The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 44 The Restoration of the Temple: Reforms in the Sanctuary Ministry

 The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 44

The Restoration of the Temple: Reforms in the Sanctuary Ministry

1 Then he brought me back to the way of the outer 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, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.

3 As for the prince, he shall sit there as prince, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and by the same way he shall go out.”

4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and it fell on my face.

5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, consider in your heart, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; And consider in your heart the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 And say to the rebels, to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel!

7 For you have called strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it in my house, when you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood; and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.

8 And you have not kept the ordinance of my holy things; but you have appointed yourselves keepers of my ordinance in my sanctuary.

9 Thus says the Lord God: No stranger, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter my sanctuary, among the strangers who are found among the children of Israel.

10 But the Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray, who wandered off from me to follow their idols, shall bear their iniquity.

11 Nevertheless, they shall minister in my sanctuary, in charge of the gates of the house, and they shall minister to the house: they shall slaughter 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 served the house of Israel as a stumbling block of wickedness: therefore I have lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity.

13 And they shall not come near to me to minister to me in the priesthood, nor shall they come near to any of my holy things, to the most holy things, but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 However, I will appoint them as keepers of the ordinance of the house, in all its service, and in everything that is done in it.

15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the ordinance of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.

16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my ordinance.

17 And it shall be that when they enter through the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall be put upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court, within the house.

18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes them to sweat.

19 When they go out to the outer court, to the people in the outer court, they shall take off the garments in which they ministered and put them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments, so that they do not consecrate the people with their garments.

20 They shall not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they shall trim their hair as is proper.

21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.

22 They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but shall take virgins from the lineage of the house of Israel, or a widow who is a priest’s widow.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

24 And when there is a dispute, they shall stand before him to judge him; according to my judgments they shall judge him. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 And they shall not approach any dead person, for they would defile themselves; only for father or mother, or for son or daughter, or for brother or sister who has no husband, may they defile themselves.

26 And after his purification they shall count seven days for him.

27 And on the day that he enters the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.

28 They will have an inheritance: I will be their inheritance; I will not give them a possession in Israel: I am their possession.

29 And the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering they shall eat; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 And the first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every offering of all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also give the first of your dough to the priest, so that he may bestow a blessing on your house.

31 The priests shall not eat anything that has died or has been carried away from birds or animals.