Ezekiel 44
The East Gate and the Prince
Ezekiel 44:1 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut.
Ezekiel 44:2 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.
Ezekiel 44:3 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
Ezekiel 44:4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple (Lit. house); so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face.
Ezekiel 44:5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man,mark well (Lit. set your heart), 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.
Ezekiel 44:6 “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.
Ezekiel 44:7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and 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.”
Ezekiel 44:9 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
Ezekiel 44:10 “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.
Ezekiel 44:11 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.
Ezekiel 44:12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel (Lit. became a stumbling block of iniquity to 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.
Ezekiel 44:13 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.
Ezekiel 44:14 Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.
Ezekiel 44:15 “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.
Ezekiel 44:16 “They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
Ezekiel 44:17 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.
Ezekiel 44:18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.
Ezekiel 44:19 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.
Ezekiel 44:20 “They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.
Ezekiel 44:21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
Ezekiel 44:22 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.
Ezekiel 44:23 “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.
Ezekiel 44:24 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.
Ezekiel 44:25 “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.
Ezekiel 44:26 After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.
Ezekiel 44:27 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.
Ezekiel 44:28 “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.
Ezekiel 44:29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
Ezekiel 44:30 The best (Lit. first) of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
Ezekiel 44:31 The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.
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