Ezekiel 44

1. And he brought me back by the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary which looks eastward. And it was shut.

2. And the LORD said to 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, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3. It is for the prince; being a prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

4. And 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 temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.

5. And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, note carefully: see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the LORD, and all its laws. And mark well the entrance of the temple, with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6. And you shall say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “O house of Israel, let it be more than enough for you, of all your hateful deeds,

7. That you have brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even 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 charge of My holy things, but you have set keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for themselves.”

9. Thus says the Lord GOD, “No son of an alien, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, or any son of a stranger among the children of Israel.

10. But the Levites who have gone far away from Me, when Israel went astray; those who went astray from Me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

11. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as overseers at the gates of the temple and ministering at the temple. They shall kill 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 caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, 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 Me, to do the office of a priest to Me, nor to come near any of My holy things, in the most holy place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service, and for all that shall be done in it.

15. But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord GOD.

16. “They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

17. And it shall be, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with bleached linen clothing. And no wool shall come on them while they serve in the gates of the inner court, and within the temple.

18. Turbans of bleached linen shall be on their heads, and they shall have bleached linen undergarments on their loins. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.

19. And when they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court of the people, they shall put off their clothes in which they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other clothes, so that they shall not sanctify the people with their own clothes.

20. Nor shall they shave their heads nor allow their hair to grow long; they shall only trim their heads.

21. And the priests shall not drink wine when they enter the inner court.

22. Nor shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is divorced. But they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who had a priest before.

23. And they shall teach My people to discern between the holy and profane, and between the unclean and the clean.

24. And in a dispute they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to My judgments. And they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My assemblies, and they shall keep My Sabbaths holy.

25. And he shall not come near any dead person to defile himself; but he may defile themselves for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband.

26. And after he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.

27. And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” says the Lord GOD.

28. “And it shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29. They shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30. And the first of all the firstfruits of all, and every offering of all, of every kind of your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s. You shall also give the priest the first of your dough, so that he may cause the blessing to rest in your house.

31. The priests shall not eat of anything that died of itself, or is torn, whether it is bird or animal.”