Add parallel Print Page Options

The Prince and the Feasts

46 “Thus says the Lord God: (A)The gate of (B)the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and (C)on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. (D)The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by (E)the post of the gate. (F)The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at (G)the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. (H)The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. (I)The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord (J)on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. And (K)the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah,[a] and the grain offering with the lambs shall be (L)as much as he is able, together with a hin[b] of oil to each ephah. On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs (M)as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. (N)When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

(O)“When the people of the land (P)come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. 10 When they enter, (Q)the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

11 “At the feasts and the appointed festivals, (R)the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs (S)as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 When the prince provides (T)a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, (U)the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings (V)as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

13 (W)“You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. 14 And (X)you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute. 15 Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for (Y)a regular burnt offering.

16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift (Z)out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to (AA)the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. 18 (AB)The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, (AC)thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be (AD)scattered from his property.”

Boiling Places for Offerings

19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was (AE)at the side of the gate, to the north row of (AF)the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. 20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests (AG)shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where (AH)they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so (AI)transmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me round to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— 22 in the four corners of the court were small[c] courts, forty cubits[d] long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, round each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all round. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who (AJ)minister at the temple (AK)shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 46:5 An ephah was about 3/5 of a bushel or 22 litres
  2. Ezekiel 46:5 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 litres
  3. Ezekiel 46:22 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  4. Ezekiel 46:22 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimetres

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