Keraia
Major Prophets

Ezekiel 44

The East Gate Assigned to the Prince

1The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.

1And He brought me back the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary that faced east, and it was shut.

2And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.

2And YHWH said to me: “This gate will be kept shut; it shall not be opened, and no man will enter by it, because YHWH, God of Israel has entered by it; and it will be kept shut.

3Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

3The prince—the prince himself—he may sit in it to eat bread before YHWH; by way of the portico of the gateway he will enter, and by its way he will go out.”

4Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

4And He brought me by way of the north gate toward the face of the temple. And I looked, and behold, the glory of YHWH filled the house of YHWH, and I fell on my face.

5The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

5And YHWH said to me: “Son of man, set your heart, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I am saying to you concerning all the statutes of the house of YHWH, and concerning all its laws; and set your heart concerning those entering the house and all those going out of the sanctuary.

Reproof of the Levites

6Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.

6And say to the rebellious one, to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘Enough for you from all your abominations, O house of Israel—

7In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.

7your bringing in the sons of a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to defile My house in your offering My food, the fat and the blood. And they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations.

8And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

8And you have not kept guard over My holy things, and you set them to keep guard over My sanctuary for you!’

9This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

9Thus says the Lord YHWH: Any son of a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, will not come into My sanctuary—any son of a foreigner who is in the midst of the sons of Israel.

10Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

10Oh how the Levites who went far from Me in the straying of Israel, who went astray from Me after their idols, will indeed bear their iniquity!

11Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

11And they shall be in My sanctuary, ministering as attendants at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

12Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.

12Because that they ministered to them before their idols, and they became for the house of Israel a stumbling block of iniquity, upon thus I have lifted My hand concerning them, a declaration of the Lord YHWH, that they shall bear their iniquity.

13They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.

13And they will not come near to Me to minister as priest to Me, or come near to any of My holy things, to the holies of the holies, and they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have done.

14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

14And I will give them to keep charge of the temple, for all its service and for all that is done in it.

The Duties of the Priests

15But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

15And the Levite priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept guard over My sanctuary in the wandering away of the sons of Israel from Me, they will come near to Me to minister to Me, and they will stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

16They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

17And it will come to pass, in their going into the gates of the inner court, that they will put on garments of linen and no wool will come up upon them in their ministering within the gates of the inner court, and within it.

18They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

18Turbans of linen will be on their heads, and undergarments of linen will be on their bodies; they will not gird themselves with sweat.

19When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

19And in their going out to the outer court, to the outer court unto the people, they shall take off their garments which they have ministered in them, and they shall leave them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, so that they do not sanctify the people with their garments.

20They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

20And their head, they shall not shave it; their hair they shall not grow long; they must carefully trim their heads.

21No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.

21And no priest shall drink any wine in their coming into the inner court.

22And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

22And a widow or a divorced woman they shall not take to themselves as wife, but only virgins from the seed of the house of Israel, or the widow who is a widow of a priest, they may take.

23They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

23And they will teach My people between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean they shall make them know.

24In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

24And in a dispute they will stand in judgment; according to My ordinances they shall judge it, and My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts they shall keep, and My Sabbaths they shall sanctify.

25A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,

25And unto a dead person they shall not come to defile themselves, but only for a father or for a mother, for a son or for a daughter, or for a brother or for a sister who has not been unto a man, may they defile themselves.

26and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself.

26And after he is cleansed, they shall count for him seven days.

27And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

27And on the day of his coming into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.

28In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

28And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance. You shall give to them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

29The grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering they shall eat, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be unto them.

30The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.

30And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every contribution of all things from all your contributions, it will be for the priests. And the first of your dough you shall give to the priest, to cause to rest a blessing on your house.

31The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.

31Every carcass and torn thing from the bird or from the beast, the priests shall not eat.