Ezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.2 And Jehovah said unto me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.3 As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Jehovah; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah: and I fell upon my face.5 And Jehovah said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of Jehovah, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every egress of the sanctuary.6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,7 in that ye have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add unto all your abominations.8 And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.9 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel.10 But the Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in 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 became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.13 And they shall not come near unto me, to execute the office of priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.14 Yet will I 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 Jehovah: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 be 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, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.18 They shall have linen tires upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.19 And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they minister, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, that they sanctify not the people with their garments.20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.21 Neither shall any of the priests 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 virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.24 And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to mine ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.25 And they shall go in to 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, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.28 And they shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.29 They shall eat the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.30 And the first of all the first-fruits of every thing, and every oblation of everything, of all your oblations, shall be for the priest: ye shall also give unto the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house.31 The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or beast.

EZEKIEL 44

The East Gate //Must Remain Closed

1 The man took me back to the outer courtyard, near the east gate of the temple area. I saw that the doors to this gate were closed.

2 The [Lord] said:
I, the [Lord] God of Israel, came through this gate, so it must remain closed forever! No one must ever use it.

3 The ruler of Israel may come here to eat a sacrificial meal that has been offered to me, but he must use only the entrance room of this gate.

People Who Are Not Allowed //in the Temple

4 Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I saw that the brightness of the [Lord]'s glory had filled the temple, and I immediately bowed with my face to the ground.

5 The [Lord] said:
Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to give you the laws for my temple. So pay attention and listen carefully to what kind of people are allowed to come in the temple, and what kind are not.

6 Tell those rebellious people of Israel:
I, the [Lord] God, command you to stop your evil ways! 7 My temple has been disgraced, because you have let godless, stubborn foreigners come here when sacrifices are being offered to me. You have sinned and have broken our solemn agreement.

8 Instead of following the proper ways to worship me, you have put foreigners in charge of worship at my temple.

9 And so I, the [Lord] God, say that no godless foreigner who disobeys me will be allowed in my temple. This includes any foreigner living in Israel.

The Levites Are Punished

The [Lord] said:

14 They will be responsible for all the hard work that must be done in the temple.

Rules for Priests

The [Lord] said:

16 They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.
17  t When they come to the inner courtyard, they must wear their linen priestly clothes. My priests must never wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in this courtyard or in the temple. 18 Even their turbans and underwear must be made of linen to keep my priests from sweating when they work.

19 t And before they leave to join the other people in the outer courtyard, they must take off their priestly clothes, then place them in the sacred rooms and put on their regular clothes.t That way, no one will touch their sacred clothes and be harmed.t
20  t Priests must never shave their heads when they are mourning. But they must keep their hair properly trimmed and not let it grow too long.

21 t They must not drink wine before going to the inner courtyard.

22  t A priest must not marry a divorced woman; he can marry only a virgin from Israel or the widow of another priest.
23  t Priests must teach my people the difference between what is sacred and what is ordinary, and between what is clean and what is unclean.

24 They will make decisions in difficult legal cases, according to my own laws. They must also observe the religious festivals my Law requires and must always respect the Sabbath.
25  t Touching a dead body will make a person unclean. So a priest must not go near a dead body, unless it is one of his parents or children, or his brother or unmarried sister. 26 If a priest touches a dead body, he is unclean and must go through a ceremony to make himself clean. Then seven days later,

27 he must go to the inner courtyard of the temple and offer a sacrifice for sin. After that, he may once again serve as my priest. I, the [Lord] God, have spoken.
28  t I myself will provide for my priests, and so they won't receive any land of their own. 29 t Instead, they will receive part of the grain sacrifices, as well as part of the sacrifices for sin and sacrifices to make things right. They will also be given everything in Israel that has been completely dedicated to me.t

30 The first part of every harvest will belong to the priests. They will also receive part of all special gifts and offerings the Israelites bring to me. And whenever any of my people bake bread, they will give their first loaf as an offering to the priests, and I will bless the homes of the people when they do this.
31  t Priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that has been killed by a wild animal.