Isa 49:23, Eze 44-46 | ESV | STEP | Kings shall be your foster fathers , and their queens your nursing mothers . With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet . Then you will know that I am the Lord ; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame .

23 ^aKings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
^bWith their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and ^click the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
^dthose who wait for me ^eshall not be put to shame.”

Ezekiel 44

The Gate for the Prince

1 Then he brought me ^fback to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^gwhich faces east. And it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^hthe Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only ⁱthe prince may sit in it ^jto eat bread before the Lord. He ^kshall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by way of ^lthe north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^mthe glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ⁿI fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, ^o“Son of man, mark well, ^psee with your eyes, ^qand hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ^rall the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well ^sthe entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6 And say to ^tthe rebellious house, ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house} to the ^vhouse of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^wenough of all your abominations, 7 in ^xadmitting foreigners, ^yuncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ^zprofaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They} have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And ^abyou have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: ^acNo foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But ^adthe Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols ^aewhen Israel went astray, ^afshall bear their punishment. ^{▼▼Or iniquity; also verse 12} 11 They shall be ^ahministers in my sanctuary, having oversight ^aiat the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^ajthey shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^aka stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^alsworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They ^amshall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^anthey shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep ^aocharge of the temple, ^apto do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

15 “But ^aqthe Levitical priests, ^arthe sons of Zadok, who kept ^asthe charge of my sanctuary ^atwhen the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^auto minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^avthe fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^awmy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^axlinen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^ayand lay them in the holy chambers. And ^azthey shall put on other garments, ^balest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 ^bbThey shall not shave their heads or ^bclet their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 ^bdNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 ^beThey shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 ^bfThey shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^bgshow them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 ^bhIn a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^bithey shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 ^bjThey shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 ^bkAfter he ^{▼▼That is, a priest} has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^bminto the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^bnhe shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

28 ^bo“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^bpyou shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 ^bqThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^brevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 ^bsAnd the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^btYou shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^buthat a blessing may rest on your house. 31 ^bvThe priests shall not eat of ^bwanything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

Ezekiel 45

The Holy District

1 “When ^bxyou allot the land as an inheritance, ^byyou shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} long and 20,000 ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew ten} cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2 ^cbOf this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^ccan open space around it. 3 And ^cdfrom this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^cein which shall be the sanctuary, ^cfthe Most Holy Place. 4 ^cgIt shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 ^chAnother section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in. ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew as their possession, twenty chambers}

6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ^cjyou shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^ckIt shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

7 ^cl“And to ^cmthe prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^cnmy princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^cothey shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: ^cpEnough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^cqyour evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

10 ^cr“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. ^{▼▼An ephah was about 3/5 of a bushel or 22 liters; a bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters} 11 The ephah and the bath shall be ^ctof the same measure, ^cuthe bath containing one tenth of a homer, ^{▼▼A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters} and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 ^cwThe shekel shall be twenty gerahs; ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams; a gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram} twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina. ^{▼▼A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram}

13 ^cz“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor ^{▼▼A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters} (the cor, like the homer, contains ^dbten baths). ^{▼▼See Vulgate; Hebrew (ten baths are a homer, for ten baths are a homer)} 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^ddto make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 ^deIt shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, ^dfon the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and ^dgpurify the sanctuary. 19 ^dhThe priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it ^dion the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

21 ^dj“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince ^dkshall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on ^dlthe seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and ^dma male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And ^dnhe shall provide as ^doa grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin ^{▼▼A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters} of oil to each ephah. 25 ^dqIn the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, ^drhe shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

Ezekiel 46

The Prince and the Feasts

1 “Thus says the Lord God: ^dsThe gate of ^dtthe inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and ^duon the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 ^dvThe prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by ^dwthe post of the gate. ^dxThe priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at ^dythe threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 3 ^dzThe people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 ^eaThe burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord ^ebon the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. 5 And ^ecthe grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, ^{▼▼An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters} and the grain offering with the lambs shall be ^eeas much as he is able, together with a hin ^{▼▼A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters} of oil to each ephah. 6 On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. 7 As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs ^egas much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8 ^ehWhen the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

9 ^ei“When the people of the land ^ejcome before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. 10 When they enter, ^ekthe prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

11 “At the feasts and the appointed festivals, ^elthe grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs ^emas much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 When the prince provides ^ena freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, ^eothe gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings ^epas he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

13 ^eq“You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. 14 And ^eryou shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute. 15 Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for ^esa regular burnt offering.

16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift ^etout of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to ^euthe year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. 18 ^evThe prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, ^ewthrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be ^exscattered from his property.”

Boiling Places for Offerings

19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was ^eyat the side of the gate, to the north row of ^ezthe holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. 20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests ^fashall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where ^fbthey shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so ^fctransmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— 22 in the four corners of the court were small ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} courts, forty cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who ^ffminister at the temple ^fgshall boil the sacrifices of the people.”