46 The Lord God says: “The inner wall’s eastern entrance shall be closed during the six work days but open on the Sabbath and on the days of the new moon celebrations. 2 The prince shall enter the outside entry hall of the passageway and proceed to the inner wall at the other end while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He shall worship inside the passageway and then return back to the entrance, which shall not be closed until evening. 3 The people shall worship the Lord in front of this passageway on the Sabbaths and on the days of the new moon celebrations.
4 “The burnt offering that the prince sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbath days shall be six lambs and a ram, all unblemished. 5 He shall present a meal offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount he is willing to give with each lamb. And he shall bring three quarts of olive oil for each half bushel of flour. 6 At the new moon celebration, he shall bring one young bull in perfect condition, six lambs, and one ram, all without any blemish. 7 With the young bull, he must bring a half bushel[a] of flour for a meal offering. With the ram he must bring a half bushel* of flour. With the lamb he is to bring whatever he is willing to give. With each half bushel of grain he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.
8 “The prince shall go in at the entry hall of the passageway and out the same way; 9 but when the people come in through the north passageway to sacrifice during the religious feasts, they must go out through the south passageway. Those coming in from the south must go out by the north. They must never go out the same way they come in, but must always use the opposite passageway. 10 The prince shall enter and leave with the common people on these occasions.
11 “To summarize: At the special feasts and sacred festivals the meal offering shall be a half bushel with the young bull; a half bushel with the ram; as much as the prince is willing to give with each lamb; and three quarts of oil with each half bushel of grain. 12 Whenever the prince offers an extra burnt offering or peace offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the inner eastern gate shall be opened up for him to enter, and he shall offer his sacrifices just as on the Sabbaths. Then he shall turn around and go out, and the passage shall be shut behind him.
13 “Each morning a yearling lamb must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord. 14-15 And there must be a meal offering each morning—five pounds of flour with one quart of oil with which to mix it. This is a permanent ordinance—the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil shall be provided every morning for the daily sacrifice.”
16 The Sovereign Lord says: “If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him forever. 17 But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Release (every seventh year) when he is set free; then the land returns to the prince. Only gifts to his sons are permanent. 18 And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I don’t want my people losing their property and having to move away.”
19-20 After that, using the door through the wall at the side of the main passageway, he led me through the entrance to the block of sacred chambers that faced north. There, at the extreme west end of these rooms, I saw a place where, my guide told me, the priests boil the meat of the trespass offering and sin offering and bake the flour of the flour offerings into bread. They do it here to avoid the necessity of carrying the sacrifices through the outer court, in case they harm the people.
21-22 Then he brought me out to the outer court again and led me to each of the four corners of the court. I saw that in each corner there was a room 70 feet long by 52½ feet wide, enclosed by walls. 23 Around the inside of these walls there ran a line of brick boiling vats with ovens underneath. 24 He said these rooms were where the Temple assistants—the Levites—boil the sacrifices the people offer.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 46:7 a half bushel, literally, “one ephah.”