Ezekiel 44

Gate for the Prince

1Then He brought me back by the way of the 1outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2The Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the 2Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3As for the 3prince, he shall sit in it as prince to 4eat bread before the Lord; he shall 5enter by way of the 6porch of the gate and shall go out 7by the same way.”

4Then He brought me by way of the 8north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the 9glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I 10fell on my face. 5The Lord said to me, “Son of man, 1112mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the 13statutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and 14mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6You shall say to the 1516rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord 17God, “18Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7when you brought in 19foreigners, 20uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you 21offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they 22made My covenant void--this in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not 23kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners 24to keep charge of My sanctuary.”

9‘Thus says the Lord God, “25No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who 26went astray from Me after their idols, shall 27bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11Yet they shall be 28ministers in My sanctuary, having 29oversight at the gates of the house and 30ministering in the house; they shall 31slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall 32stand before them to minister to them. 12Because they ministered to them 33before their idols and became a 34stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have 3536sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall 37bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13And they shall 38not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will 39bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14Yet I will 40appoint them 41to 42keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15“But the 43Levitical priests, the sons of 44Zadok, who 45kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel 46went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall 47stand before Me to offer Me the 48fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16“They shall 49enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My 50table to minister to Me and keep My charge. 17It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with 51linen garments; and wool shall not 52be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18Linen 53turbans shall be on their heads and 54linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall 55put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will 56not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20Also they shall 57not shave their heads, yet they shall not 58let their locks 59grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 2160Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22And they shall not 61marry a widow or a 62divorced woman but shall 63take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23Moreover, they shall teach My people the 64difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24In a dispute 65they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My 66appointed feasts and 67sanctify My sabbaths. 256869They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. 26After he is 70cleansed, seven days shall 71elapse for him. 27On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the 72inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his 73sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28“And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that 74I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel--I am their possession. 29They shall 75eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every 7677devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30The first of all the 78first fruits of every kind and every 79contribution of every kind, from all your 80contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the 81first of your 82dough to cause a 83blessing to rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has 84died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.