Ezekiel 44

Ezekiel Chapter 44 KJV

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