Ezekiel 44; Ezekiel 45

1 He brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faces east. It was closed.

2 The LORD said to me, This gate remains closed. It shouldn't be opened. No one should come in through it because the LORD, Israel's God, has entered through it. It will remain closed.

3 As for the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread in the LORD's presence. He may come in and go out by way of the gate's porch.

4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and suddenly the LORD's glory filled the LORD's temple, and I fell on my face.

5 Then the LORD said to me: Human one, pay close attention! Use your eyes and ears and listen to all that I say to you concerning the regulations of the LORD's temple and all its instructions. Pay close attention to the access to the temple through all the sanctuary portals.

6 Speak to the rebels, to the house of Israel, The LORD God proclaims: Enough of your detestable practices, house of Israel!

7 You made my temple unclean because you brought into my sanctuary foreigners who were physically and spiritually uncircumcised. When you offered my food of fat and blood to me, you broke my covenant with all your detestable practices.

8 You didn't keep charge of my holy things. On the contrary, you appointed them to keep charge in my sanctuary for you.

9 The LORD God proclaims: Foreigners who are spiritually and physically uncircumcised must not enter my sanctuary; that is, all foreigners among the Israelites.

10 But the Levites, who went far from me when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, will bear their guilt.

11 They will keep charge in my sanctuary, and they will oversee the temple gates and keep charge of the temple. They will slaughter the entirely burned offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them.

12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, they brought about the downfall of the house of Israel. For that reason I made a solemn pledge against them—this is what the LORD God says—and they will bear their guilt.

13 They won't approach me to officiate for me as priests or approach any of my holy things or the most holy place. Though they will bear their humiliation and the consequences of their detestable practices,

14 I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all its work, and all that is done in it.

15 As for the priests of the levitical family of Zadok who did keep charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed away from me, they will draw near to me to serve me. They will stand in my presence to present fat and blood to me. This is what the LORD God says.

16 They will come into my sanctuary, and they will approach my table to minister to me. They will keep my charge.

17 When they come through the gates to the inner courtyard, they will wear linen garments. They won't wear any wool when they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard or in the temple.

18 They will have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They won't wear anything that makes them sweat.

19 When they go out to the outer courtyard to the people, they will remove the garments in which they were ministering. They will lay them aside in the holy chambers and wear other clothing. They must not transfer holiness to the people through their clothing.

20 They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they will trim the hair on their heads.

21 None of the priests should drink wine when they come into the inner courtyard.

22 They must not marry widows or divorced women, but only Israelite virgins. Priests may, however, marry the widows of other priests.

23 They must teach my people the difference between the holy and the ordinary, and show them the difference between clean and unclean.

24 They must execute judgments according to my case laws in cases of civil conflict. They must observe my instructions and my regulations regarding all my festivals. They must keep my sabbaths holy.

25 In order to avoid uncleanness, they must not approach the dead. They may, however, become unclean for their father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister.

26 Once the priest is clean again, he must count off seven days.

27 On the day that he comes into the holy place, the inner courtyard, to minister in the holy place, he will present his purification offering. This is what the LORD God says.

28 As for their inheritance, I am their inheritance. They won't be given family property in Israel; I am their family property.

29 They will eat the grain offerings, the purification offerings, and the compensation offerings. Every dedicated thing in Israel belongs to them.

30 The best of the early produce of every kind, and every contribution, all of them, belong to the priests. You will give the best of your bread dough to the priest so that a blessing may come to rest on your household.

31 The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies naturally or is torn apart by prey.

1 When you distribute the land as an inheritance, you will set aside a holy portion of land for the LORD. It will be 7.1 miles long and 5.68 miles wide. It will be holy throughout the entire area.

2 Out of this portion, an area seven hundred fifty feet by seven hundred fifty feet square will be for the sanctuary. All around it will be an open space seventy-five feet wide.

3 Beginning with this measurement, you will measure out an area 7.1 miles long and 2.84 miles wide. The sanctuary, the most holy place, will lie on it.

4 It is holy, set apart from the land, and it belongs to the priests who draw near to minister in the LORD's sanctuary. It will be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary.

5 The area 7.1 miles long and 2.84 miles wide will be for the Levites who minister in the temple. Twenty chambers are theirs as their property.

6 As the property for the city, you will set aside an area 1.42 miles wide and 7.1 miles long next to the holy portion. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

7 The territory for the prince will be on both sides of the holy portion and the city property, alongside the holy portion and alongside the city property, from their western boundaries westward and from their eastern boundaries eastward. Its length will equal one tribal portion, from the western border to the eastern border.

8 The land will be his property in Israel, and my princes will no longer oppress my people. They will give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

9 The LORD God proclaims: Enough, princes of Israel! Turn aside from violence and oppression. Establish justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people! This is what the LORD God says:

10 You must use fair scales, a fair ephah, and a fair bath.

11 The ephah and the bath must be the same size. Both should be calibrated to the homer: each will contain one-tenth of a homer.

12 The shekel must weigh twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will equal one maneh for you.

13 These are your prescribed contributions: one-sixth of an ephah for each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah for each homer of barley;

14 a regular amount of oil, one-tenth of a bath for each kor (each kor contains ten baths);

15 and one sheep from the flock for every two hundred from Israel's pastureland, for grain offerings, for entirely burned offerings, and for well-being sacrifices to make reconciliation for them. This is what the LORD God says.

16 All the people will make this contribution on behalf of the prince in Israel.

17 The prince will be responsible for the entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, new moons, and sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the house of Israel. He will offer the purification offering, the grain offering, the entirely burned offering, and the well-being sacrifice to make reconciliation on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 The LORD God proclaims: On the first day of the first month, you will take a flawless young bull from the herd, and you will purify the sanctuary.

19 The priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering, and he will set it on the doorposts of the temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the doorposts of the gate to the inner courtyard.

20 You will do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins through inadvertence or ignorance. So you will purge the temple.

21 Your Passover will be on the fourteenth day of the first month. Unleavened bread will be eaten during the seven days of the festival.

22 On that day, the prince will provide a young bull as the purification offering for himself and for the people of the land.

23 For the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven flawless bulls and seven flawless rams, one for each day of the festival, as the entirely burned offering for the LORD, and, for the purification offering, one male goat for each day.

24 He will also provide the grain offerings, one ephah for each bull, and one ephah for each ram, with one hin of oil for each ephah.

25 For the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he will make the same provisions for the purification offerings, entirely burned offerings, grain offerings, and oil, for all seven days of the festival.