Ezekiel 44:1-14

Gate for the Prince

1 Then He brought me back by the way of the ¹outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.

2 The LORD said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the ²LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.

3 "As for the ³prince, he shall sit in it as prince to ⁴eat bread before the LORD; he shall ⁵enter by way of the ⁶porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way."

4 Then He brought me by way of the ⁷north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ⁸glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I ⁹fell on my face.

5 The LORD said to me, "Son of man, ¹⁰mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ¹¹statutes of the house of the LORD and concerning all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary.

6 "You shall say to the ¹²rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹³Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

7 when you brought in ¹⁴foreigners *, ¹⁵uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you ¹⁶offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they ¹⁷made My covenant void -this in addition to all your abominations.

8 "And you have not ¹⁸kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary."

9 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹⁹No * 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 ²⁰went astray from Me after their idols, shall ²¹bear the punishment for their iniquity.

11 "Yet they shall be ²²ministers in My sanctuary, having ²³oversight at the gates of the house and ²⁴ministering in the house; they shall ²⁵slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ²⁶stand before them to minister to them.

12 "Because * they ministered to them ²⁷before their idols and became a ²⁸stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore * I have ²⁹sworn * against them," declares the Lord GOD, "that they shall ³⁰bear the punishment for their iniquity.

13 "And they shall ³¹not 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 ³²bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

14 "Yet I will appoint them to ³³keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ezekiel 44:1-14 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 40:6, 17; Ezekiel 42:14
• 2. Ezekiel 43:2-4
• 3. Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 37:25
• 4. Genesis 31:54; Exodus 24:9-11
• 5. Ezek 46:2, 8-10
• 6. Ezekiel 40:9
• 7. Ezekiel 40:20, 40
• 8. Isaiah 6:3, 4; Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 3:23; Ezekiel 43:4, 5; Haggai 2:7
• 9. Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 43:3
• 10. Deuteronomy 32:46; Ezekiel 40:4
• 11. Deuteronomy 12:32; Ezekiel 43:10, 11
• 12. Ezekiel 2:5-7; Ezekiel 3:9
• 13. Ezekiel 45:9; 1 Peter 4:3
• 14. Exodus 12:43-49
• 15. Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 9:26
• 16. Leviticus 22:25
• 17. Genesis 17:14
• 18. Leviticus 22:2; Numbers 18:7
• 19. Ezekiel 44:7; Joel 3:17; Zechariah 14:21
• 20. 2 Kings 23:8, 9; Ezekiel 22:26; Ezekiel 44:12
• 21. Numbers 18:23
• 22. Numbers 3:5-37; Numbers 4:1-33; Numbers 18:2-7
• 23. 1 Chronicles 26:1-19
• 24. Ezekiel 40:45; Ezekiel 44:14
• 25. 2 Chronicles 29:34; 2 Chronicles 30:17
• 26. Numbers 16:9
• 27. 2 Kings 16:10-16
• 28. Ezekiel 14:3, 4
• 29. Ezekiel 20:15, 23
• 30. Ezekiel 44:10
• 31. Numbers 18:3
• 32. Ezekiel 16:61, 63; Ezekiel 39:26
• 33. Numbers 18:4; 1 Chronicles 23:28-32; Ezekiel 44:11

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "by his way"
• [b]. Lit "set your heart on"
• [c]. Lit "set your heart on"
• [d]. Lit "rebellion"
• [e]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
• [f]. Lit "as keepers of My charge in My"
• [g]. Lit "lifted up My hand"
• [h]. Lit "give"
• [i]. Lit "keepers of the charge"