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 “‘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.”

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