Ezekiel

Ezekiel 44 ©

1 The east gate assigned only to the prince. 4 The people reproved for suffering strangers to pollute the sanctuary. 9 Idolaters declared incapable of the priests' office. 15 The sons of Zadok are accepted thereto. 17 Ordinances for the priests.

1

THEN he brought me back the way of the gate of the aoutward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was bshut.

2

Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, chath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3

dIt is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eeat bread fbefore the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

4

¶Then brought he me the way of gthe north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, hthe glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and iI fell upon my face.

5

And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, 1mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that jI 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 going forth of the sanctuary.

6

And thou shalt say to the krebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, llet it suffice you of all your abominations,

7

mIn that ye have brought into my sanctuary 2strangers, nuncircumcised oin heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye poffer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have qbroken my covenant because of all your abominations.

o Le. 21.6,8.
8

And rye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my 3charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

9

¶Thus saith the Lord GOD; sNo stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

10

And tthe Levites that are gone away far from me, when uIsrael went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even vbear their iniquity.

11

wYet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and xministering 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.

12

yBecause they ministered unto them before their idols, and z4caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted aup mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bbear their iniquity.

13

cAnd they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my 5holy things, in the most holy place : but they shall dbear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

d v.10,12.
14

eBut I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

15

fBut the priests the Levites, the gsons 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 unto me, and hthey shall stand before me to offer unto me ithe fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:

16

They jshall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my ktable, to minister unto me, and they shall lkeep my charge.

j Re. 1.6.
17

¶And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, mthey shall be clothed with linen garments; and nno wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

18

They shall have linen obonnets upon their heads, and shall have plinen breeches upon their loins; they shall not *gird themselves 6with any thing that causeth sweat.

19

And when they go forth into the *utter court, even into the utter court to the people, qthey shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they rshall not sanctify the people with their garments.

20

sNeither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

21

Neither tshall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

22

Neither shall they take for their wives a uwidow, nor her that is 7put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow 8that had a priest before.

23

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

24

wAnd in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall xkeep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my ysabbaths.

25

And they shall come at no zdead 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.

26

And after he is acleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

27

bAnd 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.

28

And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I cam their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

29

dThey shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and eevery 9dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30

And the f10first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your *oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

31

gThe priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.