Ezekiel

Contains visions and prophecies of judgment and restoration for Israel and the nations.

Chapter 44

1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.

*Then, he led me back to the gate of the outer holy place facing east, but it was closed.

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, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

*Then the Lord told me, "This gate must be closed and not opened again. No one can enter through it because the Lord, the God of Israel, has already passed through it. That's why it needs to stay closed."

3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

*This verse says that the prince will sit in a special place to eat food in front of God. He should enter through a specific door called the "porch" and leave the same way.

4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.

*Then he showed me the path to the north entrance near the house. I looked and saw that the Lord's glory filled the Lord's temple, and I fell down on the ground.

5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I 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.

*And God told me, "Pay close attention, and look carefully with your eyes, and listen carefully to everything I say about the rules of the Lord's house, and all its laws. Also, be mindful of how people enter the house and when they leave the holy place."

6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,

*And you will tell the rebels, from the house of Israel, like this: The Lord God says, "House of Israel, it's enough with all your wicked acts."

7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.

*You brought foreigners with unchanged hearts and bodies into my holy place, allowing them to make it impure. You offered me bread, fat, and blood while breaking our agreement due to your disgusting actions.

8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

*You did not properly take care of my sacred things. Instead, you placed caretakers in my holy place to look after them for your own benefit.

9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

*Thus says the Lord God: No one with an unchanging heart or uncut body part can enter my holy place, nor any outsider living among the Israelites.

10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

*The Levites who moved far away when Israel went wrong and followed idols will have to face the consequences of their actions.

11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering 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.

*Even so, they will serve in my holy place, watching the entrance to the building and helping with its needs. They will kill sacrifices and burnt offerings for the people and stand before them to assist them.

12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.

*Because they served their idols and led Israel to do wrong; so I promise to punish them, says the Lord God, and they will suffer for their mistakes.

13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

*They cannot be close to me to act as priests or approach my sacred items in the holiest area. Instead, they must carry their shame and the terrible things they've done.

14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

*But I will have them take care of everything in the house, for all the work to be done, and for everything happening there.

15 But the priests the Levites, the sons 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 they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:

*But the priests, the Levites and descendants of Zadok, who took care of my holy place when Israel went away from me, will come closer to serve me and stand in front of me to present the best parts and blood, says the Lord God.

16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

*They will enter my holy place, approach my table to serve me, and follow my instructions.

17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

*When they go into the inner court's gates, they will wear linen clothes and no wool will be on them as they serve at those gates, both inside and outside.

18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

*They will wear linen hats on their heads and linen pants around their waists. They won't tie anything around them that makes them sweat.

19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

*When they leave the inner court and go to the outer court, they must take off the clothes they wore while working and put them in sacred rooms. Then they should wear different clothes. They must not make the people holy with their old clothes.

20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

*They won't shave or let their hair grow long; instead, they will trim their heads.

21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

*Priests won't drink wine when going inside the special area.

22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

*They can't marry a divorced woman or a widow, but should marry virgin girls from the family of Israel or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

*They will teach my people to tell the difference between what is holy and not holy, and what is clean and not clean.

24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

*In disputes, they will be judged; they must decide based on my judgments. They will follow my laws and rules at all gatherings, and they will respect my special rest days.

25 And they shall come at no dead 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.

*They will not approach a deceased person to become unclean. But they can become unclean for their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister who has not been married.

26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

*After being cleaned, they will count seven days for him.

27 And 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.

*On the day he enters the holy place, inside the courtyard, to serve in the sanctuary, he must bring his sin offering, says the Lord God.

28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

*It will belong to them as an inheritance: I am their inheritance. Don't give them any land in Israel: I am their land.

29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering: and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

*They will eat the food offering, the sin offering, and the mistake offering. All dedicated things in Israel will belong to them.

30 And the first 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.

*Give the first part of everything you get and all types of offerings to the priest. Also, give him the first bit of your dough so he can bring blessings to your home.

31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

*Priests cannot eat food that's dead on its own or ripped, whether it's a bird or an animal.

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