THEN he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
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.
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.
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.
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.
26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
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.
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.
29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
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.
31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

1Then he brought me backe the way of the gate of the outward Sanctuarie which looketh toward the East, and it was shut.

2Then said the Lord vnto 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 entred in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

3It is for the Prince; the Prince, hee shall sit in it to eate bread before the Lord: hee shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall goe out by the way of the same.

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 vpon my face.

5And the Lord said vnto me; Sonne of man, marke well, and behold with thine eyes, and heare with thine eares, all that I say vnto thee, concerning all the ordinances of the house of ehe Lord, and all the lawes thereof, and marke well the entring in of the house, with euery going foorth of the Sanctuary.

6And thou shalt say to the rebellious, euen to the house of Israel, Thus sayth the Lord God; O yee house of Israel, let it suffice you, of all your abominations;

7In that ye haue brought into my Sanctuarie strangers vncircumcised in heart, and vncircumcised in flesh, to be in my Sanctuarie to pollute it, euen my House, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they haue broken my Couenant, because of all your abominations.

8And yee haue not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye haue set keepers of my charge in my Sanctuarie for your selues.

9 Thus sayth the Lord God, No stranger vncircumcised in heart, nor vncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my Sanctuarie, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

10And the Leuites that are gone away farre from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idoles, they shall euen beare their iniquitie.

11Yet they shall be ministers in my Sanctuary, hauing charge at the gates of the house, and ministring to the house: they shall slay the burnt offring, and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister vnto them:

12Because they ministred vnto them before their idoles, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquitie; therefore haue I lift vp mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall beare their iniquitie.

13And they shall not come neere vnto me to doe the office of a priest vnto me, nor to come neere to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall beare their shame, and their abominations which they haue committed.

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

15 But the priests the Leuites, the sonnes of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuarie, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come neere to me to minister vnto me, and they shall stand before me to offer vnto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.

16They shall enter into my sanctuarie, and they shall come neere to my table to minister vnto mee, and they shall keepe my charge.

17 And it shall come to passe that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linnen garments, and no wooll shall come vpon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

18They shall haue linnen bonets vpon their heads, and shall haue linnen breeches vpon their loynes: they shall not girde themselues with any thing that causeth sweat.

19And when they goe forth into the vtter court, euen into the vtter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministred, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctifie the people with their garments.

20Neither shall they shaue their heads, nor suffer their lockes to grow long, they shall only polle their heads.

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

22Neither shall they take for their wiues a widow, or her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seede of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

23And they shall teach my people the difference betweene the holy and prophane, and cause men to discerne betweene the vncleane and the cleane.

24And in controuersie they shall stand in iudgement, and they shall iudge it according to my iudgements: and they shall keepe my lawes and my statutes in all mine assemblies, and they shall halow my Sabbaths.

25And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselues: but for father or for mother, or for sonne or for daughter, for brother or for sister, that hath had no husband, they may defile themselues.

26And after he is cleansed, they shal reckon vnto him seuen dayes.

27And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuarie, vnto the inner court to minister in the sanctuarie, he shall offer his sinne offring, saith the Lord God.

28And it shall be vnto them for an inheritance; I am their inheritance: and yee shall giue them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29They shal eate the meate offring, and the sinne offring, and the trespasse offring, and euery dedicate thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30And the first of all the first fruits of all things, and euery oblation of all of euery sort of your oblations shall be the priests: yee shall also giue vnto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

31The priests shall not eate of any thing that is dead of it selfe or torne, whether it be foule or beast.

III == Gen 31:54 ; Ezek 46:2 , 8 ; 1st Cor 10:18

V == Ezek 40:4

VI == Ezek 2:5 ; 45:9 ; 1st Peter 4:3

VII == Lev 3:16 ; 17:11 ; 21:6 , 8 , 17 , 21 ; 22:25 ; 26:41 ; Deut 10:16 ; Ezek 43:8 ; Acts 7:51 ; 21:28

VIII == Lev 22:2 ; Ezek 40:45 ; 44:14 , 16

IX == Ezek 44:7

X == 2nd Kings 23:8 ; 2nd Chr 29:4-5 ; Ezek 48:11

XI == Num 16:9 ; 1st Chr 26:1 ; 2nd Chr 29:34

XII == Ps 106:26 ; Isa 9:16 ; Ezek 14:3-4 ; Mal 2:8

XIII == Num 18:3 ; 2nd Kings 23:9 ; Ezek 32:30 ; 36:7

XIV == Num 18:4 ; 1st Chr 23:28 , 32

XV == Deut 10:8 ; 1st Sam 2:35 ; Ezek 40:46 ; 43:19 ; 44:7 , 10

XVI == Ezek 41:22

XVII == Ex 28:39-40 , 43 ; 39:27-28

XVIII == Ex 28:40 , 42 ; 39:28

XIX == Ex 29:37 ; 30:29 ; Lev 6:27

XX == Lev 21:5

XXI == Lev 10:9

XXII == Lev 21:7 , 13-14

XXIII == Lev 10:10-11 ; Ezek 22:26 ; Mal 2:7

XXIV == Deut 17:8 ; 2nd Chr 19:8 , 10 ; Ezek 22:26

XXV == Lev 21:1

XXVI == Num 6:10 ; 19:11

XXVIII == Num 18:20 ; Deut 10:9 ; 18:1-2 ; Josh 13:14 , 33

XXIX == Lev 6:18 , 29 ; 7:6 ; 27:21 , 28 ; Num 18:14

XXX == Ex 13:2 ; 22:29-30 ; 23:19 ; Num 3:13 ; 15:20 ; 18:12-13 ; Neh 10:37 ; Prov 3:9-10 ; Mal 3:10

XXXI == Ex 22:31 ; Lev 22:8

1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, facing the east; but it was closed.

2 He said to me: This gate is to remain closed; it is not to be opened for anyone to enter by it; since the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it, it shall remain closed.

3 Only the prince may sit down in it to eat his meal in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and leave by the same way.

4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the facade of the temple, and when I looked I saw the glory of the LORD filling the LORD'S temple, and I fell prone.

5 Then he said to me: Son of man, pay strict attention, look carefully, and listen intently to all that I will tell you about the statutes and laws of the LORD'S temple; be attentive in regard to those who are to be admitted to the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary.

6 Say to that rebellious house, the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough of all these abominations of yours, O house of Israel!

7 You have admitted foreigners, uncircumcised both in heart and flesh, to my sanctuary to profane it when you offered me food, fat, and blood; thus you have broken my covenant by all your abominations.

8 Instead of caring for the service of my temple, you have appointed such as these to serve me in my sanctuary in your stead.

9 Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, shall ever enter my sanctuary; none of the foreigners who live among the Israelites.

10 But as for the Levites who departed from me when Israel strayed from me to pursue their idols, they shall bear the consequences of their sin.

11 They shall serve in my sanctuary as gatekeepers and temple servants; they shall slaughter the holocausts and the sacrifices for the people, and they shall stand before the people to minister for them.

12 Because they used to minister for them before their idols, and became an occasion of sin to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn an oath against them, says the Lord GOD: they shall bear the consequences of their sin.

13 They shall no longer draw near me to serve as my priests, nor shall they touch any of my sacred things, or the most sacred things. Thus they shall bear their disgrace because of all their abominable deeds.

14 But I will set them to the service of the temple, for all its work and for everything that is to be done in it.

15 As for the levitical priests, however, the Zadokites who cared for my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed from me, they shall draw near me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer me fat and blood, says the Lord GOD.

16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, they who shall approach my table to minister to me, and they who shall carry out my service.

17 Whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments; they shall not put on anything woolen when they minister at the gates of the inner court or within the temple.

18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen drawers on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.

19 When they are to go out to the people in the outer court, they shall take off the garments in which they ministered and leave them in the chambers of the sanctuary, putting on other garments; thus they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 They shall not shave their heads nor let their hair hang loose, but they shall keep their hair carefully trimmed.

21 No priest shall drink wine when he is to enter the inner court.

22 They shall not take for their wives either widows or divorced women, but only virgins of the race of Israel; however, they may marry women who are the widows of priests.

23 They shall teach my people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and make known to them the difference between the clean and the unclean.

24 In capital cases they shall stand as judges, judging them according to my decrees. They shall observe my laws and statutes on all my festivals, and keep my sabbaths holy.

25 They shall not make themselves unclean by coming near any dead person, unless it be their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or maiden sister; for these they may make themselves unclean.

26 After a priest has been cleansed, he must wait an additional seven days,

27 and on the day he enters the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall present his sin offering, says the Lord GOD.

28 They shall have no inheritance, for I am their inheritance; you shall give them no property in Israel, for I am their property.

29 They shall eat the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; whatever is under the ban in Israel shall be theirs.

30 All the choicest first fruits of every kind, and all the best of your offerings of every kind, shall belong to the priests; likewise the best of your dough you shall give to the priests to bring a blessing down upon your house.

31 The priests shall not eat anything, whether flesh or fowl, that has died of itself or has been killed by wild beasts.

v 1-3. The east gate is to be shut except when the prince goes in and out when he eats a fellowship meal with the people. The prince would not be Christ but David or one who is of his line, because of his actions in chapters 44-46.

v 4-9. Ezekiel was humbled to see the glory of the Lord filling the temple. He was to warn the captives when they returned to never again defile the temple.

v 10-14. Because of past wickedness, Levites are downgraded from ministering to serving as gate keepers etc. in the future temple

v 15,16. The line of Zadok had remained faithful to the Lord for the most part, so they would be able to minister in the sanctuary.

v 17-23. Several Mosaic laws are repeated for the new temple. They shall  wear clothes of linen, not wool or anything that causes sweat. They will not wear the same garments outside as in ministering; They are to trim their hair, not let it go long or shave heads; Not to drink wine if they go in to serve (perhaps Nadab and Abihu had);  marry only virgins or a widow who had a priest before, all these to show separation and difference between holy and common.

v 24- They are to judge fairly and hallow the sabbaths; not come near a dead body except close family, and after seven days cleansing bring a sin offering. They will not have an inheritance outside the temple surrounding, for they are God’s possession and are to live off the offerings of the people. Also not eat flesh from natural deaths.