*THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel 44 ©
The special use of the east gate of the sanctuary for the prince, v. 1, etc. The Lord, Whose glory was in the temple, speaks again unto the prophet, exhorts him to go on, with a command to reprove His people for their former putting in of unlawful, unmeet and unfit ministers into His house, 4. Who are to be utterly removed from thence, 9. Who shall be abased in their ministry, 10. The children of Zadok are settled in their ministry, instructed concerning their duty, and assured of the maintenance, 15.
THEN he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
Then said the LORD unto me; This gate 1shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by 2it, therefore it shall be shut.
It is for the 3prince; the prince, he shall sit 4in it to eat 5bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall 6go out 7by the way of the same.
¶Then brought he me the way of the north gate 8before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I 9fell upon my face.
And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every 10going forth of the sanctuary.
And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, 11let it suffice you of all your abominations,
In that ye have brought into my sanctuary 12strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and 13uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to 14pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my 15bread, the 16fat and the blood, and 17they have broken my covenant because of all 18your abominations.
And ye have not kept the 19charge of mine 20holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for 21yourselves.
¶ 22Thus saith the Lord GOD; 23No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.
24And the 25Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their 26idols; they shall even bear their 27iniquity.
Yet they shall be 28ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
Because they ministered unto 29them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine 30hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.
And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my 31holy things, in the 32most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their 33abominations which they have committed.
But I will make them keepers of the 34charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
¶But the 35priests the Levites, the 36sons of Zadok, that kept the 37charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my 38table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep 39my charge.
¶And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with 40linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
They shall have linen 41bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth 42sweat.
And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the 43holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not 44sanctify the people with their garments.
Neither shall they 45shave their 46heads, nor suffer their locks to grow 47long; they shall 48only poll their heads.
Neither shall 49any priest drink 50wine, when they enter into the inner court.
51Neither shall they take for their wives a widow,a nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.
And they shall teach my people the 52difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
And in 53controversy they shall 54stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they 55shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine 56assemblies; and they shall hallow my 57sabbaths.
And 58they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
And after he 59is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD.
60And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: Ibam their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every 61dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
And thec62first of all the 63firstfruits of 64all things, and every 65oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest 66the first of your dough, that he may cause the 67blessing to rest in thine house.
The priests shall not eat of any thing that is 68deadd of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.