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46 The Lord God says: “The inner wall’s eastern entrance shall be closed during the six work days but open on the Sabbath and on the days of the new moon celebrations. The prince shall enter the outside entry hall of the passageway and proceed to the inner wall at the other end while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He shall worship inside the passageway and then return back to the entrance, which shall not be closed until evening. The people shall worship the Lord in front of this passageway on the Sabbaths and on the days of the new moon celebrations.

“The burnt offering that the prince sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbath days shall be six lambs and a ram, all unblemished. He shall present a meal offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount he is willing to give with each lamb. And he shall bring three quarts of olive oil for each half bushel of flour. At the new moon celebration, he shall bring one young bull in perfect condition, six lambs, and one ram, all without any blemish. With the young bull, he must bring a half bushel[a] of flour for a meal offering. With the ram he must bring a half bushel of flour. With the lamb he is to bring whatever he is willing to give. With each half bushel of grain he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.

“The prince shall go in at the entry hall of the passageway and out the same way; but when the people come in through the north passageway to sacrifice during the religious feasts, they must go out through the south passageway. Those coming in from the south must go out by the north. They must never go out the same way they come in, but must always use the opposite passageway. 10 The prince shall enter and leave with the common people on these occasions.

11 “To summarize: At the special feasts and sacred festivals the meal offering shall be a half bushel with the young bull; a half bushel with the ram; as much as the prince is willing to give with each lamb; and three quarts of oil with each half bushel of grain. 12 Whenever the prince offers an extra burnt offering or peace offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the inner eastern gate shall be opened up for him to enter, and he shall offer his sacrifices just as on the Sabbaths. Then he shall turn around and go out, and the passage shall be shut behind him.

13 “Each morning a yearling lamb must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord. 14-15 And there must be a meal offering each morning—five pounds of flour with one quart of oil with which to mix it. This is a permanent ordinance—the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil shall be provided every morning for the daily sacrifice.”

16 The Sovereign Lord says: “If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him forever. 17 But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Release (every seventh year) when he is set free; then the land returns to the prince. Only gifts to his sons are permanent. 18 And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I don’t want my people losing their property and having to move away.”

19-20 After that, using the door through the wall at the side of the main passageway, he led me through the entrance to the block of sacred chambers that faced north. There, at the extreme west end of these rooms, I saw a place where, my guide told me, the priests boil the meat of the trespass offering and sin offering and bake the flour of the flour offerings into bread. They do it here to avoid the necessity of carrying the sacrifices through the outer court, in case they harm the people.

21-22 Then he brought me out to the outer court again and led me to each of the four corners of the court. I saw that in each corner there was a room 70 feet long by 52-1/2 feet wide, enclosed by walls. 23 Around the inside of these walls there ran a line of brick boiling vats with ovens underneath. 24 He said these rooms were where the Temple assistants—the Levites—boil the sacrifices the people offer.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:7 a half bushel, literally, “one ephah.”

46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court(A) facing east(B) is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon(C) it is to be opened. The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico(D) of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering(E) and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.(F) On the Sabbaths(G) and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway.(H) The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah,[a] and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin[b] of olive oil for each ephah.(I) On the day of the New Moon(J) he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect.(K) He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(L) When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico(M) of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.(N)

“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals,(O) whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. 10 The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out.(P) 11 At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(Q)

12 “‘When the prince provides(R) a freewill offering(S) to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.(T)

13 “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning(U) you shall provide it.(V) 14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah[c] with a third of a hin[d] of oil(W) to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.(X) 15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular(Y) burnt offering.(Z)

16 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance.(AA) 17 If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom;(AB) then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. 18 The prince must not take(AC) any of the inheritance(AD) of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.’”

19 Then the man brought me through the entrance(AE) at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north,(AF) which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering[e] and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating(AG) the people.”(AH)

21 He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. 22 In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed[f] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide;[g] each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. 23 Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all around under the ledge. 24 He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, probably about 35 pounds or about 16 kilograms; also in verses 7 and 11
  2. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters; also in verses 7 and 11
  3. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms
  4. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, about 1 1/2 quarts or about 1.3 liters
  5. Ezekiel 46:20 Or purification offering
  6. Ezekiel 46:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  7. Ezekiel 46:22 That is, about 70 feet long and 53 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 16 meters wide