Eze 44 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then He brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary , which faces east ; and it was shut .

Ezekiel 44

Gate for the Prince

1 Then He brought me back by way of the ^aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. 2 And the 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 its way}by the same way.”

4 Then 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. 5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^{▼▼Lit set your heart
,} ^lpay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the ^mstatutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and ^{▼▼Lit set your heart}pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. 6 You shall say to the ^{▼▼Lit rebellion
,} ^prebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch}God says: “ ^rEnough of all your abominations, house of Israel, 7 when you brought in ^sforeigners, ^tuncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you ^uoffered My food, the fat, and the blood and they ^vbroke My covenant--this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not ^{▼▼Lit kept charge of
,} ^xtaken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners ^{▼▼Lit as keepers of duty to Me in My}to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

9 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “ ^zNo 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 ^aawent astray from Me ^{▼▼Lit after}following their idols, shall ^acsuffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 11 Yet they shall be ^administers in My sanctuary, having ^aeoversight at the gates of the house and ^afministering in the house; they shall ^agslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^ahstand before them to minister to them. 12 Since they ministered to them ^aibefore their idols and became a ^ajstumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have ^{▼▼Lit lifted up My hand
,} ^alsworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall ^amsuffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. 13 And they shall ^annot 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 ^aobear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will ^{▼▼Lit give}appoint them ^{▼▼Lit keepers of the charge of}to ^artake responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 “But the ^asLevitical priests, the sons of ^atZadok, who ^{▼▼Lit kept charge of
,} ^avtook responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^awwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall ^axstand before Me to offer Me the ^ayfat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. 16 “They shall ^azenter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^batable to serve Me and ^{▼▼Lit keep the duty to Me}assume the responsibility I give them. 17 And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with ^bclinen garments; and wool shall not ^{▼▼Lit go up on}be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. 18 Linen ^beturbans shall be on their heads and ^bflinen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall ^bgtake 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 ^bhnot transfer holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall ^binot shave their heads, yet they shall not ^bjlet their locks ^{▼▼Or hang loose}grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 ^blNor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22 And they shall not ^{▼▼Lit take as wives for themselves}marry a widow or a ^bndivorced woman, but shall ^botake virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall teach My people the ^bpdifference between the holy and the ^{▼▼Lit profane}common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a dispute ^brthey 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 ^bsappointed feasts, and ^btsanctify My Sabbaths. 25 ^{▼▼Lit He
,} ^bvThey 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 And after he is ^bwcleansed, seven days ^{▼▼Lit they shall count}shall elapse for him. 27 On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the ^byinner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his ^bzsin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28 “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that ^caI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel--I am their property. 29 They shall ^cbeat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything ^ccbanned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the ^cdfirst fruits of every kind and every ^{▼▼Or uplifted offering(s)}contribution of every kind, from all your ^{▼▼Or uplifted offering(s)}contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^cgfirst of your ^{▼▼Or coarse meal}dough, to make a ^ciblessing rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has ^cjdied a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.