Ezekiel 44

Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.

1The man brought me back to the outer gate of the holy place. That gate faces east. It was shut.

2Then 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.

2The LORD said to me, "This gate must stay shut. It will not be opened. No one may walk through it. The LORD, the God of Israel, came in through this gate. So it must stay shut.

3It 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.

3Only the prince may sit inside this gateway. A prince is the ruler of the people. He may sit there and eat a meal in front of the LORD. He must come in through the porch of the gate. He must go out the same way."

4Then 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.

4Then the man led me to the front of the temple through the north gate. I looked and saw the bright glory of the LORD filling his temple. I fell down with my face to the ground.

5And 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.

5The LORD said to me, "Son of man, pay close attention." Son of man is the name God uses for Ezekiel. "Look with your eyes and listen with your ears. Learn every rule and law for the house of the LORD. Watch carefully who goes into the temple and who comes out.

6And 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,

6Say this to the people of Israel who keep saying no to me. The Lord GOD says: People of Israel, I have had enough of your terrible deeds.

7In 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.

7You brought people from other lands into my holy place. They did not belong to me in their hearts or in their bodies. They made my temple dirty. You did this while you offered me my food, the fat and the blood. You broke your promise to me. This was on top of all your other terrible deeds.

NoteCircumcision was a small cut on a boy's body. It was a sign that he belonged to God's people. "Uncircumcised in heart" means someone who did not love or obey God.

8And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

8You did not take care of my holy things yourselves. You put other people in charge of my holy place for you.

9Thus 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.

9The Lord GOD says: No one from another land may come into my holy place. Not if he does not belong to me in his heart and in his body. That is true even if he lives among the people of Israel.

10And 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.

10Some Levites went far away from me when Israel went astray. Levites are men from the family of Levi who worked at the temple. They followed idols, which are statues people worshiped instead of God. They must carry the weight of their sin.

11Yet 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.

11Even so, they may still work in my holy place. They will take care of the gates and serve in the temple. They will kill the animals people bring as gifts to God. They will stand before the people and help them.

12Because 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.

12They helped the people worship idols. That made Israel fall into sin. So I lifted my hand and swore about them, says the Lord GOD. They must carry the weight of their sin.

13And 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.

13They may not come near me to serve as priests. Priests are the men who bring the people's gifts to God. They may not touch my holy things or the most holy things. They must carry the shame of the wrong things they did.

14But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

14Still, I will give them work to do. They will take care of the temple and everything done inside it.

15But 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:

15But some priests from the family of Levi are different. They are the sons of Zadok. They kept doing their work in my holy place when Israel turned away from me. They may come near and serve me. They will stand before me and offer the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD.

16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

16Only they may go into my holy place. They may come near my table to serve me. They will do the work I give them.

17And 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.

17When they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they must wear clothes made of linen. Linen is cloth made from a plant. They must not wear wool while they serve there or inside.

18They 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.

18They will wear linen cloths wrapped on their heads. They will wear linen shorts underneath. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat.

19And 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.

19Then they go out to the outer courtyard where the people are. First they must take off the clothes they served in. They leave those clothes in the holy rooms. Then they put on other clothes. That way the holiness of those clothes does not pass to the people.

NoteThe King James words "utter court" mean the outer court, the courtyard farther out from the temple.

20Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

20They must not shave their heads bald. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep their hair carefully trimmed.

21Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

21No priest may drink wine before he goes into the inner courtyard.

22Neither 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.

22They must not marry a widow or a woman whose husband sent her away. They must marry a young woman from Israel who has never been married. They may also marry the widow of a priest.

Note"Put away" in the King James Bible means divorced. It means a woman whose husband ended the marriage.

23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

23They must teach my people what is holy and what is not. They must show them what is clean and what is unclean.

24And 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.

24When people argue, the priests will decide who is right. They must decide by my rules. They must keep my laws at all my special feasts. They must keep my Sabbath days holy. The Sabbath is the day set apart for rest.

25And 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.

25A priest must not go near a dead body. That would make him unclean. But he may do it for his father, mother, son, or daughter. He may also do it for his brother, or a sister who has no husband.

26And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

26After he is made clean again, he must wait seven more days.

27And 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.

27Then comes the day he goes back into the holy place and the inner courtyard to serve. On that day he must bring a sin offering, says the Lord GOD.

28And 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.

28The priests will not be given land of their own. I am what they receive. Do not give them any land in Israel. I am what belongs to them.

29They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering: and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

29They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is given fully to God will belong to them.

Note"Meat offering" in the King James Bible means a gift of grain or flour. It is not meat.

30And 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.

30The best of the first crops belongs to the priests. So does every gift the people bring me. Give the priest the first of the dough you make. Then a blessing will rest on your home.

31The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

31The priests must not eat any bird or animal that died on its own. They must not eat one that was killed by wild animals.