The Manner of Worship

46 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six (A)working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. (B)The prince shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway from the outside, and stand by the gatepost. The priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the Lord on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. The burnt offering that (C)the prince offers to the Lord on the (D)Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish; (E)and the grain offering shall be one ephah for a ram, and the grain offering for the lambs, [a]as much as he wants to give, as well as a hin of oil with every ephah. On the day of the New Moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish. He shall prepare a grain offering of an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, [b]as much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil with every ephah. (F)When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.

“But when the people of the land (G)come before the Lord on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the north (H)gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. 10 The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out. 11 At the festivals and the appointed feast days (I)the grain offering shall be an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, as much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil with every ephah.

12 “Now when the prince makes a voluntary burnt offering or voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate that faces toward the east (J)shall then be opened for him; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he did on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he goes out the gate shall be shut.

13 (K)“You shall daily make a burnt offering to the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish; you shall prepare it [c]every morning. 14 And you shall prepare a grain offering with it every morning, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour. This grain offering is a perpetual ordinance, to be made regularly to the Lord. 15 Thus they shall prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil, as a (L)regular burnt offering every morning.”

The Prince and Inheritance Laws

16 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “If the prince gives a gift of some of his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he gives a gift of some of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until (M)the year of liberty, after which it shall return to the prince. But his inheritance shall belong to his sons; it shall become theirs. 18 Moreover (N)the prince shall not take any of the people’s inheritance by evicting them from their property; he shall provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people may be scattered from his property.” ’ ”

How the Offerings Were Prepared

19 Now he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy (O)chambers of the priests which face toward the north; and there a place was situated at their extreme western end. 20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall (P)boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall (Q)bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer court (R)to sanctify the people.”

21 Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and in fact, in every corner of the court there was another court. 22 In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; all four corners were the same size. 23 There was a row of building stones all around in them, all around the four of them; and [d]cooking hearths were made under the rows of stones all around. 24 And he said to me, “These are the [e]kitchens where the ministers of the [f]temple shall (S)boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:5 Lit. the gift of his hand
  2. Ezekiel 46:7 Lit. as much as his hand can reach
  3. Ezekiel 46:13 Lit. morning by morning
  4. Ezekiel 46:23 Lit. boiling places
  5. Ezekiel 46:24 Lit. house of those who boil
  6. Ezekiel 46:24 Lit. house

46 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut 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. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons. And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto Jehovah shall be on the sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; and the meal-offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal-offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

And on the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish: and he shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as [a]he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah. And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

But when the people of the land shall come before Jehovah in the appointed feasts, he that entereth by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth straight before him. 10 And the prince, when they go in, shall go in in the midst of them; and when they go forth, they shall go forth together. 11 And in the feasts and in the [b]solemnities the meal-offering shall be an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 And when the prince shall prepare a freewill-offering, a burnt-offering or peace-offerings as a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, one shall open for him the gate that looketh toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he doth on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.

13 And thou shalt prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah daily: morning by morning shalt thou prepare it. 14 And thou shalt prepare a meal-offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to [c]moisten the fine flour; a meal-offering unto Jehovah continually by a perpetual ordinance. 15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt-offering.

16 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons. 18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to [d]thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.

19 Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward. 20 And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass-offering and the sin-offering, and where they shall bake the meal-offering; that they bring them not forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people. 21 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court there were courts [e]inclosed, forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure. 23 And there was a [f]wall round about in them, round about the four, and boiling-places were made under the [g]walls round about. 24 Then said he unto me, These are the boiling-houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:7 Hebrew his hand shall attain unto.
  2. Ezekiel 46:11 Or, appointed feasts
  3. Ezekiel 46:14 Or, mix with
  4. Ezekiel 46:18 Hebrew oppress.
  5. Ezekiel 46:22 Or, joined on
  6. Ezekiel 46:23 Hebrew row.
  7. Ezekiel 46:23 Hebrew rows.