Ezekiel 46
The Voice
46 This is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: During the six working days of each week, I want you to close the east gate of the inner courtyard; but keep it open on the seventh day, the Sabbath, and on the new moon. 2 The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand directly outside the gate where he can watch the priests offer his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to worship as his offerings are being made, and then exit the same way he entered. The priests won’t shut the gate until the evening. 3 On Sabbaths and new moons, the rest of the people are to worship the Eternal at the entrance to that gate. 4 I want the prince to give this burnt offering to Me, the Eternal, on the Sabbath: six lambs and a ram—all perfect. 5 I want him to give a grain offering along with it as is customary: ⅗ of a bushel of grain and a gallon of oil with the ram and as much grain and oil as he is able for each lamb. 6 During each new moon celebration, I want the prince to offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram—all perfect. 7 He is to provide a customary grain offering as well: ⅗ of a bushel of grain and one gallon of oil for each ram and bull, and as much grain and oil as he can for each lamb. 8 The prince is to enter the temple through the portico of the eastern gate and exit the same way.
9 When the people of the land come together to worship the Eternal at the regularly scheduled feasts, all those who come in through the north gate are to go out through the south gate, and all those who come in through the south gate are to go out through the north gate. They will exit the temple through the opposite gate so they continue to move straight ahead. 10 During these feasts, the prince will walk with everyone else, entering and exiting at the same time and in the same way as the commoners.
11 At all the feasts and the regularly scheduled festivals, the customary grain offering is to always be the same: ⅗ of a bushel of grain plus one gallon of oil for each bull and each ram, and as much grain and oil as is available for each lamb. 12 Whenever the prince gives a voluntary offering to the Eternal, be it a burnt offering or a peace offering, he will have the same privileges as he does for all Sabbath offerings: the east gate will be opened for him. He will offer his burnt offering or peace offering as he does on the Sabbath. After he leaves, the priests are to close the east gate.
13 Every single morning, I want the priests to offer a perfect one-year-old lamb to Me as a burnt offering. 14 Along with it each morning you are to offer a grain offering: ⅒ of a bushel of grain mixed with ⅓ gallon of oil in order to moisten the flour. This grain offering is to be an ordinance you observe for all time. 15 The lamb, the grain, and the oil are to be offered every single morning as a regular burnt offering.
16 This is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: If the prince gives one of his sons a piece of property as his inheritance—the property I allotted him on either side of My land—that piece will belong to all the descendants of that son and never leave the family. 17 But if the prince gives a piece of property to one of his servants, it will be leased by the servant only until the fiftieth year—the jubilee year when liberty is granted; then the inheritance will return to the prince. The prince’s inheritance belongs to his sons alone. It is never to leave the family. 18 Similarly, the prince must never demand possession of other people’s property and evict them from their own land. He is to give his sons their inheritance from his own property. This way, none of My people will be separated from his property.
19 The man whose appearance was like bronze then took me through the entrance next to the gateway and led me to the priests’ sacred chambers, which faced northward. He took me to a place on the far western side.
The Man (to Ezekiel): 20 This is where the priests are to boil the meat of the guilt offerings and sin offerings and bake the bread made from the grain offerings, so that they won’t have to transport the gifts through the outer courtyard and accidentally transmit holiness to the people.
21-22 Then my guide brought me to the outer courtyard and took me to each of its four corners. In each corner were smaller, confined courts, each measuring 70 feet long and 52½ feet wide. 23 There was a stone shelf that ran along the inside wall of each of the four courts. Beneath these stone shelves were hearths.
The Man (to Ezekiel): 24 These are kitchens. Everyone who serves in the temple will boil the peoples’ sacrifices here.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
