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Ezekiel 44
New English Translation

The Closed Gate

44 Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. 3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal[a] before the Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed[b] the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. 5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention,[c] watch closely, and listen carefully to[d] everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances[e] to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 Say to the rebellious,[f] to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! 7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate[g] it—even my house—when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You[h] have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. 8 You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners[i] to keep charge of my sanctuary for you. 9 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel will enter into my sanctuary.[j]

10 “‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for[k] their sin. 11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they used to minister to them before their idols and became a sinful obstacle[l] to the house of Israel, consequently I have made a vow[m] concerning them, declares the Sovereign Lord, that they will be responsible for[n] their sin. 13 They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things that are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all its service, and all that will be done in it.

The Levitical Priests

15 “‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok[o] who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 They will enter my sanctuary and approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge.

17 “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple. 18 Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen undergarments will be around their waists; they must not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.[p]

20 “‘They must not shave their heads[q] nor let their hair grow long;[r] they must only trim their heads. 21 No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel[s] or a widow who is a priest’s widow. 23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean.[t]

24 “‘In a controversy they will act as judges;[u] they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe[v] my Sabbaths.

25 “‘They must not come near a dead person or they will be defiled;[w] however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister, they may defile themselves. 26 After a priest[x] has become ceremonially clean, they[y] must count off a period of seven days for him. 27 On the day he enters the sanctuary into the inner court to serve in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering, declares the Sovereign Lord.

28 “‘This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I am their property.[z] 29 They may eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. 30 The first of all the firstfruits and all contributions of any kind[aa] will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first portion of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or was torn to pieces by a wild animal.[ab]

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 44:3 tn Heb “to eat bread.”
  2. Ezekiel 44:4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  3. Ezekiel 44:5 tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).
  4. Ezekiel 44:5 tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”
  5. Ezekiel 44:5 tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.
  6. Ezekiel 44:6 tc The LXX reads “house of rebellion.”
  7. Ezekiel 44:7 tn Heb “to desecrate.”
  8. Ezekiel 44:7 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”
  9. Ezekiel 44:8 tc Instead of an energic ו (nun), the text may have read a third masculine plural suffix ם (mem), “them,” which was confused with ן (nun) in the old script. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:621. tn This word is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied from the context.
  10. Ezekiel 44:9 sn Tobiah, an Ammonite (Neh 13:8), was dismissed from the temple.
  11. Ezekiel 44:10 tn Heb “will bear.”
  12. Ezekiel 44:12 tn Heb “a stumbling block of iniquity.” This is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (cf. also Ezek 7:19; 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30).
  13. Ezekiel 44:12 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
  14. Ezekiel 44:12 tn Heb “will bear.”
  15. Ezekiel 44:15 sn Zadok was a descendant of Aaron through Eleazar (1 Chr 6:50-53) who served as a priest during David’s reign (2 Sam 8:17).
  16. Ezekiel 44:19 sn For a similar concept of transmitting holiness, see Exod 19:12-14; Lev 10:1-2; 2 Sam 6:7. Comparable laws concerning the priest are found in Lev 10 and 21.
  17. Ezekiel 44:20 sn The shaving of the head was associated with mourning (Ezek 7:18).
  18. Ezekiel 44:20 sn Letting the hair grow was associated with taking a vow (Num 6:5; Acts 21:23-26).
  19. Ezekiel 44:22 tn Heb “from the offspring of the house of Israel.”
  20. Ezekiel 44:23 sn This task was a fundamental role of the priest (Lev 10:10).
  21. Ezekiel 44:24 sn For a historical illustration of the priest carrying out this function, see 2 Chr 19:9-11.
  22. Ezekiel 44:24 tn Heb “sanctify, set apart.”
  23. Ezekiel 44:25 sn This law was part of the legal code for priests (Lev 21:1-3).
  24. Ezekiel 44:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. Ezekiel 44:26 tc One medieval Hebrew ms, the LXX, and the Syriac, along with Lev 15:13, 28, read the verb as singular.
  26. Ezekiel 44:28 sn See Num 18:20; Deut 10:9; 18:2; Josh 13:33; 18:7.
  27. Ezekiel 44:30 tn Heb has in addition “from your contributions,” a repetition unnecessary in English.
  28. Ezekiel 44:31 tn The words “by a wild animal” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation as a clarification of the circumstances.sn For this law, see Lev 7:24 and 17:15.
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Ezekiel 44
Legacy Standard Bible

The Gate of the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by the way of the (A)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for (B)Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the (C)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to (D)eat bread before Yahweh; he shall (E)enter by way of the (F)porch of the gate and shall go out [a]by the same way.”

4 Then He brought me by way of the (G)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the (H)glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I (I)fell on my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, (J)set your heart on and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the (K)statutes of the house of Yahweh and concerning all its laws; and set your heart on the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6 And you shall say to the [b](L)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “(M)Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7 when you brought in (N)foreigners, (O)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you (P)brought near My food, the fat and the blood. So they (Q)made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not (R)kept the responsibility of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners as keepers of the responsibility given by Me for My sanctuary.”

9 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “(S)No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who (T)went astray from Me after their idols, shall (U)bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be (V)ministers in My sanctuary, having (W)oversight at the gates of the house and (X)ministering in the house; they shall (Y)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall (Z)stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them (AA)before their idols and became a (AB)stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have [c](AC)sworn against them,” declares Lord Yahweh, “that they shall (AD)bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13 And they shall (AE)not approach Me to minister as a priest to Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will (AF)bear their dishonor and their abominations which they have done. 14 Yet I will [d]appoint them as (AG)keepers of the responsibility for the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

The Levitical Responsibilities

15 “But the (AH)Levitical priests, the sons of (AI)Zadok, who (AJ)kept the responsibility of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel (AK)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall (AL)stand before Me to bring near to Me the (AM)fat and the blood,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall (AN)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My (AO)table to minister to Me and keep the responsibility given by Me. 17 And it will be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with (AP)linen garments; and wool shall not [e]be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 Linen (AQ)headdresses shall be on their heads, and (AR)linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall (AS)put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will (AT)not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall (AU)not shave their heads, yet they shall not (AV)let their locks [f]grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 (AW)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22 And they shall not [g]take a widow or a (AX)divorced woman as a wife but shall (AY)take virgins from the seed of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall instruct My people about the (AZ)difference between the holy and the profane, and make them know the difference between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in a dispute, (BA)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My judgments. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My (BB)appointed times and (BC)keep My sabbaths holy. 25 But [h](BD)they shall not go to a dead person to make themselves unclean; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may make themselves unclean. 26 And after he is (BE)cleansed, seven days shall be counted for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the (BF)inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring near his (BG)sin offering,” declares Lord Yahweh.

28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that (BH)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession. 29 They shall (BI)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every [i](BJ)devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the (BK)first fruits of every kind and every [j]contribution of every kind, from all your [k]contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the (BL)first of your [l]dough to cause a (BM)blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has (BN)died of itself or has been torn to pieces.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 44:3 Lit by his way
  2. Ezekiel 44:6 Lit rebellion
  3. Ezekiel 44:12 Lit lifted up My hand, bore up my hand; cf. 44:12b
  4. Ezekiel 44:14 Lit give
  5. Ezekiel 44:17 Lit come upon
  6. Ezekiel 44:20 Or hang loose
  7. Ezekiel 44:22 Lit take as wives for themselves
  8. Ezekiel 44:25 Lit he
  9. Ezekiel 44:29 Or dedicated
  10. Ezekiel 44:30 Or heave offering(s)
  11. Ezekiel 44:30 Or heave offering(s)
  12. Ezekiel 44:30 Or coarse meal
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Ezekiel 43
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