Ezekiel 44
Gate for the Prince
1Then He brought me back by the way of the aouter 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 bLord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3“As for the cprince, he shall sit in it as prince to deat bread before the Lord; he shall eenter by way of the fporch of the gate and shall go out ▼▼ Lit by his way
by the same way.” 4Then He brought me by way of the hnorth gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the iglory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I jfell on my face. 5The Lord said to me, “Son of man, ▼▼ Lit set your heart on
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lmark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the mstatutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and ▼▼ Lit set your heart on
mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6“You shall say to the ▼▼ Lit rebellion
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prebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord ▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord , and so throughout the ch
God, r“Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7when you brought in sforeigners, tuncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you uoffered My food, the fat and the blood; for they vmade My covenant void— this in addition to all your abominations. 8“And you have not wkept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners ▼▼ Lit as keepers of My charge in My
to keep charge of My sanctuary.” 9‘Thus says the Lord God, y“No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10“But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who zwent astray from Me after their idols, shall aabear the punishment for their iniquity. 11“Yet they shall be abministers in My sanctuary, having acoversight at the gates of the house and administering in the house; they shall aeslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall afstand before them to minister to them. 12“Because they ministered to them agbefore their idols and became a ahstumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ▼▼ Lit lifted up My hand
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ajsworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall akbear the punishment for their iniquity. 13“And they shall alnot 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 ambear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14“Yet I will ▼▼ Lit give
appoint them ▼▼ Lit keepers of the charge
to apkeep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it. Ordinances for the Levites
15“But the aqLevitical priests, the sons of arZadok, who askept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel atwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall austand before Me to offer Me the avfat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16“They shall awenter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My axtable to minister to Me and keep My charge. 17“It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with aylinen garments; and wool shall not ▼▼ Lit come upon
be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18“Linen baturbans shall be on their heads and bblinen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19“When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall bcput 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 bdnot transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20“Also they shall benot shave their heads, yet they shall not bflet their locks ▼▼ Or hang loose
grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 bh“Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22“And they shall not ▼▼ Lit take as wives for themselves
marry a widow or a bjdivorced woman but shall bktake virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23“Moreover, they shall teach My people the bl difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24“In a dispute bmthey 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 bnappointed feasts and bosanctify My sabbaths. 25 ▼▼ Lit He
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bq“They 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. 26“After he is brcleansed, seven days shall ▼▼ Lit be counted
elapse for him. 27“On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the btinner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his busin offering,” declares the Lord God. 28“And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that bvI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel— I am their possession. 29“They shall bweat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every ▼▼ Or dedicated
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bydevoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30“The first of all the bzfirst fruits of every kind and every ▼▼ Or heave offering(s)
contribution of every kind, from all your ▼▼ Or heave offering(s)
contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ccfirst of your ▼▼ Or coarse meal
dough to cause a ceblessing to rest on your house. 31“The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has cfdied a natural death or has been torn to pieces.
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