Ezekiel 44:6-16

6 "You shall say to the ¹rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "²Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

7 when you brought in ³foreigners *, ⁴uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you ⁵offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they ⁶made My covenant void -this in addition to all your abominations.

8 "And you have not ⁷kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary."

9 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "⁸No * foreigner * uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners * who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

10 "But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ⁹went astray from Me after their idols, shall ¹⁰bear the punishment for their iniquity.

11 "Yet they shall be ¹¹ministers in My sanctuary, having ¹²oversight at the gates of the house and ¹³ministering in the house; they shall ¹⁴slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ¹⁵stand before them to minister to them.

12 "Because * they ministered to them ¹⁶before their idols and became a ¹⁷stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore * I have ¹⁸sworn * against them," declares the Lord GOD, "that they shall ¹⁹bear the punishment for their iniquity.

13 "And they shall ²⁰not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ²¹bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 "Yet I will appoint them to ²²keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 "But the ²³Levitical priests, the sons of ²⁴Zadok, who ²⁵kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ²⁶went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall ²⁷stand before Me to offer Me the ²⁸fat and the blood," declares the Lord GOD.

16 "They shall ²⁹enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ³⁰table to minister to Me and keep My charge.

Ezekiel 44:6-16 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. Ezekiel 2:5-7; Ezekiel 3:9
• 2. Ezekiel 45:9; 1 Peter 4:3
• 3. Exodus 12:43-49
• 4. Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 9:26
• 5. Leviticus 22:25
• 6. Genesis 17:14
• 7. Leviticus 22:2; Numbers 18:7
• 8. Ezekiel 44:7; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 14:21
• 9. 2 Kings 23:8, 9; Ezekiel 22:26; Ezekiel 44:12
• 10. Numbers 18:23
• 11. Numbers 3:5-37; Numbers 4:1-33; Numbers 18:2-7
• 12. 1 Chronicles 26:1-19
• 13. Ezekiel 40:45; Ezekiel 44:14
• 14. 2 Chronicles 29:34; 2 Chronicles 30:17
• 15. Numbers 16:9
• 16. 2 Kings 16:10-16
• 17. Ezekiel 14:3, 4
• 18. Ezekiel 20:15, 23
• 19. Ezekiel 44:10
• 20. Numbers 18:3
• 21. Ezekiel 16:61, 63; Ezekiel 39:26
• 22. Numbers 18:4; 1 Chronicles 23:28-32; Ezekiel 44:11
• 23. Jeremiah 33:18-22
• 24. Ezekiel 40:46; Ezekiel 43:19; Ezekiel 48:11
• 25. Numbers 18:7; Ezekiel 40:45
• 26. Ezekiel 44:10; Ezekiel 48:11
• 27. Zechariah 3:1, 7
• 28. Leviticus 3:16, 17; Leviticus 17:5, 6; Ezekiel 44:7
• 29. Num 18:5, 7, 8
• 30. Ezekiel 41:22; Malachi 1:7, 12

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "rebellion"
• [b] Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
• [c] Lit "as keepers of My charge in My"
• [d] Lit "lifted up My hand"
• [e] Lit "give"
• [f] Lit "keepers of the charge"