Ezekiel 44
44:1And he returned me by the way of the outer gate of the holies, of the one looking according to the east; and this was locked.
44:2And the lord said to me, This gate having been locked will not be opened, and no one will go through it, for the lord God of Israel will go through it, and it will be locked.
44:3For the one leading, this one shall sit down in it to eat bread before the lord. He shall enter by the way of the columned porch of the gate, and according to its way he shall go forth.
44:4And he brought me according to the way of the gate, of the one towards the north over against the house. And I beheld, and behold, the house of the lord was full of glory, and I fell upon my face.
44:5And the lord said to me, O son of man, arrange it upon your heart, and behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears! all as much as I speak to you concerning all the orders of the house of the lord, and all its laws. And arrange your heart for the entrance of the house according to all its exits in all the holy places!
44:6And you shall say to the one rebelling, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord the lord; Let it be enough to you from all your lawless deeds, O house of Israel!
44:7for you to bring in sons of foreigners, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my holy places, and to profane them in your offering my bread loaves, and fat, and blood; and you violated my covenant in all your lawless deeds.
44:8And you kept not the orders of my sanctuary. But you ordered to keep guards in my holy places for yourselves.
44:9On account of this, thus says the lord God; All sons of foreigners, with an uncircumcised heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my holy places, of all foreigners in the midst of the house of Israel.
44:10Only the Levites who hoped upon me in Israel wandering from me after their own ideas, even they shall bear their iniquities;
44:11yet they will be among my holy ones ministering as doorkeepers at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house. These shall slay the whole burnt-offerings and the sacrifices for the people; and these shall stand before the people to minister to them.
44:12Because they ministered to them before the face of their idols, and it became to the house of Israel for a punishment of iniquity. Because of this I lifted my hand against them, says the Lord the lord.
44:13And they shall bear their lawlessness, and they shall not approach unto me to officiate as priest to me, nor to lead forward to all the holy things of the holies. And they shall bear their dishonor in the delusion in which they wandered.
44:14And I will order them to keep the watches of the house for all its works, and for all as much as they should do.
44:15The priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, the ones that kept watches of my holy things in the house of Israel wandering from me; these shall lead forward to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before my face to offer to me fat and blood, says the Lord the lord.
44:16These shall enter into my holy places, and these shall come forward to my table to minister to me, and to guard my watches.
44:17And they shall be in their entering into the gates of the inner courtyard that they shall put on flaxen linen apparels, and they shall not put on wool in their ministering from the inner gate of the courtyard.
44:18And they shall have flaxen linen turbans upon their heads, and shall have flaxen linen pants upon their loins, and they shall not gird with force.
44:19And in their going forth into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off their apparels in which they ministered in them. And they shall put them in the inner chambers of the holies, and shall put on other apparels; and in no way shall they sanctify the people in their own apparels.
44:20And their heads they shall not shave, and their hair they shall not make bare; by covering they shall cover their heads.
44:21And in no way shall any priest drink wine in their entering into the inner courtyard.
44:22And they shall not take a widow and one being cast out for themselves for a wife, but only a virgin from out of the seed of the house of Israel; but if there shall be a widow of a priest they shall take her.
44:23And they shall teach my people between the holy and the profane; and they shall make known to them between unclean and clean.
44:24And these shall attend over a judgment of blood to litigate my ordinances; they shall do justice, and they shall judge my judgments; and they shall keep my laws and my orders in all my holiday feasts; and they shall sanctify my Sabbaths.
44:25And unto a dead soul of a man they shall not enter to defile themselves; but only unto a father, and unto a mother, and unto a son, and unto a daughter, and unto a brother, and unto his sister who has not become a man's wife shall he be defiled.
44:26And after his being cleansed, he shall count out to himself seven days.
44:27And whichever day they should enter into the inner courtyard to minister in the holy place, he shall bring an atonement, says the lord God.
44:28And it will be to them for an inheritance -- I am an inheritance to them; and a possession shall not be given to them among the sons of Israel -- I am their possession.
44:29And the sacrifices, even the ones for a sin offering, and the ones for an ignorance offering, these they shall eat; and every separation offering in Israel will be theirs.
44:30And the first-fruits of all, and the first-born of all, and all the cut-away portions from out of all your first-fruits shall be for the priests; and your first produce you shall give to the priest, to put a blessing upon your houses.
44:31And all decaying flesh, and that taken by wild beasts from the birds and from the cattle the priests shall not eat.