Ezekiel 46

The Lord GOD says this: The gate of the inner courtyard that faces east must be kept shut during the six workdays. But on the Sabbath day it will be opened, and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

1Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

NoteThe temple in this vision has two courtyards: an outer one the people could enter, and an inner one around the altar reserved for the priests. "New moon": the first day of the lunar month. Hebrew months began when the new crescent was sighted, and that day was marked as a festival with extra sacrifices.

2The prince is to come in from outside through the covered entryway of that gate and stand by the gatepost. The priests will present his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the doorway of the gate and then leave, but the gate must not be shut until evening.

2And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

Note"Prince" translates Hebrew *nasi*, meaning leader or chief. Ezekiel uses this word rather than "king" throughout his temple vision for the ruler of the restored nation. A "burnt offering" was an animal burned whole on the altar, with none of it eaten. "Peace offerings" (sometimes called fellowship offerings) were different: part was burned, part went to the priests, and the rest was eaten as a meal by the person who brought it.

3In the same way, the people of the land are to bow in worship before the LORD at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

3Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.

Note"The people of the land" was a standing phrase for the ordinary landholding population, as distinct from the ruler, the priests and the officials.

4The burnt offering that the prince brings to the LORD on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs with nothing wrong with them and a ram with nothing wrong with it.

4And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.

Note"Nothing wrong with them" renders a technical term meaning free of physical defect, no injury, disease, or deformity. Only unimpaired animals could be offered.

5The grain offering that goes with the ram is to be one ephah. The grain offering that goes with the lambs is to be as much as he is able to give. With every ephah of flour he gives a hin of oil.

5And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

NoteAn ephah was a dry measure of roughly 22 liters, about two-thirds of a bushel. A hin was a liquid measure of roughly 3.7 liters, about a gallon. So the ratio here is about a gallon of olive oil to every two-thirds of a bushel of flour. A "grain offering" was flour mixed with oil, presented alongside an animal sacrifice.

6On the day of the new moon he is to bring a young bull with nothing wrong with it, along with six lambs and a ram. All of them must have nothing wrong with them.

6And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.

7He is to prepare a grain offering as well: an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and as much as he can afford with the lambs, plus a hin of oil for every ephah.

7And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

8When the prince comes in, he is to enter through the covered entryway of that gate, and he is to go out the same way.

8And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

9But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever comes in through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. Whoever comes in through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one is to go back out through the gate he came in by. Each one must go out through the gate on the opposite side.

9But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.

NoteThe "appointed feasts" were the fixed annual festivals (Passover and Unleavened Bread, Weeks, and Booths) when Israelites traveled to the temple. The instruction is about crowd movement: worshipers cross straight through rather than turning back against the flow.

10The prince is to be among them. When they go in, he goes in with them, and when they go out, he goes out with them.

10And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth.

11At the festivals and the appointed feasts the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as he is able to give with the lambs, plus a hin of oil for every ephah.

11And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

12Now when the prince brings an offering he has chosen to give on his own, whether a burnt offering or peace offerings, the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He is to present his burnt offering and his peace offerings just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he goes out, and after he has gone out the gate is shut.

12Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.

13You are to prepare a burnt offering to the LORD every day: a lamb one year old with nothing wrong with it. You are to prepare it every morning.

13Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning.

NoteThis daily lamb was the standing public sacrifice offered on behalf of the whole nation, morning by morning, apart from anything an individual brought.

14Every morning you are also to prepare a grain offering to go with it: a sixth of an ephah of fine flour and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour. This grain offering to the LORD is a rule that stands for all time.

14And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD.

Note"Fine flour" was wheat flour ground and sifted to the finest grade, the most costly kind.

15So they are to prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning, as a burnt offering that keeps going day after day.

15Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering.

16The Lord GOD says this: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance, it belongs to that son's descendants. It becomes their property, handed down in the family.

16Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance.

Note"Inheritance" here means ancestral land, held permanently by a family and handed down the male line. Israelite law treated such land as belonging to the family in perpetuity rather than as ordinary property to be bought and sold freely.

17But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant keeps it only until the year of freedom. After that it goes back to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons; it stays theirs.

17But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them.

NoteThe "year of freedom" is the jubilee. Under the law in Leviticus 25, every fiftieth year land that had been sold or given away reverted to the family that originally held it, and debt-slaves were released. So a gift to a servant was in effect a long lease, not a permanent transfer.

18Also, the prince must not take any of the people's inherited land by force, pushing them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people is driven away from what belongs to him.

18Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.

19Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate into the holy rooms that belonged to the priests, the rooms that faced north. There I saw a place at the far western end.

19After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.

NoteThese "holy rooms" were chambers set aside for the priests, where they ate their portions of the offerings, stored the sacred garments, and kept the offerings apart from ordinary use.

20He said to me, "This is the place where the priests are to boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they are to bake the grain offering. That way they do not carry them out into the outer courtyard and pass the holiness on to the people."

20Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.

NoteTwo distinct sacrifices. The "sin offering" (also called a purification offering) removed ritual pollution from the sanctuary and the worshiper. The "guilt offering" (or reparation offering) covered wrongs that also required paying restitution. Priests ate portions of both, which is why the meat had to be cooked. "Pass the holiness on to the people": in this system, contact with what had been dedicated to God transferred a state of holiness that brought restrictions and danger to anyone not consecrated to handle it. Keeping the cooking inside the priests' area prevented that contact.

21Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me past its four corners. In every corner of the courtyard there was a smaller courtyard.

21Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

22In the four corners of the courtyard there were walled courtyards, each one forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. All four corner courtyards were the same size.

22In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure.

NoteA cubit was the length of a forearm, roughly eighteen inches. Ezekiel's measurements use a longer cubit, a cubit plus a handbreadth, about twenty inches (see Ezekiel 40:5). Each corner courtyard would then be about 68 by 51 feet, or 21 by 16 meters.

23Around the inside of each of the four there was a row of stonework, with places for boiling built at the base of the rows all the way around.

23And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about.

24Then he said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple will boil the sacrifices the people bring."

24Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

Note"Those who serve at the temple" are the Levites, temple staff ranked below the priests, who in this vision handle the people's sacrifices for them.