Chronological

Eternal One (to Ezekiel): ² This gate must remain closed. It will never be opened again for anyone to walk through. The Eternal God of Israel has entered through this gate, so it must remain shut for all time. ³ Only the prince is allowed inside the gateway to sit and feast before the Eternal. He will not go all the way through the gate but only through the portico of the gateway where he will stop and sit. He’ll exit the same way he came in.

Eternal One: ⁵ Son of man, look closely and listen carefully. Pay attention to all I am about to tell you. I am going to lay out the rules and regulations for My temple. Take note of those having to do with entering the temple and exiting the sanctuary. ⁶ Tell the rebellious people of Israel living in exile what the Eternal Lord says: “I’ve had it with your disgusting actions, people of Israel! ⁷ Not only do you engage in shocking behaviors, but you have the audacity to bring the uncircumcised—in heart and in flesh—into My sanctuary, knowing they’ll contaminate it. You allowed them in even as you offered My food, the fat and blood of the sacrifices, on the altar. In doing so, you shattered our pact. ⁸ When you should have been upholding your side of the covenant and taking care of My holy things yourselves, you put outsiders in charge of My sanctuary.”

⁹ This is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say: “Do not let any foreigner—even if he lives among the people of Israel—come into My sanctuary because foreigners are uncircumcised in both their hearts and their flesh. ¹⁰ The Levites who abandoned Me when the rest of Israel strayed and pursued their idols instead of Me will bear the consequences for the wicked things they have done. ¹¹ They are still allowed to minister in My sanctuary, guard the temple outer gates, and serve in the temple proper. They are allowed to slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people, and to help serve them. ¹² But because they acted as a stumbling block to Israel and helped the people worship their worthless idols, I have made an oath that they must pay for the wicked things they have done. This I, the Eternal One, promise. ¹³ They are not allowed to approach Me as the priests do. In fact, they aren’t permitted anywhere near Me or any of My sacred things and holy offerings. They must endure the shame of their shocking and deplorable actions. ¹⁴ But I will still allow them to be in charge of the maintenance of the temple and keep it running day to day.

¹⁵ “As for the Levitical priests who are the descendants of Zadok—the ones who took care of My holy place even as the rest of Israel strayed—they will draw near to Me and serve Me. They will stand before Me in the sanctuary and present offerings of fat and blood. ¹⁶ They are permitted to enter My sanctuary, draw near to My holy table, and accomplish all that priestly service requires. ¹⁷ When the Zadokite priests enter a gate to the inner courtyard, they should already be clothed in linen. They are not allowed to wear any wool clothing while serving inside the temple or inside any gate to the inner courtyard. ¹⁸ I want them to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments. They should not wear any clothing that will cause them to perspire. ¹⁹ When they enter the outer courtyard where all the people congregate, they should remove the linen clothes they wore while serving and leave them in the sacred chambers. They are to dress in regular clothing so that they do not pass on holiness to the people who may come in contact with their clothing. ²⁰ They are not allowed to shave their heads or have long hair. They are always to keep their hair neatly trimmed. ²¹ Priests are not allowed to consume wine before they enter the inner courtyard. ²² The priests are not allowed to marry widows or women who are divorced. They are only allowed to marry virgins of Israelite ancestry or widows of other priests. ²³ They are responsible for teaching My people Israel the line between the sacred and common. They are to instruct My people on how to detect what is ritually pure and impure. ²⁴ I want the priests to act as the judges to resolve any dispute among My people. They are to judge and make their decisions according to the statutes I’ve outlined. The priests must uphold My rules and regulations regarding all My required feasts and all My holy Sabbaths. ²⁵ Priests are not allowed to defile themselves by being in the presence of a dead person. The only exception is when the corpse is that of a close relative: mother or father, son or daughter, brother or unwed sister. In that situation a priest may be near and defile himself. ²⁶ After the priest has been ritually purified from death’s defilement, he is required to wait seven days before returning to his duties. ²⁷ When he does return to the sanctuary, he is to enter the inner court and first present a sin offering for himself before ministering for others.

²⁸ “The priests are to have only one inheritance: Me. I am their inheritance. You are to allot them only one possession in Israel: Me. I am their possession. ²⁹ As for the food they eat, they are to consume the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings brought to the temple by the people. Everything devoted to Me will be theirs. ³⁰ The priests are to receive the first and finest gifts of your firstfruit offerings, even your grain offerings, so that your household will be blessed. ³¹ The priests are not allowed to eat any animal—bird or beast—that dies of natural causes or is torn apart by a predator.”

45 Eternal One: When you divide the land among the people to determine inheritance, you must set aside a plot of land for the Eternal as His sacred ground. It is to be 8⅓ miles long and 6⅔ miles^[a] wide; every bit of it will be regarded as holy. ² Within this sacred ground, designate a 875-foot square for the temple. Leave a strip of land 87½ feet wide around the perimeter of the temple. ³ And from these sacred grounds allot a section of land 8⅓ miles long by 3⅓ miles wide to place the sanctuary, which will contain the most holy place. ⁴ These sacred lands will be set apart for the priests who serve in the sanctuary and draw near to the Eternal. They will build their homes there, not far from the holy precincts of the sanctuary. ⁵ As for the other half of the sacred ground—an area of 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide—it will be designated for the Levites who serve in the temple. They will live there and possess those cities. ⁶ Next to this sacred land, you are to set aside a strip of land 8⅓ miles long and 1⅔ miles wide to build a city. This will be common land that belongs to all the people of Israel. ⁷ The prince is to have possession of the land on either side of the sacred grounds and the common property of the city. His land will run westward from the west side and eastward from the east side occupying an area equal to one of the tribal inheritances. ⁸ This will be the prince’s own section of land in Israel. Never again will My princes rob and oppress My people. Then they are to divide the rest of the land between the tribes of Israel.

Eternal One (to the princes of Israel): ⁹ That’s enough tyranny, you princes of Israel! Stop your abuse and persecutions! Do the right thing; choose to be just in your actions. Stop cheating and depriving My people of their land. I, the Eternal Lord, insist!

¹⁰ I command you to be honest in your commerce. You are to use accurate and fair weights and measures. ¹¹ Regarding measures, the standard dry measure and liquid measure are to have a similar volume, about 6 bushels or 55 gallons, making the standard dry unit of measurement ⅗ of a bushel and the standard liquid unit of measurement 5½ gallons. ¹² Regarding weights, one small counterweight will weigh ⅖ of an ounce, and one large counterweight will weigh 1¼ pounds.

¹³ You are to offer the following: 1⁄60 of your wheat, 1⁄60 of your barley, ¹⁴ one percent of your oil, ¹⁵ and one sheep from every flock of two hundred that wanders the rich watering places of Israel. I, the Eternal Lord, declare that these gifts will act as the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings that will cover the wrongs of the people and will be offered on your behalf by the priests. ¹⁶ Everyone in Israel will be required to give these offerings to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ Then it will be the prince’s responsibility to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at all the sacred festivals, the new moon festivals, the Sabbaths, and all the rest of the feasts appointed for Israel. Using the animals and produce he’s collected, the prince will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to cover the wrongs done by the people of Israel.

(to Ezekiel) ¹⁸ On the first day of the first month, take a perfect young bull and purify the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest will smear some blood of the sin offering on the temple doorposts, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the entrance to the inner courtyard. ²⁰ On the seventh day of the month, do this same ritual for anyone who strays from Me unknowingly. Cover the impurities of the temple this way.

²¹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, I want you to observe the Passover for seven days. During the feast, I want you to eat only yeast-free bread. ²² When that day arrives, it is the prince’s responsibility to provide a bull for himself and for all the people of the land as a sin offering. ²³ Every day for the seven days of the feast, the prince is to bring seven perfect bulls and seven perfect rams as a burnt offering to the Eternal. Also, he will present a male goat each day as a sin offering. ²⁴ The prince is also to provide a grain offering: ⅗ of a bushel of grain mixed with one gallon of oil for each bull and each ram. ²⁵ The seven-day feast begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. On each of the seven days, the prince is responsible for providing the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings (made from grain and oil).