Ezekiel 44

Gate for the Prince

1Then He brought me back by way of the 1outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. 2And the 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. 5And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, 1112pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the 13statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and 14pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6You shall say to the 1516rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord 17God says: “18Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, 7when you brought in 19foreigners, 20uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you 21offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they 22broke My covenant--this in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not 2324taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners 25to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

9‘This is what the Lord God says: “26No 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 27went astray from Me 28following their idols, shall 29suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 11Yet they shall be 30ministers in My sanctuary, having 31oversight at the gates of the house and 32ministering in the house; they shall 33slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall 34stand before them to minister to them. 12Since they ministered to them 35before their idols and became a 36stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have 3738sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall 39suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13And they shall 40not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will 41bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14Nevertheless I will 42appoint them 43to 44take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15“But the 45Levitical priests, the sons of 46Zadok, who 4748took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel 49went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall 50stand before Me to offer Me the 51fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16“They shall 52enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My 53table to serve Me and 54assume the responsibility I give them. 17And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with 55linen garments; and wool shall not 56be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. 18Linen 57turbans shall be on their heads and 58linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. 19And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall 59take 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 60not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. 20Also they shall 61not shave their heads, yet they shall not 62let their locks 63grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 2164Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22And they shall not 65marry a widow or a 66divorced woman, but shall 67take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23Moreover, they shall teach My people the 68difference between the holy and the 69common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24In a dispute 70they 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 71appointed feasts, and 72sanctify My Sabbaths. 257374They 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. 26And after he is 75cleansed, seven days 76shall elapse for him. 27On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the 77inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his 78sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28“And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that 79I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel--I am their property. 29They shall 80eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything 81banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. 30And the first of all the 82first fruits of every kind and every 83contribution of every kind, from all your 84contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the 85first of your 86dough, to make a 87blessing rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has 88died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.