Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Ezekiel 44
The closed east gate
He brought me back to the sanctuary’s outer gate facing east. It was shut. The LORD told me, “This gate must remain shut. It must not be opened, and no one may enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. It must remain shut. The prince, because he is prince, may sit there to eat bread before the LORD. He must enter by the gate’s vestibule and leave the same way.”
Service in the sanctuary
Then he brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked: the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s temple. I fell facedown. The LORD told me, “Son of man, pay attention. Look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the statutes and instructions of the LORD’s temple. Pay attention to the temple’s entrance and every exit from the sanctuary. Tell the rebellious house of Israel: This is what the Lord GOD says: Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel! You brought foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, into my sanctuary to profane my house while you offered my food, the fat and blood. They broke my covenant in addition to all your abominations. You did not keep charge of my holy things. You appointed others to keep charge of my sanctuary in your place. “This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter my sanctuary, including any foreigner living among the Israelites. But the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed, who strayed from me after their idols, must bear their guilt. They may serve in my sanctuary, attending the temple’s gates and serving in the temple. They will slaughter burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before them to serve them. Because they served the people before their idols and became a stumbling block of guilt for the house of Israel, I have raised my hand in an oath against them, declares the Lord GOD. They must bear their guilt. They must not approach me to serve as priests or come near any of my holy things, the most holy things. They must bear their disgrace for the abominations they committed. Yet I will put them in charge of the temple’s duties, all its service and everything done there.
The priests of Zadok’s line
“But the Levitical priests descended from Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed from me, may approach me to serve me. They will stand before me to offer fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. They may enter my sanctuary and approach my table to serve me. They must keep my charge. When they enter the inner court’s gates, they must wear linen garments. They must wear no wool while serving at the inner court’s gates or inside the temple. They must wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. When they go out to the outer court—to the outer court where the people are—they must remove their service garments and leave them in the holy chambers. They must put on other clothes, so they do not transmit holiness to the people through their garments. They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They must keep their hair trimmed. No priest may drink wine when entering the inner court. They must not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only a virgin of Israelite descent. They may, however, marry the widow of a priest. They must teach my people to distinguish the holy from the common and make known the difference between unclean and clean. In a dispute they must serve as judges and decide it according to my judgments. They must keep my instructions and statutes at all my appointed festivals and keep my Sabbaths holy. A priest must not approach a dead person and become unclean, except for a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister who has not married. After his cleansing, seven days must be counted for him. On the day he enters the holy place, the inner court, to serve there, he must offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.
The priests’ portion
“This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. Give them no landed possession in Israel; I am their possession. They may eat the grain offering, sin offering, and guilt offering. Everything irrevocably devoted in Israel will belong to them. The first of all firstfruits and every contribution you offer will belong to the priests. Give the priest the first portion of your dough, so a blessing may rest on your house. The priests must not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was torn by beasts.