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Ezekiel 41-44
The Message

41 1-2 He brought me into the Temple itself and measured the doorposts on each side. Each was ten and a half feet thick. The entrance was seventeen and a half feet wide. The walls on each side were eight and three-quarters feet thick.

He also measured the Temple Sanctuary: seventy feet by thirty-five feet.

3-4 He went further in and measured the doorposts at the entrance: Each was three and a half feet thick. The entrance itself was ten and a half feet wide, and the entrance walls were twelve and a quarter feet thick. He measured the inside Sanctuary, thirty-five feet square, set at the end of the main Sanctuary. He told me, “This is The Holy of Holies.”

5-7 He measured the wall of the Temple. It was ten and a half feet thick. The side rooms around the Temple were seven feet wide. There were three floors of these side rooms, thirty rooms on each of the three floors. There were supporting beams around the Temple wall to hold up the side rooms, but they were freestanding, not attached to the wall itself. The side rooms around the Temple became wider from first floor to second floor to third floor. A staircase went from the bottom floor, through the middle, and then to the top floor.

8-11 I observed that the Temple had a ten-and-a-half-foot-thick raised base around it, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. The outside walls of the side rooms were eight and three-quarters feet thick. The open area between the side rooms of the Temple and the priests’ rooms was a thirty-five-foot-wide strip all around the Temple. There were two entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one placed on the north side, the other on the south. There were eight and three-quarters feet of open space all around.

12 The house that faced the Temple courtyard to the west was one hundred twenty-two and a half feet wide, with eight-and-three-quarters-foot-thick walls. The length of the wall and building was one hundred fifty-seven and a half feet.

13-14 He measured the Temple: one hundred seventy-five feet long. The Temple courtyard and the house, including its walls, measured a hundred seventy-five feet. The breadth of the front of the Temple and the open area to the east was a hundred seventy-five feet.

15-18 He measured the length of the house facing the courtyard at the back of the Temple, including the shelters on each side: one hundred seventy-five feet. The main Sanctuary, the inner Sanctuary, and the vestibule facing the courtyard were paneled with wood, and had window frames and door frames in all three sections. From floor to windows the walls were paneled. Above the outside entrance to the inner Sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner Sanctuary and the main Sanctuary, angel-cherubim and palm trees were carved in alternating sequence.

18-20 Each angel-cherub had two faces: a human face toward the palm tree on the right and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the left. They were carved around the entire Temple. The cherubim–palm tree motif was carved from floor to door height on the wall of the main Sanctuary.

21-22 The main Sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe. In front of the Holy Place was something that looked like an altar of wood, five and a quarter feet high and three and a half feet square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that stands before God.”

23-26 Both the main Sanctuary and the Holy Place had double doors. Each door had two leaves: two hinged leaves for each door, one set swinging inward and the other set outward. The doors of the main Sanctuary were carved with angel-cherubim and palm trees. There was a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside. There were narrow windows alternating with carved palm trees on both sides of the porch.

* * *

42 1-9 The man led me north into the outside courtyard and brought me to the rooms that are in front of the open space and the house facing north. The length of the house on the north was one hundred seventy-five feet, and its width eighty-seven and a half feet. Across the thirty-five feet that separated the inside courtyard from the paved walkway at the edge of the outside courtyard, the rooms rose level by level for three stories. In front of the rooms on the inside was a hallway seventeen and a half feet wide and one hundred seventy-five feet long. Its entrances were from the north. The upper rooms themselves were narrower, their galleries being wider than on the first and second floors of the building. The rooms on the third floor had no pillars like the pillars in the outside courtyard and were smaller than the rooms on the first and second floors. There was an outside wall parallel to the rooms and the outside courtyard. It fronted the rooms for eighty-seven and a half feet. The row of rooms facing the outside courtyard was eighty-seven and a half feet long. The row on the side nearest the Sanctuary was one hundred seventy-five feet long. The first-floor rooms had their entrance from the east, coming in from the outside courtyard.

10-12 On the south side along the length of the courtyard’s outside wall and fronting on the Temple courtyard were rooms with a walkway in front of them. These were just like the rooms on the north—same exits and dimensions—with the main entrance from the east leading to the hallway and the doors to the rooms the same as those on the north side. The design on the south was a mirror image of that on the north.

13-14 Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms adjacent to the open area are holy rooms where the priests who come before God eat the holy offerings. There they place the holy offerings—grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These are set-apart rooms, holy space. After the priests have entered the Sanctuary, they must not return to the outside courtyard and mingle among the people until they change the sacred garments in which they minister and put on their regular clothes.”

15-16 After he had finished measuring what was inside the Temple area, he took me out the east gate and measured it from the outside. Using his measuring stick, he measured the east side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

17 He measured the north side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

18 He measured the south side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

19 Last of all he went to the west side and measured it: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

20 He measured the wall on all four sides. Each wall was eight hundred seventy-five feet. The walls separated the holy from the ordinary.

The Meaning of the Temple

43 1-3 The man brought me to the east gate. Oh! The bright Glory of the God of Israel rivered out of the east sounding like the roar of floodwaters, and the earth itself glowed with the bright Glory. It looked just like what I had seen when he came to destroy the city, exactly like what I had seen earlier at the Kebar River. And again I fell, face to the ground.

4-5 The bright Glory of God poured into the Temple through the east gate. The Spirit put me on my feet and led me to the inside courtyard and—oh! the bright Glory of God filled the Temple!

6-9 I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple while the man stood beside me. He said, “Son of man, this is the place for my throne, the place I’ll plant my feet. This is the place where I’ll live with the Israelites forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again drag my holy name through the mud with their whoring and the no-god idols their kings set up at all the wayside shrines. When they set up their worship shrines right alongside mine with only a thin wall between them, they dragged my holy name through the mud with their obscene and vile worship. Is it any wonder that I destroyed them in anger? So let them get rid of their whoring ways and the stinking no-god idols introduced by their kings and I’ll move in and live with them forever.

10-11 “Son of man, tell the people of Israel all about the Temple so they’ll be dismayed by their wayward lives. Get them to go over the layout. That will bring them up short. Show them the whole plan of the Temple, its ins and outs, the proportions, the regulations, and the laws. Draw a picture so they can see the design and meaning and live by its design and intent.

12 “This is the law of the Temple: As it radiates from the top of the mountain, everything around it becomes holy ground. Yes, this is law, the meaning, of the Temple.

* * *

13-14 “These are the dimensions of the altar, using the long (twenty-one-inch) ruler. The gutter at its base is twenty-one inches deep and twenty-one inches wide, with a four-inch lip around its edge.

14-15 “The height of the altar is three and a half feet from the base to the first ledge and twenty inches wide. From the first ledge to the second ledge it is seven feet high and twenty-one inches wide. The altar hearth is another seven feet high. Four horns stick upward from the hearth twenty-one inches high.

16-17 “The top of the altar, the hearth, is square, twenty-one by twenty-one feet. The upper ledge is also square, twenty-four and a half feet on each side, with a ten-and-a-half-inch lip and a twenty-one-inch-wide gutter all the way around.

“The steps of the altar ascend from the east.”

18 Then the man said to me, “Son of man, God, the Master, says: ‘These are the ordinances for conduct at the altar when it is built, for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood on it.

19-21 “‘For a sin offering, give a bull to the priests, the Levitical priests who are from the family of Zadok who come into my presence to serve me. Take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar that project from the four corners of the top ledge and all around the lip. That’s to purify the altar and make it fit for the sacrifice. Then take the bull for the sin offerings and burn it in the place set aside for this in the courtyard outside the Sanctuary.

22-24 “‘On the second day, offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. Purify the altar the same as you purified it for the bull. Then, when you have purified it, offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. Present them before God. Sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to God.

25-26 “‘For seven days, prepare a goat for a sin offering daily, and also a bull and a ram from the flock, animals without blemish. For seven days the priests are to get the altar ready for its work, purifying it. This is how you dedicate it.

27 “‘After these seven days of dedication, from the eighth day on, the priests will present your burnt offerings and your peace offerings. And I’ll accept you with pleasure, with delight! Decree of God, the Master.’”

Sanctuary Rules

44 Then the man brought me back to the outside gate complex of the Sanctuary that faces east. But it was shut.

2-3 God spoke to me: “This gate is shut and it’s to stay shut. No one is to go through it because God, the God of Israel, has gone through it. It stays shut. Only the prince, because he’s the prince, may sit there to eat in the presence of God. He is to enter the gate complex through the porch and leave by the same way.”

4 The man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked, and—oh!—the bright Glory of God filling the Temple of God! I fell on my face in worship.

5 God said to me, “Son of man, get a grip on yourself. Use your eyes, use your ears, pay careful attention to everything I tell you about the ordinances of this Temple of God, the way all the laws work, instructions regarding it and all the entrances and exits of the Sanctuary.

6-9 “Tell this bunch of rebels, this family Israel, ‘Message of God, the Master: No more of these vile obscenities, Israel, dragging irreverent and unrepentant outsiders, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, into my Sanctuary, feeding them the sacrificial offerings as if it were the food for a neighborhood picnic. With all your vile obscenities, you’ve broken trust with me, the solemn covenant I made with you. You haven’t taken care of my holy things. You’ve hired out the work to foreigners who care nothing for this place, my Sanctuary. No irreverent and unrepentant aliens, uncircumcised in heart or flesh, not even the ones who live among Israelites, are to enter my Sanctuary.’

10-14 “The Levites who walked off and left me, along with everyone else—all Israel—who took up with all the no-god idols, will pay for everything they did wrong. From now on they’ll do only the menial work in the Sanctuary: guard the gates and help out with the Temple chores—and also kill the sacrificial animals for the people and serve them. Because they acted as priests to the no-god idols and made my people Israel stumble and fall, I’ve taken an oath to punish them. Decree of God, the Master. Yes, they’ll pay for what they’ve done. They’re fired from the priesthood. No longer will they come into my presence and take care of my holy things. No more access to The Holy Place! They’ll have to live with what they’ve done, carry the shame of their vile and obscene lives. From now on, their job is to sweep up and run errands. That’s it.

15-16 “But the Levitical priests who descend from Zadok, who faithfully took care of my Sanctuary when everyone else went off and left me, are going to come into my presence and serve me. They are going to carry out the priestly work of offering the solemn sacrifices of worship. Decree of God, the Master. They’re the only ones permitted to enter my Sanctuary. They’re the only ones to approach my table and serve me, accompanying me in my work.

17-19 “When they enter the gate complex of the inside courtyard, they are to dress in linen. No woolens are to be worn while serving at the gate complex of the inside courtyard or inside the Temple itself. They’re to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes—nothing that makes them sweat. When they go out into the outside courtyard where the people gather, they must first change out of the clothes they have been serving in, leaving them in the sacred rooms where they change to their everyday clothes, so that they don’t trivialize their holy work by the way they dress.

20 “They are to neither shave their heads nor let their hair become unkempt, but must keep their hair trimmed and neat.

21 “No priest is to drink on the job—no wine while in the inside courtyard.

22 “Priests are not to marry widows or divorcees, but only Israelite virgins or widows of priests.

23 “Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean.

24 “When there’s a difference of opinion, the priests will arbitrate. They’ll decide on the basis of my judgments, laws, and statutes. They are in charge of making sure the appointed feasts are honored and my Sabbaths kept holy in the ways I’ve commanded.

25-27 “A priest must not contaminate himself by going near a corpse. But when the dead person is his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, he can approach the dead. But after he has been purified, he must wait another seven days. Then, when he returns to the inside courtyard of the Sanctuary to do his priestly work in the Sanctuary, he must first offer a sin offering for himself. Decree of God, the Master.

28-30 “As to priests owning land, I am their inheritance. Don’t give any land in Israel to them. I am their ‘land,’ their inheritance. They’ll take their meals from the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel offered to God in worship is theirs. The best of everything grown, plus all special gifts, comes to the priests. All that is given in worship to God goes to them. Serve them first. Serve from your best and your home will be blessed.

31 “Priests are not to eat any meat from bird or animal unfit for ordinary human consumption, such as carcasses found dead on the road or in the field.”

Listen to Ezekiel 41-44
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Ezekiel 41-44
New International Version

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall(A) and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits[a] on each side.[b] 2 The entrance was ten cubits[c] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits[d] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.[e](B)

3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits[f] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits[g] wide. 4 And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.(C) He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.(D)”

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits[h] wide. 6 The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty(E) on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.(F) 7 The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway(G) went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

8 I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits[i] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.[j]

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits[k] long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.(H)

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries(I) on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, 16 as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows(J) and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.(K) 17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary 18 were carved(L) cherubim(M) and palm trees.(N) Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:(O) 19 the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple.(P) 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

21 The main hall(Q) had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. 22 There was a wooden altar(R) three cubits[l] high and two cubits square[m]; its corners, its base[n] and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table(S) that is before the Lord.” 23 Both the main hall(T) and the Most Holy Place had double doors.(U) 24 Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves(V) for each door. 25 And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. 26 On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.(W)

The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms(X) opposite the temple courtyard(Y) and opposite the outer wall on the north side.(Z) 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.[o] 3 Both in the section twenty cubits[p] from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery(AA) faced gallery at the three levels.(AB) 4 In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits[q] long.[r] Their doors were on the north.(AC) 5 Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. 6 The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. 7 There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8 While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9 The lower rooms had an entrance(AD) on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

10 On the south side[s] along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard(AE) and opposite the outer wall, were rooms(AF) 11 with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north 12 were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

13 Then he said to me, “The north(AG) and south rooms(AH) facing the temple courtyard(AI) are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings,(AJ) the sin offerings[t](AK) and the guilt offerings(AL)—for the place is holy.(AM) 14 Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments(AN) in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.(AO)”

15 When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate(AP) and measured the area all around: 16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.[u][v] 17 He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits[w] by the measuring rod. 18 He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 20 So he measured(AQ) the area(AR) on all four sides. It had a wall around it,(AS) five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide,(AT) to separate the holy from the common.(AU)

God’s Glory Returns to the Temple

43 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east,(AV) 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters,(AW) and the land was radiant with his glory.(AX) 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he[x] came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory(AY) of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.(AZ) 5 Then the Spirit(BA) lifted me up(BB) and brought me into the inner court, and the glory(BC) of the Lord filled the temple.(BD)

6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne(BE) and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile(BF) my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings[y] for their kings at their death.[z](BG) 8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever.(BH)

10 “Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed(BI) of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations[aa] and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.(BJ)

12 “This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area(BK) on top of the mountain will be most holy.(BL) Such is the law of the temple.

The Great Altar Restored

13 “These are the measurements of the altar(BM) in long cubits,[ab] that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: Its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span[ac] around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: 14 From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes around the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide.[ad] From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes around the altar it is four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide.[ae] 15 Above that, the altar hearth(BN) is four cubits high, and four horns(BO) project upward from the hearth. 16 The altar hearth is square, twelve cubits[af] long and twelve cubits wide.(BP) 17 The upper ledge(BQ) also is square, fourteen cubits[ag] long and fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a rim of half a cubit.[ah] The steps(BR) of the altar face east.(BS)”

18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings(BT) and splashing blood(BU) against the altar when it is built: 19 You are to give a young bull(BV) as a sin offering[ai] to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok,(BW) who come near(BX) to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar(BY) and on the four corners of the upper ledge(BZ) and all around the rim, and so purify the altar(CA) and make atonement for it. 21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.(CB)

22 “On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect.(CC) 24 You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt(CD) on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

25 “For seven days(CE) you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect.(CF) 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. 27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day(CG) on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings(CH) and fellowship offerings(CI) on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

The Priesthood Restored

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east,(CJ) and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it.(CK) It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. 3 The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence(CL) of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.(CM)”

4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gate(CN) to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple(CO) of the Lord, and I fell facedown.(CP)

5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the entrance(CQ) to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.(CR) 6 Say to rebellious Israel,(CS) ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your detestable practices, people of Israel! 7 In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart(CT) and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.(CU) 8 Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.(CV) 9 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.(CW)

10 “‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray(CX) and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.(CY) 11 They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings(CZ) and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them.(DA) 12 But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall(DB) into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand(DC) that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.(DD) 13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame(DE) of their detestable practices.(DF) 14 And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.(DG)

15 “‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok(DH) and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat(DI) and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord.(DJ) 16 They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table(DK) to minister before me and serve me as guards.(DL)

17 “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes;(DM) they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. 18 They are to wear linen turbans(DN) on their heads and linen undergarments(DO) around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.(DP) 19 When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated(DQ) through contact with their garments.(DR)

20 “‘They must not shave(DS) their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.(DT) 21 No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court.(DU) 22 They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests.(DV) 23 They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common(DW) and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.(DX)

24 “‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges(DY) and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed festivals,(DZ) and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.(EA)

25 “‘A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself.(EB) 26 After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days.(EC) 27 On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary(ED) to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering[aj](EE) for himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.

28 “‘I am to be the only inheritance(EF) the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. 29 They will eat(EG) the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything in Israel devoted[ak] to the Lord(EH) will belong to them.(EI) 30 The best of all the firstfruits(EJ) and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal(EK) so that a blessing(EL) may rest on your household.(EM) 31 The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal, found dead(EN) or torn by wild animals.(EO)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 41:1 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters; also in verses 3, 5 and 8
  2. Ezekiel 41:1 One Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts side, the width of the tent
  3. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 18 feet or about 5.3 meters
  4. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 8 3/4 feet or about 2.7 meters; also in verses 9, 11 and 12
  5. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 70 feet long and 35 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 11 meters wide
  6. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 3 1/2 feet or about 1.1 meters; also in verse 22
  7. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 12 feet or about 3.7 meters
  8. Ezekiel 41:5 That is, about 7 feet or about 2.1 meters
  9. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 123 feet or about 37 meters
  10. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 158 feet or about 48 meters
  11. Ezekiel 41:13 That is, about 175 feet or about 53 meters; also in verses 14 and 15
  12. Ezekiel 41:22 That is, about 5 1/4 feet or about 1.5 meters
  13. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew long
  14. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length
  15. Ezekiel 42:2 That is, about 175 feet long and 88 feet wide or about 53 meters long and 27 meters wide
  16. Ezekiel 42:3 That is, about 35 feet or about 11 meters
  17. Ezekiel 42:4 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew and one cubit
  18. Ezekiel 42:4 That is, about 18 feet wide and 175 feet long or about 5.3 meters wide and 53 meters long
  19. Ezekiel 42:10 Septuagint; Hebrew Eastward
  20. Ezekiel 42:13 Or purification offerings
  21. Ezekiel 42:16 See Septuagint of verse 17; Hebrew rods; also in verses 18 and 19.
  22. Ezekiel 42:16 Five hundred cubits equal about 875 feet or about 265 meters; also in verses 17, 18 and 19.
  23. Ezekiel 42:17 Septuagint; Hebrew rods
  24. Ezekiel 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts I
  25. Ezekiel 43:7 Or the memorial monuments; also in verse 9
  26. Ezekiel 43:7 Or their high places
  27. Ezekiel 43:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts regulations and its whole design
  28. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, about 21 inches or about 53 centimeters; also in verses 14 and 17. The long cubit is the basic unit for linear measurement throughout Ezekiel 40–48.
  29. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, about 11 inches or about 27 centimeters
  30. Ezekiel 43:14 That is, about 3 1/2 feet high and 1 3/4 feet wide or about 105 centimeters high and 53 centimeters wide
  31. Ezekiel 43:14 That is, about 7 feet high and 1 3/4 feet wide or about 2.1 meters high and 53 centimeters wide
  32. Ezekiel 43:16 That is, about 21 feet or about 6.4 meters
  33. Ezekiel 43:17 That is, about 25 feet or about 7.4 meters
  34. Ezekiel 43:17 That is, about 11 inches or about 27 centimeters
  35. Ezekiel 43:19 Or purification offering; also in verses 21, 22 and 25
  36. Ezekiel 44:27 Or purification offering; also in verse 29
  37. Ezekiel 44:29 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

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