1Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the temple. It was the one that faced east. It was shut.2The LORD said to me, ‘This gate must remain shut. It must not be opened. No one can enter through it. It must remain shut because I have entered through it. I am the God of Israel.3The prince is the only one who can sit in the gateway. There he can eat in front of me. He must enter through the porch of the gateway. And he must go out the same way.’4Then the man brought me through the north gate. He took me to the front of the temple. I looked up and saw the glory of the LORD. It filled his temple. I fell with my face towards the ground.5The LORD said to me, ‘Son of man, pay attention. Look carefully. Listen closely to everything I tell you. I’m telling you about all the rules and instructions concerning my temple. Pay attention to the entrance to the temple and to all its exits.6Speak to the people of Israel. They refuse to obey me. Tell them, “Here is what the LORD and King says. ‘People of Israel, I have had enough of your evil practices. I hate them.7You brought outsiders into my temple. They were not circumcised. Their hearts were stubborn. You made my temple “unclean”. But you offered me food, fat and blood anyway. When you did all these things, you broke the covenant I made with you. I hated all the evil things you did.8You did not do what I told you to. You did not take care of my holy things. Instead, you put other people in charge of my temple.’ ” ’9The LORD and King says, ‘No outsider whose heart is stubborn can enter my temple. They have not been circumcised. Even if they live among the people of Israel they can’t enter my temple.10‘Some Levites wandered far away from me when Israel went astray. They worshipped the statues of their gods. So they will be punished because they have sinned.11They might serve in my temple. They might be in charge of its gates. They might kill the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people. And they might stand in front of the people and serve them in other ways.12But these Levites served the people of Israel. They served while the Israelites were worshipping the statues of their gods. They made the people fall into sin. So I raised my hand and made a promise. I warned them that I would punish them because of their sin,’ announces the LORD and King.13‘They must not approach me to serve me as priests. They must not come near any of my holy things. They must stay away from my very holy offerings. They did many things they should have been ashamed of. I hated those things.14But I will still appoint them to guard the temple. They will guard it for all the work that has to be done there.15‘But the priests must approach me to serve me. They are Levites from Zadok’s family line. They guarded my temple when the people of Israel turned away from me. These priests must serve me by offering sacrifices of fat and blood,’ announces the LORD and King.16‘They are the only ones who can enter my temple. Only they can come near to serve me as guards.17‘They will enter the gates of the inner courtyard. When they do, they must wear linen clothes. They will serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. When they do, they must not wear any clothes made out of wool.18They must have linen turbans on their heads. They must wear linen underwear around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat.19They will go into the outer courtyard where the people are. When they do, they must take off the clothes they have been serving in. They must leave them in the sacred rooms. And they must put other clothes on. Then the people will not be made holy if they happen to touch the priests’ clothes.20‘The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short.21No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.22They must not get married to widows or divorced women. They may only marry Israelite virgins or the widows of priests.23The priests must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not. They must show them how to tell the difference between what is “clean” and what is not.24‘When people do not agree, the priests must serve as judges between them. They must make their decisions based on my laws. They must obey my laws and rules for all my appointed feasts. And they must keep my Sabbath days holy.25‘A priest must not make himself “unclean” by going near a dead person. But suppose the dead person was his father or mother. Or suppose it was his son or daughter or brother or unmarried sister. Then the priest may make himself “unclean”.26After he is pure and “clean” again, he must wait seven days.27Then he may go to the inner courtyard to serve in the temple. But when he does, he must sacrifice a sin offering for himself,’ announces the LORD and King.28‘The priests will not receive any part of the land of Israel. I myself will be their only share.29They will eat the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is set apart to me in a special way will belong to them.30The best of every first share of the people’s crops will belong to the priests. So will all their special gifts. The people must give the priests the first share of their ground meal. Then I will bless my people’s families.31The priests must not eat any bird or animal that is found dead. They must not eat anything that wild animals have torn apart.
Ezekiel 44
English Standard Version
The Gate for the Prince
1Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. (Eze 43:1; Eze 43:5)2And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. (Eze 43:4)3Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.” (Ge 31:54; Eze 34:24; Eze 37:25; Eze 45:7; Eze 46:2; Eze 46:12)4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And I fell on my face. (Eze 1:28; Eze 40:20; Eze 43:5)5And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. (Eze 2:1; Eze 40:4; Eze 43:11)6And say to the rebellious house,[1] to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, (Eze 2:3; Eze 40:4; Eze 45:9; 1Pe 4:3)7in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You[2] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. (Ne 7:64; Jer 9:26; Eze 23:39; Eze 44:9; Ac 7:51; Ac 21:28)8And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary. (Eze 22:26)9“Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. (Eze 44:7)10But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.[3] (Eze 4:4; Eze 44:15; Eze 48:11)11They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. (Nu 16:9; 1Ch 26:1; Eze 46:24)12Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. (Ps 106:26; Eze 7:19; Eze 14:3; Eze 14:7; Mal 2:8)13They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. (Nu 18:3; 2Ki 23:9; Eze 32:24)14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. (1Ch 23:28; 1Ch 23:32; Eze 40:45)
Rules for Levitical Priests
15“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. (De 10:8; Eze 43:19; Eze 44:7; Eze 44:10; Eze 44:11; Eze 44:14)16They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. (Eze 41:22)17When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. (Ex 28:39; Ex 39:27)18They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.19And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. (Ex 29:37; Ex 30:29; Le 6:11; Le 6:27; Eze 42:14; Eze 46:20)20They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. (Le 21:5; Nu 6:5; Eze 5:1)21No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. (Le 10:9)22They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. (Le 21:7; Le 21:13)23They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. (Le 10:10; Eze 22:26)24In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. (De 17:8; 2Ch 19:8; Eze 22:26)25They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. (Le 21:1)26After he[4] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. (Nu 19:11)27And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God. (Le 4:2; Eze 40:39; Eze 42:13; Eze 44:17; Eze 44:21)28“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. (Nu 18:20; Eze 45:4)29They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. (Le 6:14; Le 6:25; Le 7:1; Le 27:21; Le 27:28; Nu 18:14)30And 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 priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. (Ex 23:19; Nu 15:20; Mal 3:10)31The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals. (Ex 22:31; Le 7:24; Le 22:8; Eze 4:14)