Ezekiel 44:10-31
King James Version
10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity.
13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God:
16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.
19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.
23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God.
28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering: and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.
31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.
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Ezekiel 44:10-31
Lexham English Bible
10 But[a] the Levites who removed themselves from me at the going astray of Israel,[b] who went astray from me and went after their idols, as a result they will bear their guilt. 11 Then they will be[c] in my sanctuary, those serving in my sanctuary, as sentries[d] at the gates of the temple[e] and as those serving the temple;[f] they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will stand before them[g] to serve them, 12 because[h] they used to serve them before[i] their idols and they were for the house of Israel like a stumbling block of iniquity. Therefore I swore[j] concerning them,” declares[k] the Lord Yahweh, “that they will bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not approach me to serve as a priest for me and to come near to all of[l] my holy objects, to the most holy objects, [m] and they will bear their disgrace and the results of their detestable things they have done. 14 And I will appoint them as the keepers of the responsibility of[n] the temple, for all of its work[o] and everything [p]which will be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the descendants[q] of Zadok, who cared for the responsibility of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray[r] from me, they will approach me to serve me, and they will stand before me[s] to offer to me fat and blood,” declares[t] the Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall come to my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table to serve me, and they will observe my requirement. 17 And then[u] when they come[v] to the gates of the inner courtyards, they shall put on their[w] inner linen garments and not wear wool garments when they serve[x] in the gates of the inner courtyard and inside[y] the temple. 18 Linen turbans shall be on their head and linen undergarments shall be on their waists; they shall not gird themselves with material causing perspiration. 19 When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they must take off their garment in which they were serving, and they must place them in the holy chambers,[z] and they must put on other garments, so that they will not make the people holy with their garments. 20 And their head they shall not shave, or long hair they shall not let grow; short they shall clip their heads. 21 And no priest shall drink wine when they come into the inner courtyard. 22 And a widow or divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives, but only[aa] a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or the widow who is a widow for a priest they may take.
23 And they will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is unholy, and the difference between unclean and clean they must show them. 24 And at a legal dispute they themselves shall stand to judge; employing[ab] my judgments they shall judge it, and with respect to my laws and my statutes. All my festivals they shall keep and my Sabbaths they shall consecrate. 25 And near a dead person[ac] he[ad] shall not come to be defiled, but only[ae] for a father and for a mother and for a son and for a daughter, for a brother and for a sister who was not married[af] may they defile themselves. 26 And, after his[ag] cleansing, they shall count for him seven days, 27 and then on the day of his coming into the sanctuary to the inner courtyard to serve in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares[ah] the Lord Yahweh.
28 And thus it will be to them as regards inheritance, that I am their inheritance, and so you shall not give to them property in Israel; I am their property. 29 The grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, they themselves may eat them, and also all the consecrated possessions[ai] in Israel will be theirs. 30 And also what is first of all of the firstfruits of everything, and of all of the contribution of everything from all of your contributions, to the priest it belongs,[aj] and what is first of your dough you shall give to the priest, so that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 Any dead body or mangled carcass from the birds[ak] or from the animals,[al] the priests shall not eat.”
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- Ezekiel 44:10 Literally “For if”
- Ezekiel 44:10 Or “when Israel went astray”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “may be”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “guards”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Or “house”
- Ezekiel 44:11 Literally “to the face of them”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “because that”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “to the face of”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “I raised my hand”
- Ezekiel 44:12 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:13 Or “any of”
- Ezekiel 44:13 Literally “to the holy objects of the holy objects”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Or “toward”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Or “tasks”
- Ezekiel 44:14 Literally “all”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Or “sons”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “at going astray the children of Israel”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “to the face of me”
- Ezekiel 44:15 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “and it will happen”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “at their coming”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Hebrew “the”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “at their serving”
- Ezekiel 44:17 Literally “and toward”
- Ezekiel 44:19 Literally “in the chambers of the holiness”
- Ezekiel 44:22 Literally “but if”
- Ezekiel 44:24 Or “with”
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “and to a dead person of a man”
- Ezekiel 44:25 That is, the priest
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “but if”
- Ezekiel 44:25 Literally “who not she was for a man”
- Ezekiel 44:26 That is, the priest
- Ezekiel 44:27 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 44:29 Hebrew “possession”
- Ezekiel 44:30 Literally “it shall be”
- Ezekiel 44:31 Hebrew “bird”
- Ezekiel 44:31 Hebrew “animal”
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