Ezek 44
1
Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks
toward the east; and it was shut.
2
And YHWH said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall
any man enter in by it; for YHWH, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore
it shall be shut.
3
As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before YHWH; he shall
enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
4
Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and,
behold, the glory of YHWH filled the house of YHWH: and I fell upon my face.
5
And YHWH said to me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with your eyes, and hear with
your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of YHWH,
and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every egress
of the sanctuary.
6
And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord
YHWH: O you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,
7
in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in
flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread,
the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, [to add] to all your abominations.
8
And you have not kept the charge of my holy things; but you have set keepers of my
charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
9
Thus says the Lord YHWH, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in
flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children
of Israel.
10
But the Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from
me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
11
Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the
house, and ministering in the house: they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice
for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
12
Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of
iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them,
says the Lord YHWH, and they shall bear their iniquity.
13
And they shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to
come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall
bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
14
Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all its service,
and for all that shall be done therein.
15
But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary
when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister
to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the
Lord YHWH:
16
they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister
to me, and they shall keep my charge.
17
And it shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall
be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister
in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18
They shall have linen tires upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their
loins; they shall not gird themselves with [anything that causes] sweat.
19
And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people,
they shall put off their garments wherein they minister, and lay them in the holy
chambers; and they shall put on other garments, that they sanctify not the people
with their garments.
20
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall
only cut off the hair of their heads.
21
Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
22
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they
shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow
of a priest.
23
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and
cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to mine ordinances shall
they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts;
and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
25
And they shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for
mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has had no husband,
they may defile themselves.
26
And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.
27
And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister
in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, says the Lord YHWH.
28
And they shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them
no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
29
They shall eat the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering;
and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30
And the first of all the first-fruits of every thing, and every oblation of everything,
of all your oblations, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests
the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
31
The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it
be bird or beast.