And say to (A)the rebellious house,[a] to the (B)house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, (C)enough of all your abominations, in (D)admitting foreigners, (E)uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, (F)profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You[b] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. And (G)you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

“Thus says the Lord God: (H)No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But (I)the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols (J)when Israel went astray, (K)shall bear their punishment.[c] 11 They shall be (L)ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight (M)at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and (N)they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became (O)a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have (P)sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They (Q)shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but (R)they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep (S)charge of the temple, (T)to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 44:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house
  2. Ezekiel 44:7 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They
  3. Ezekiel 44:10 Or iniquity; also verse 12

Say to rebellious Israel,(A) ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your detestable practices, people of Israel! In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart(B) and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.(C) Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.(D) This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.(E)

10 “‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray(F) and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.(G) 11 They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings(H) and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them.(I) 12 But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall(J) into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand(K) that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.(L) 13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame(M) of their detestable practices.(N) 14 And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.(O)

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