Ezekiel 44 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sacred place, the one facing east — and it was shut.

And Yahweh said to me, "This gate stays shut. It will not be opened. No one will enter through it — because Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered through it. So it stays shut."

As for the prince — the prince himself may sit inside it to eat a meal in Yahweh's presence. He will enter through the portico of the gate and leave the same way.

Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked — and the brilliant presence of Yahweh filled Yahweh's temple. I fell facedown.

Yahweh said to me, "Son of man, pay close attention. Look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the regulations for Yahweh's temple — every rule for entering it and every restriction for leaving it."

Say to the rebellious ones — to the house of Israel: This is what Yahweh, the Sovereign One, says: Enough of all your disgusting practices, house of Israel!

You brought in foreigners — people uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in body — to be in my sacred place, defiling my temple while you offered me food, the fat and blood. You broke my covenant on top of all your other disgusting practices.

You did not keep charge of my sacred things yourselves. Instead, you appointed others to guard my sacred place for you.

This is what Yahweh, the Sovereign One, says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and body, may enter my sacred place — none of the foreigners living among the Israelites.

But the Levites who wandered far from me when Israel went astray — who strayed from me to chase their idols — they will bear the weight of their failure.

They will serve in my sacred place as guards at the temple gates and servants in the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before the people to serve them.

Because they served the people in front of their idols and became a stumbling block of failure to the house of Israel — for this reason I have raised my hand against them, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign One. They will bear the weight of their failure.

They will not come near me to serve as my priests. They will not come near any of my sacred things, the most sacred offerings. They will carry their shame and the consequences of the disgusting things they did.

I will assign them to keep charge of the temple — all its maintenance work and everything that needs to be done in it.

But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who faithfully kept charge of my sacred place when the Israelites wandered away from me — they will come near me to serve me. They will stand before me to offer fat and blood, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign One.

They are the ones who will enter my sacred place. They are the ones who will approach my table to serve me and keep my charge.

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they will wear linen garments. No wool may be on them while they serve at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

They will wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat.

When they go out to the outer court — to the outer court where the people are — they will take off the garments they served in and leave them in the sacred rooms. They will put on other clothes so that they do not transmit set-apartness to the people through their garments.

They will not shave their heads or let their hair grow wild. They will keep their hair properly trimmed.

No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court.

They will not marry widows or divorced women. They may only marry virgins from the line of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

They will teach my people the difference between the sacred and the common, and show them how to distinguish the clean from the unclean.

In legal disputes, they will serve as judges and decide cases according to my laws. They will keep my instructions and regulations for all my appointed festivals, and they will keep my Sabbaths set apart.

A priest must not go near a dead body and make himself unclean. But for a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister — for these he may make himself unclean.

After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days.

On the day he enters the sacred place — the inner court — to serve in the sacred place, he must present his failure offering, declares Yahweh, the Sovereign One.

As for their inheritance — I am their inheritance. You will give them no property in Israel — I am their property.

They will eat the grain offering, the failure offering, and the guilt offering. Everything in Israel devoted to Yahweh will be theirs.

The best of all the firstfruits of every kind, and every contribution of every kind from all your contributions, will belong to the priests. You will give the first portion of your dough to the priest, so that a gift of goodness rests on your household.

The priests must not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was torn apart by predators.