Ezekiel 44
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 44
The Shut Gate. 1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: This gate will remain closed. It shall not be opened, and no one may enter through it. 3 Only the prince himself may sit inside the gate to eat his meal in the presence of the Lord. He must enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and he must depart by the same way.
The New Law
Admittance to the Temple. 4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. And when I looked, I beheld the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I fell upon my face. 5 Then he said to me: Son of man, pay attention, look carefully, and listen closely to everything that I will tell you in regard to all the ordinances of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. Also, mark carefully those who are admitted to the temple and those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary.
6 Say to the rebels of the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: I have endured enough of these abominable practices in which you engage, O house of Israel. 7 You have allowed foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and body, to enter my sanctuary and profane it when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. Thus, you have broken my covenant with all of your loathsome practices.
8 Instead of taking charge of my sacred offerings, you have assigned foreigners to serve me in my sanctuary in your place. 9 Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, shall be permitted to enter my sanctuary, not even those foreigners who dwell among the Israelites.
10 Levites. But as for the Levites who abandoned me when Israel strayed far from me by following its idols, they must suffer the consequences for their iniquity. 11 They may be permitted to serve as ministers in my sanctuary, with the responsibility of guarding the gates of the temple and serving in the temple. They may be allowed to slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people as well as attending to the needs of the people and serving them.
12 However, because they used to minister to them in front of their idols and thereby caused the house of Israel to fall into a state of sin, therefore, I have sworn an oath against them, says the Lord God, that they shall be punished for their iniquity. 13 They may never again be permitted to approach me in order to serve as priests, nor will they be allowed to come near any of my holy things or my most sacred offerings. Rather, they must bear the shame of their abominable deeds. 14 However, I will assign them the responsibility of service to the temple and for all the work that has to be done in it.
15 Priests. As for the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who continued to fulfill faithfully their responsibility for caring for my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed far from me, they shall draw near me in order to minister to me, and they will stand in my presence to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. 16 They are the ones who will enter my sanctuary, the ones who will approach my table to minister to me and serve me.
17 Whenever they approach the gates of the inner court, the priests are to wear linen vestments. They must not wear any garment of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. 18 They are to have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on their loins, and they may not wear anything that might cause them to perspire.
19 Before they go out to the people in the outer court, they are to remove the clothes in which they have been performing their ministry, and they are then to put on other garments so that they will not communicate holiness to the people with their garments.
20 Priests are not permitted to shave their heads or to let their hair grow long. Rather, they must keep their hair carefully trimmed, 21 nor are they allowed to drink wine on the day they are to enter the inner court.
22 Priests may not marry either widows or divorced women, but only virgins of the race of Israel. However, they may marry women who are the widows of priests. 23 They shall teach my people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and they shall make known to them the difference between what is clean and what is unclean.
24 In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges, and they shall render their decisions according to my decrees. They must observe my laws and my statutes for all of my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 Priests may not make themselves unclean by coming near a dead person. However, if the deceased is a father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then they are permitted to defile themselves. 26 After such a priest has been purified, he must wait a further seven days. 27 On the day that he enters the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer a sin offering for himself, says the Lord God.
28 Priests will have no inheritance. I, myself, will be their inheritance. You will not give them any possession in Israel. I, myself, am their possession. 29 They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. Everything in Israel that is dedicated by vow to God will be theirs.
30 The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and the best of all your offerings of every kind shall belong to the priests. Likewise, you shall give to the priests the best of your dough so that a blessing may rest upon your house. 31 In addition, the priests must not eat the flesh of a bird or animal that has died a natural death or been killed by a wild animal.
Ezekiel 44
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
44 Then the man [an angel] brought me back the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces the east, and it was shut.
2 Then the Lord said to me, This gate shall be [a]shut; it shall not be opened and no man shall enter in by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall remain shut.
3 As for the prince, being the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch or vestibule of the gate and shall go out the same way.
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.(A)
5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, mark well and set your heart to see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws, and mark well and set your heart to know who are allowed to enter the temple and all those who are excluded from the sanctuary.
6 And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O you house of Israel, let all your previous abominations be enough for you! [Do not repeat them!]
7 You have brought into My sanctuary aliens, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute and profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood; and through it all and in addition to all your abominations, they and you have broken My covenant.
8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have chosen foreign keepers to please yourselves and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.
9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh shall enter into My sanctuary [where no one but the priests might enter], of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.
10 But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear [the punishment for] their iniquity and guilt.
11 They shall minister in My sanctuary, having oversight as guards at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend the people to serve them.
12 Because [the priests] ministered to [the people] before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity and guilt to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand and have sworn against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity and guilt.
13 And they shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame and their punishment for the abominations which they have committed.
14 Yet I will appoint them as caretakers to have charge of the temple, for all the service of the temple and for all that will be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall attend Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.
16 They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes [them to] sweat.
19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, lest by contact of their garments with the people they should consecrate (separate and set apart for holy use) such persons [unintentionally and unfittingly].
20 Neither shall they shave their heads or allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut short or trim the hair of their heads.
21 Neither shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner court.
22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow or a woman separated or divorced from her husband; but they shall marry maidens [who are virgins] of the offspring of the house of Israel or a widow previously married to a priest.
23 The priests shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common or profane, and cause them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
24 And in a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall judge according to My judgments; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and they shall keep My Sabbaths holy.
25 And they shall go near to no dead person to defile themselves, except for father or for mother, for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who has had no husband; for them they may defile themselves.(B)
26 And after he is cleansed [from the defilement of a dead body] they shall reckon to him seven days more before returning to the temple.
27 And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.
28 This [their ministry to Me] shall be to them as an inheritance, for I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.(C)
29 They shall eat the meal offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering, and every offering in Israel dedicated by a solemn vow to God shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse meal and bread dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.
31 The priests shall not eat of anything that has died of itself or is torn, whether it be bird or beast.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 44:2 In Christ’s time the Golden Gate was the principal eastside thoroughfare. Through it the Prince of Peace would naturally make His triumphal entry. But by a.d. 1542-3, when Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, tradition says that the road which once led to this gate had fallen into disuse, and what is now St. Stephen’s Gate was the accepted entrance. So the Sultan walled up the Golden Gate with its double entrance, and it has remained so ever since.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
