch of the gate and goes out in the same direction. When the people of the land come into the Lord’s presence for the festivals, those who enter through the north gate to worship should go out through the south, and those who come in through the south gate should go out through the north gate. They shouldn’t turn around and go out the same way they came in. Instead, they should go out the opposite gate. 10 The prince should accompany them: when they come in, he comes in, and when they go out, he goes out. 11 At the festivals and appointed gatherings, the grain offering is one ephah for each bull, one ephah for each ram, and whatever one is able to give for each lamb, with one hin of oil for each ephah.

12 Whenever the prince makes a spontaneous gift to the Lord, whether it is an entirely burned offering or a well-being sacrifice, the gate facing east will be opened for him, and he will present his entirely burned offering and well-being sacrifices, just as he does on the Sabbath day. When he leaves, the gate will be closed after he has gone out.

Daily offerings

13 As a daily entirely burned offering for the Lord, you will provide a flawless year-old lamb. You will make the offering every morning. 14 You will provide a grain offering along with it every morning, one-sixth of an ephah along with one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour. This is a permanent and perpetual regulation for the grain offering to the Lord. 15 So the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil are provided every morning as a perpetual entirely burned offering.

Royal land grants

16 The Lord God proclaims: When the prince gives a gift to each of his sons, it becomes their inheritance. It becomes their family property as an inheritance. 17 And if he gives one of his servants a gift from his inheritance, it will belong to the servant only until the year of release, and then it will revert to the prince. It is his children’s inheritance; it belongs to them. 18 The prince won’t take the people’s inheritance by evicting them from their family property. He will bequeath only his own property to his sons, lest any of my people be deprived of their rightful property.

Kitchens

19 Then he brought me through the passage beside the gate next to the priests’ quarters, the holy chambers facing north. There was a place hidden away on the western side. 20 He said to me, “Rather than taking these offerings out into the outer courtyard and transferring holiness to the people, this is the place where the priests will boil the compensation offerings and the purification offerings, and where they will bake the grain offerings.”

21 Then he took me to the outer courtyard, and he had me pass through its four corners, and I saw that there were additional courtyards in each of the corners. 22 In all four corners of the courtyard, these courtyards were constructed to handle smoke. All four were the same size, sixty feet long by forty-five feet wide. 23 All four had stone masonry all the way around, and hearths were built under this masonry all the way around. 24 He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister in the temple cook the people’s sacrifices.”