Ezekiel
44:1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary
which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
44:2 Then said the LORD unto 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, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
44:3 It is for the prince; the 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 way of the same.
44:4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I
looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD:
and I fell upon my face.
44:5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine
eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all
the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and
mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the
sanctuary.
44:6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your
abominations,
44:7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in
heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it,
even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they
have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.
44:8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set
keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
44:9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor
uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger
that is among the children of Israel.
44:10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray,
which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear
their iniquity.
44:11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates
of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt
offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before
them to minister unto them.
44:12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the
house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine
hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their
iniquity.
44:13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto
me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place:
but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have
committed.
44:14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the
service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of
my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall
come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to
offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
44:16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my
table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the
inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool
shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner
court, and within.
44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen
breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing
that causeth sweat.
44:19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court
to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they
ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on
other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their
garments.
44:20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow
long; they shall only poll their heads.
44:21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner
court.
44:22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put
away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or
a widow that had a priest before.
44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and
profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
44:24 And in controversy 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 mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
44:25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for
father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for
sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
44:26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
44:27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court,
to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the
Lord GOD.
44:28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance:
and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.
44:29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass
offering: and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
44:30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation
of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall
also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the
blessing to rest in thine house.
44:31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn,
whether it be fowl or beast.
