Ezekiel 46

₁The Lord God says: ‘The eastern gate to the inner courtyard must stay closed on the 6 days when people work. But they must open the gate on the Sabbath day and on the day of the new moon. ₂Then the ruler must come in from the outside, through the porch of the gate, and he must stop at the doorstep of the gate. The priests must then sacrifice the ruler's burnt-offerings and meal-offerings. Then the ruler must bow down at the doorstep and then he must go out. But they must not close and lock the gate until evening. ₃The people of the land must bow down before the Lord at the door of the same gate every Sabbath day and the day of the new moon.

₄The burnt-offering that the ruler must bring to the Lord on the Sabbath day is 6 healthy lambs and a healthy sheep ram. ₅The grain-offering that he has to give with the sheep ram must be one ephah, and with the lambs he can give as much as he wants to give. He must give one hin of olive oil with each ephah. ₆On the day of the new moon the ruler must give a healthy bull, 6 lambs and a sheep ram. All of them must be healthy. ₇He must also bring a grain-offering. The grain-offering must be one ephah of wheat with the bull and one ephah of wheat with the sheep ram, and with the lambs, he can give as much wheat as he wants to give. There must be one hin of olive oil with each ephah of wheat. ₈When the ruler goes in, he must go through the porch of the gate and he must go back the same way.

₉When the people of the land come to stand in front of the Lord on the feasts, the people who came in at the northern gate to worship must go out at the southern gate and the people who came in at the southern gate must go out through the northern gate. No one may go out at the same gate where they came in. They must go out at the other side. ₁₀The ruler must come in with all the other people and he must go out with them.

₁₁On each day of the feasts, the ruler must bring a wheat-offering. This wheat-offering must be one ephah of wheat with each bull and one ephah of wheat with each sheep ram. With the lambs he can give as much wheat as he wants to give, but he must give one hin of olive oil with each ephah of wheat. ₁₂The ruler may also give an offering that he wants to give. It can be a burnt-offering or a meal-offering for the Lord. Then they must open the eastern gate for him and he must sacrifice his burnt-offering or his meal-offering as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he must go out and they must lock the gate behind him. ₁₃The ruler must give a healthy lamb that is one-year-old, every day, to be a burnt-offering. He must do it every morning. ₁₄The ruler must also give one 6th of an ephah of wheat or barley with the burnt-offering every morning, and one 3rd hin of olive oil to wet the flour. It is a wheat-offering for the Lord and this is what the ruler must always sacrifice. ₁₅They must sacrifice a lamb and a grain-offering with olive oil every morning. This is the burnt-offering that they must bring every day.’

₁₆The Lord God says: ‘When the ruler gives part of his land to one of his sons, then that land will belong to that son. It is his land because his father has given it to him. ₁₇But if the ruler gives land to one of his slaves, then that land will be the slave's land only until the year_of_freedom_and_celebration when all the land must go back to the family to whom it belonged before. Then the slave must give back the land to the ruler. Only his sons may keep the land that he gave them. ₁₈The ruler may not take any of the land that belongs to the people. He may not take away something that belongs to them. He may give only his own land to his sons. He may not chase away any person to take his land.’

₁₉Then the man took me through the door next to the gate. Someone can go through there to the holy rooms of the priests on the northern side. Then I saw a place on the western end. ₂₀The man said to me: ‘That is the place where the priests must wash the meat for the guilt-offering and the sin-offering and where they must bake the bread for the wheat-offering, because they may not bring the meat and bread into the outer courtyard. The meat and the bread are holy and it will be dangerous for the people to come near the meat and the bread.’

₂₁Then the man took me to the outer courtyard, to the 4 corners of the courtyard. In each corner of the courtyard was a smaller courtyard. ₂₂These smaller courtyards in the corners were each 40 cubits long and 30 cubits wide, and smoke was coming from them. ₂₃There was a wall around each courtyard and there were places for cooking all around the walls. ₂₄The man said to me: ‘This is the place where the priests who work at the temple must cook the meat that the people sacrifice.’