Ezekiel 44:15-31

Rules for Levitical Priests

15 "But ¹the Levitical priests, ²the sons of Zadok, who kept ³the charge of my sanctuary ⁴when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ⁵to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ⁶the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD.

16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ⁷my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ⁸linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.

18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.

19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ⁹and lay them in the holy chambers. And ¹⁰they shall put on other garments, ¹¹lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20 ¹²They shall not shave their heads or ¹³let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.

21 ¹⁴No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.

22 ¹⁵They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

23 ¹⁶They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ¹⁷show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

24 ¹⁸In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ¹⁹they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 ²⁰They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.

26 ²¹After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him.

27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ²²into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ²³he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

28 ²⁴"This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ²⁵you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29 ²⁶They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ²⁷every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30 ²⁸And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ²⁹You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ³⁰that a blessing may rest on your house.

31 ³¹The priests shall not eat of ³²anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

Ezekiel 44:15-31 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 44

This chapter treats of the eastern gate of the temple being appropriated to the use of the prince, Eze 44:1-3, of the sin of the Lord's people, in admitting strangers and unholy persons into the sanctuary, either to officiate or communicate there, Eze 44:4-9 of the degrading of the Levites, that went astray, assigning them inferior posts and service in the house of God, Eze 44:10-14 and of the establishment of the sons of Zadok in their ministry, who were faithful, Eze 44:15,16, then follow various laws relating to their garments; shaving of their heads; drinking wine; their marriage; performance of their ministerial work; their regard to the dead, and their food and maintenance, Eze 44:17-31.

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 43:19
• 2. See Ezekiel 43:19
• 3. [See ver. 14 above]
• 4. [See ver. 10 above]
• 5. [ver. 11; Deuteronomy 10:8]
• 6. [ver. 7]
• 7. See Ezekiel 41:22
• 8. Exodus 28:39; Exodus 39:27
• 9. Ezekiel 42:14
• 10. Leviticus 6:11
• 11. [Ezekiel 46:20; Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29; Leviticus 6:27]
• 12. Leviticus 21:5; [Ezekiel 5:1]
• 13. [Numbers 6:5]
• 14. Leviticus 10:9
• 15. Lev. 21:7, 13, 14
• 16. [Ezekiel 22:26]; See Leviticus 10:10, 11
• 17. [Ezekiel 22:26]; See Leviticus 10:10, 11
• 18. Deuteronomy 17:8, 9; [2 Chronicles 19:8]
• 19. [Ezekiel 22:26]
• 20. See Leviticus 21:1-3
• 21. Numbers 19:11, 12
• 22. ver. 17, 21
• 23. Ezekiel 40:39; Ezekiel 42:13; Leviticus 4:2, 3
• 24. See Numbers 18:20
• 25. [Ezekiel 45:4, 5]
• 26. See Lev. 6:14-18, 25-29; Leviticus 7:1-6
• 27. Leviticus 27:21, 28; Numbers 18:14
• 28. See Exodus 23:19
• 29. See Numbers 15:20
• 30. Malachi 3:10
• 31. Leviticus 22:8; [Exodus 22:31]; See Leviticus 7:24
• 32. Ezekiel 4:14