Old Testament · Prophets

Ezekiel chapter 44

Then he brought me back to the outer of , the one facing east, and it was shut.And said to me, “This gate stays shut. It will not be opened. No one will enter through it — because Yahweh, , has entered through it. So it stays shut.”As for the — the prince himself may sit inside it to . 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 . I looked — and the of Yahweh filled Yahweh’s temple. I fell facedown.Yahweh said to me, “, pay close attention. Look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the for Yahweh’s house. Watch the way in, and watch every way out of .”Say to the — to the house of Israel: This is what Yahweh, , says: Enough of all your , house of Israel!You brought in foreigners, people and uncircumcised in body, to be in , defiling my temple while you offered me food, the . You broke my on top of all your other disgusting practices.You did not of . Instead, you put others in your place to keep watch over .This is what Yahweh, the Sovereign One, says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and body, may enter . That holds for every foreigner living among the Israelites.But the who wandered far from me when Israel went astray — who strayed from me to chase their — they will .They will serve in as guards at the temple gates and servants in the temple. They will slaughter the and 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 to the house of Israel — for this reason I have 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, and they will not come near the things that belong to me, . They will carry their 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 , who stayed at their post in 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 . They are the ones who will approach to serve me and keep my charge.When they enter the gates of the inner court, they will wear 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 .When they go out to the outer court where the people are, they will take off the garments they served in and leave them in the rooms kept for God. They will put on other clothes so their garments do not too.They will not or let their hair grow wild. They will keep their hair properly trimmed.No priest may drink when he enters the inner court.They will not marry widows or divorced women. They may only marry from the line of Israel, or a widow of a priest.They will teach my people the difference between and , and show them how to tell the from the .In legal disputes, they will serve as and decide cases according to my laws. They will keep my instructions and regulations for all my , and they will .A priest must not go near a 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 , 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 , declares Yahweh, the Sovereign One.As for their — I am their inheritance. You will give them no in Israel — I am their property.They will eat the , the failure offering, and the . Everything in Israel to Yahweh will be theirs.The best of all the 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 rests on your household.The priests must not eat any bird or animal that or was .