Ezekiel 44

The East Gate and the Prince

1 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut.2 And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.3 As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.

Those Admitted to the Temple

4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face.5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.6 Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations.7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile itMy houseand when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations.8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.9 Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

Laws Governing Priests

10 And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their iniquity.13 And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.14 Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.15 But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.16 They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house.18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people.20 They shall neither shave their heads, nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.22 They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.23 And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.24 In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.25 They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves.26 After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.27 And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering in the inner court, says the Lord God.28 It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.30 The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priests; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.31 The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.

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.