Ezekiel 44

44 ¹ Then he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, and it was shut. ² And he said to me, "This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened, and no one may enter through it, because our Father has entered through it; therefore it will remain shut. ³ Only the prince, because he is the prince, may sit in it to eat bread before our Father. He must enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and go out the same way."

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and the glory of our Father filled his house; and I fell on my face.

⁵ And our Father said to me, "Son of man, pay close attention — look with your eyes and hear with your ears everything I tell you about all the statutes of my house and all its laws. Take careful note of the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.

The Father Confronts Israel's Unfaithfulness

⁶ Say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel: This is what the Sovereign Father says: Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel! ⁷ You brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my house, when you offered my bread, the fat, and the blood. You broke my covenant by all your abominations. ⁸ And you did not take care of my holy things; instead, you put others in charge of my sanctuary in your place.

⁹ This is what the Sovereign Father says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who live among the people of Israel, may enter my sanctuary.

¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed, who wandered away from me after their idols, will bear their guilt. ¹¹ They will be ministers in my sanctuary, overseeing the gates of the temple and ministering within. They will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will be on hand to serve them.

¹² Because they ministered to the people before their idols and became a stumbling block of guilt to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn an oath against them, declares the Sovereign Father, and they will bear their guilt. ¹³ They will not come near me to serve me as priests, nor come near any of my holy things or the most holy things; they will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to oversee the temple — all its service and everything that must be done in it.

Faithful Priests Draw Near to the Father

¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who guarded my sanctuary when the people of Israel strayed from me — they will come near me to minister to me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Sovereign Father. ¹⁶ They will enter my sanctuary; they will approach my table to minister to me, and they will carry out my requirements.

¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments. They must wear no wool while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within. ¹⁸ They are to have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat.

¹⁹ When they go out to the people in the outer court, they are to take off the garments in which they ministered and leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments, so that they do not pass on holiness to the people through their garments.

²⁰ They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long; they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. ²¹ No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They must not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins from among the people of Israel, or a priest's widow. ²³ They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴ In a dispute they are to act as judges, deciding according to my rulings. They are to keep my laws and my statutes at all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

²⁵ A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; but for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister he may defile himself. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, seven days must be counted for him. ²⁷ On the day he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he is to offer his sin offering, declares the Sovereign Father.

²⁸ This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel — I am their possession.

²⁹ They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. ³⁰ The best of all the firstfruits of every kind, and every kind of contribution you bring, will belong to the priests. You are also to give the priests the first of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house. ³¹ The priests must not eat any bird or animal that has died on its own or been killed by wild animals.