Ezekiel Chapter 44

The Prince, Levites, and Priests

¹ Then he brought me back through the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; it was shut. ² Yahveh told me,

“Keep this gate shut. Nobody is to go in through it because I’ve^Y gone in through it. ³ The prince will sit in it to eat bread in my^Y presence. He’ll go in by the vestibule of the gate and go out the same way.

Ezek 44:1-3

⁴ Then he brought me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked and watched the glory of Yahveh fill the Temple; I fell on my face. ⁵ Yahveh said,

“Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything I tell you about the statutes and laws of Yahveh’s Temple. Mark well the ones who can and can’t be admitted to the sanctuary. ⁶ Tell the rebellious people in Israel, ‘Enough of your abominations! ⁷ Enough bringing foreigners—uncircumcised in heart and flesh—into my sanctuary to profane my Temple, when you offered me my food, the fat and blood. You made my covenant void—besides all your abominations. ⁸ You’ve not taken care of my holy things yourselves; you’ve set foreigners to take care of my sanctuary.”

Ezek 44:4-8

⁹ “No foreigner living among the Israelites—uncircumcised in heart and flesh—can enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰ The Levites that left me when Israel went astray after their idols will be punished. ¹¹ Yet they will minister in my sanctuary and oversee the gates to the Temple: they’ll slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them in front of their idols and Israel stumbled over them, I’ve sworn that they’ll be punished: ¹³ they won’t come near to serve as priests to me or approach any of my things most holy; they’ll bear their disgrace and the abominations they’ve committed. ¹⁴ Yet I’ll give them responsibility for the Temple, its service, and everything done in it.

Ezek 44:9-14

¹⁵ “But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when Israel left me, will come near to minister to me. They’ll serve me to offer the fat and blood. ¹⁶ They’ll go into my sanctuary; they’ll come near to my table to minister to me and keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they go in at the gates of the inner court, they’ll wear linen vestments, not wool, while they’re ministering at the gates of the inner court and in the Temple. ¹⁸ They’ll wear linen turbans and underclothes around their waist, nothing that will make them sweat. ¹⁹ When they go to the people in the outer court, they’ll take off those vestments, lay them in the holy rooms, and put on other clothes so they won’t transmit holiness to the people. ²⁰ They’re not to shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they’ll trim it. ²¹ They are not to drink wine when they go into the inner court.

 ²² Priests are not to marry a widow or divorced woman, only a virgin from Israel or a priest’s widow. ²³ They’ll teach my people the difference between holy and profane, clean and unclean. ²⁴ In disputes, they’ll act as judges and judge by my ordinances. They’ll keep my laws and statutes at my stated festivals and set aside my Sabbaths. ²⁵ They’re not to defile themselves by going near a dead person except for father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or virgin sister. ²⁶ After he’s defiled, he’ll wait a week and then be clean. ²⁷ The day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister, he’s to offer a sin offering for himself.” 

Ezek 44:15-27

²⁸ “Don’t give them an inheritance in Israel; I’m their possession. ²⁹ They’ll eat the grain offering, sin offering, and guilt offering. Every devoted thing in Israel will belong to them. ³⁰ First part of the harvest of every kind and every kind of contribution will be for the priests. Give the priest the first of your dough to bring a blessing on your house. ³¹ Priests aren’t to eat any bird or animal that’s died naturally or been torn to pieces by animals.           

Ezek 44:28-31