Ezekiel 46
New English Translation
The Prince’s Offerings
46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east[a] will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. 2 The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from the outside and will stand by the doorpost of the gate. The priests will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he will bow down at the threshold of the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be closed until evening. 3 The people of the land will bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram. 5 The grain offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to give,[b] and a gallon[c] of olive oil with an ephah. 6 On the day of the new moon he will offer[d] an unblemished young bull and six lambs and a ram, all without blemish. 7 He will provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes,[e] and a gallon[f] of olive oil with each ephah of grain.[g] 8 When the prince enters, he will come by way of the porch of the gate and will go out the same way.
9 “‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will go out by way of the south gate; whoever enters by way of the south gate will go out by way of the north gate. No one will return by way of the gate they entered but will go out straight ahead. 10 When they come in, the prince will come in with them, and when they go out, he will go out.
11 “‘At the festivals and at the appointed feasts the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able,[h] and a gallon[i] of olive oil with each ephah of grain.[j] 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a voluntary offering to the Lord, the gate facing east will be opened for him, and he will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings just as he did on the Sabbath. Then he will go out, and the gate will be closed after he goes out.[k]
13 “‘You[l] will provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering daily to the Lord; morning by morning he will provide it. 14 And you[m] will provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a gallon[n] of olive oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is a perpetual statute. 15 Thus they will provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil morning by morning, as a perpetual burnt offering.
16 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince should give a gift to one of his sons as[o] his inheritance, it will belong to his sons; it is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty;[p] then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will only remain with his sons. 18 The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”
19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north. There I saw[q] a place at the extreme western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”
21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and I noticed[r] that in every corner of the court there was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court were small[s] courts, 70 feet[t] in length and 52½ feet[u] in width; the four were all the same size. 23 There was a row of masonry around each of the four courts, and places for boiling offerings were made under the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the houses for boiling, where the ministers of the temple boil the sacrifices of the people.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 46:1 sn The east gate of the outer court was permanently closed (Ezek 44:2).
- Ezekiel 46:5 tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”
- Ezekiel 46:5 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
- Ezekiel 46:6 tn The phrase “he will offer” is not in the Hebrew text but is warranted from the context.
- Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “with the lambs as his hand can reach.”
- Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
- Ezekiel 46:7 tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
- Ezekiel 46:11 tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”
- Ezekiel 46:11 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
- Ezekiel 46:11 tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
- Ezekiel 46:12 tn Heb “he shall shut the gate after he goes out.”
- Ezekiel 46:13 tc A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Vulgate read the verb as third person singular (referring to the prince), both here and later in the verse.
- Ezekiel 46:14 tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac, and the Vulgate read the verb as third person singular.
- Ezekiel 46:14 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
- Ezekiel 46:16 tn The Hebrew text has no preposition; the LXX reads “from” (see v. 17).
- Ezekiel 46:17 sn That is, the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8-15).
- Ezekiel 46:19 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 46:21 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 46:22 tc The meaning of the Hebrew term is unclear. The LXX and Syriac render: “small.”
- Ezekiel 46:22 tn Heb “40 cubits” (i.e., 21 meters).
- Ezekiel 46:22 tn Heb “30 cubits” (i.e., 15.75 meters).
Ezekiel 46
The Message
46 1-3 “‘Message from God, the Master: The gate of the inside courtyard on the east is to be shut on the six working days, but open on the Sabbath. It is also to be open on the New Moon. The prince will enter through the entrance area of the gate complex and stand at the gateposts as the priests present his burnt offerings and peace offerings while he worships there on the porch. He will then leave, but the gate won’t be shut until evening. On Sabbaths and New Moons, the people are to worship before God at the outside entrance to that gate complex.
4-5 “‘The prince supplies for God the burnt offering for the Sabbath—six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram. The grain offering to go with the ram is about five and a half gallons plus a gallon of oil, and a handful of grain for each lamb.
6-7 “‘At the New Moon he is to supply a bull calf, six lambs, and a ram, all without blemish. He will also supply five and a half gallons of grain offering and a gallon of oil for both ram and bull, and a handful of grain offering for each lamb.
8 “‘When the prince enters, he will go through the entrance vestibule of the gate complex and leave the same way.
9-10 “‘But when the people of the land come to worship God at the commanded feasts, those who enter through the north gate will exit from the south gate, and those who enter through the south gate will exit from the north gate. You don’t exit the gate through which you enter, but through the opposite gate. The prince is to be there, mingling with them, going in and out with them.
11 “‘At the festivals and the commanded feasts, the appropriate grain offering is five and a half gallons, with a gallon of oil for the bull and ram and a handful of grain for each lamb.
12 “‘When the prince brings a freewill offering to God, whether a burnt offering or a peace offering, the east gate is to be opened for him. He offers his burnt or peace offering the same as he does on the Sabbath. Then he leaves, and after he is out, the gate is shut.
13-15 “‘Every morning you are to bring a yearling lamb unblemished for a burnt offering to God. Also, every morning bring a grain offering of about a gallon of grain with a quart or so of oil to moisten it. Presenting this grain offering to God is standard procedure. The lamb, the grain offering, and the oil for the burnt offering are a regular daily ritual.
16-18 “‘A Message from God, the Master: If the prince deeds a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it stays in the family. But if he deeds a gift from his inheritance to a servant, the servant keeps it only until the year of liberation (the Jubilee year). After that, it comes back to the prince. His inheritance is only for his sons. It stays in the family. The prince must not take the inheritance from any of the people, dispossessing them of their land. He can give his sons only what he himself owns. None of my people are to be run off their land.’”
19-20 Then the man brought me through the north gate into the holy chambers assigned to the priests and showed me a back room to the west. He said, “This is the kitchen where the priests will cook the guilt offering and sin offering and bake the grain offering so that they won’t have to do it in the outside courtyard and endanger the unprepared people out there with The Holy.”
21-23 He proceeded to take me to the outside courtyard and around to each of its four corners. In each corner I observed another court. In each of the four corners of the outside courtyard were smaller courts sixty by forty-five feet, each the same size. On the inside walls of the courts was a stone shelf, and beneath the shelves, hearths for cooking.
24 He said, “These are the kitchens where those who serve in the Temple will cook the sacrifices of the people.”
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