Reciting the Dead Sea Scrolls

 

Ezekiel 44-48

Chapter 44

1; And he brought me back the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, facing east. And it was shut.

2; And YAHWEH said to me, This gate shall be shut; it will not be opened. And a man shall not enter by it, because YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, has entered by it; so it shall be shut.

3; As for the prince, as prince he shall sit in it to eat bread before YAHWEH. He shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and by his way shall go out.

4; And he brought me by the way of the north gate, to the face of the house. And I looked, and, behold, the glory of YAHWEH filled the house of YAHWEH,! And I fell on my face.

5; And YAHWEH said to me, Son of man, set your heart and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say to you of all the statutes of the house of YAHWEH, and of all its laws. And set your heart to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6; And you shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, So says Adonai YAHWEH: Enough to you, of all your abominations, O house of Israel,

7; when you brought in the sons of strangers, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even My house, when you bring near My bread, the fat and the blood. And they have broken My covenant by all your abominations.

8; And you have not kept the charge of My set-apart things, but you have set them as keepers of My charge in My sanctuary, for themselves.

9; So says Adonai YAHWEH: No son of an foreigner, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, or any son of a foreigner who is among the sons of Israel.

10; But the Levites who have gone far from Me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me, going after their idols, even they shall bear their iniquity.

11; Yet they shall do the menial tasks in My sanctuary, overseers at the gates of the house, and serving in the house. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them, to serve them.

12; Because they attended to them before their idols, and became a stumbling-block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them, declares Adonai YAHWEH. And they shall bear their iniquity.

13; And they shall not come near to Me to serve as priest to Me, nor come near to any of My set-apart things, to the holiest of the set-apart things, but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have done.

14; But I will give them to be keepers of the charge of the house to be bond- servants for all labour, and for all that shall be done in it.

15; But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me. And they shall stand before Me to bring near to Me the fat and the blood, declares Adonai YAHWEH.

16; They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister to Me. And they shall keep My charge.

17; And it shall be when they enter in the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. And wool shall not come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and in the house.

18; Turbans of bleached linen shall be on their heads, and linen under- garments shall be on their loins. They shall not gird with sweat.

19; And when they go out into the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments by which they ministered and lay them in the set-apart chambers. And they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people with their own garments.

20; And they shall not shave their heads, and they shall not send forth long hair; trimming they shall trim their heads.

21; And every priest shall not drink wine when they enter into the inner court.

22; And they shall not take a widow or a divorcee, for wives for themselves, but they shall only take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

23; And they shall teach My people between the set-apart and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, to make them known.

24; And in a dispute, they shall stand to judge, they shall judge it by My judgments. And they shall observe My Torah and My statutes in My appointed feasts, and they shall sanctify My Sabbaths.

25; And he shall not come to a dead man, to defile himself; but for father, or for mother, or for a son, or for a daughter, for a brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.

26; And after he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.

27; And in the day he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring his sin offering, declares Adonai YAHWEH.

28; And it shall be to them for an inheritance; I am their inheritance; and you shall not give them possession in Israel; I am their possession.

29; They shall eat the food offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering. And every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

30; And the first of all the first-fruits of all, and every one of the heave offerings of all, of all your heave offerings, shall be for the priests. And you shall give to the priest the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.

31; The priests shall not eat of every corpse and torn thing, of birds, or of beasts.

 

Chapter 45

1; And when you shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance, you shall offer a heave offering to YAHWEH, a set-apart portion of the land. The length shall be twenty five thousand cubits long and the width ten thousand. It shall be set-apart in all its borders all around.

2; Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred by five hundred cubits, square all around, and fifty cubits of open space shall be all around.

3; And from this measure you shall measure the length, twenty five thousand cubits, and the width, ten thousand. And in it shall be the sanctuary, the set-apart of holies.

4; It is the set-apart portion of the land for the priests, it shall be for the ministers of the sanctuary who come near to minister to YAHWEH. And it shall be for them a place for their houses, and a set-apart place for the sanctuary.

5; And twenty five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, for them for a possession, twenty rooms.

6; And you shall give the possession of the city, five thousand cubits wide and twenty five thousand long, beside

the heave offering of the set-apart lot. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.

7; And a portion shall be for the prince from here, and from there, for the heave offering of the set-apart place and of the possession of the city, to the face of the heave offering of the set-apart place, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward. And the length shall be alongside one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

8; It shall be for a land to him, for a possession in Israel, and My rulers shall not oppress My people any more. And they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

9; So says Adonai YAHWEH: Enough for you, O rulers of Israel! Turn away violence and oppression, and do justice and righteousness. Lift away your acts of violence from My people, declares Adonai YAHWEH.

10; Just balances and a just ephah, and a just bath, let there be to you.

11; The ephah and the bath shall be one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth of the homer, and the tenth of the homer the ephah. Its measure shall be to the homer.

12; And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: Twenty shekels, twenty five shekels, fifteen shekels shall be a maneh to you.

13; This is the heave offering that you shall offer: the sixth of an ephah of a homer of wheat, and the sixth of an ephah of a homer of barley.

14; And the statute of oil, the bath of oil, the tenth of the bath out of the cor;

15; and one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the watered land of Israel for a food offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to atone for them, declares Adonai YAHWEH.

16; All the people of the land shall be at this heave offering for the prince in Israel.

17; And responsibility for burnt offerings shall be on the prince, and a food offering, and drink offerings, in the feasts and on the new moons and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall make the sin offering, and the food offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to atone for the house of Israel.

18; So says Adonai YAHWEH: In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish, a son of the herd, and cleanse the sanctuary.

19; And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.

20; And so you shall do on the seventh of the month for each man who goes astray, and for the simple. And you shall atone for the house.

21; In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, the Passover shall be to you; a feast of seven days, unleavened bread is eaten.

22; And the prince shall make ready on that day for himself and for the people of the land, a bull for a sin offering.

23; And seven days of the feast he shall make ready a burnt offering to YAHWEH, seven bulls and seven rams, without blemish, daily for the seven days, and for a sin offering a kid of the he-goats daily.

24; And a food offering of an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, he shall make ready; also of oil, a hin for an ephah.

25; In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall make ready like these seven days as the sin offering, as the burnt offering, as the food offering, and as the oil.

 

Chapter 46

1; So says Adonai YAHWEH: The gate of the inner court that faces the east shall be shut the six days of work. But on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

2; And the prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and shall stand by the gatepost. And the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. And he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

3; And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, before

YAHWEH.

4; And the burnt offering that the prince shall bring near to YAHWEH on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.

5; And the food offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and a food offering for the lambs, a gift of his hand; and a hin of oil to an ephah.

6; And in the day of the new moon: a bull without blemish, a son of the herd, and six lambs, and a ram, they shall be without blemish,

7; and an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram he shall prepare as a food offering; and for the lambs as his hand can reach; and a hin of oil to an ephah.

8; And when the prince shall enter, he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate, and by its way he shall go out.

9; But when the people of the land come before YAHWEH at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out opposite it.

10; And the prince shall go in among them when they go in, and he shall go out when they go out.

11; And in the feast seasons, and in the appointed feasts, the food offering shall be an ephah to a bull, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs a gift of his hand; and a hin of oil to an ephah.

12; And when the prince makes a free offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a free offering to YAHWEH, then one shall open to him the gate facing east. And he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. And he shall go out, and the gate is shut after he goes out.

13; And you shall make ready a burnt offering daily to YAHWEH, a lamb without blemish, a son of a year; from dawn to dawn you shall make it ready.

14; And you shall make ready a food offering for it from dawn to dawn, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a hin of oil to wet the fine flour, a food offering to YAHWEH, perfect statutes forever.

15; So they shall make ready the lamb, and the food offering, and the oil, from dawn to dawn as a burnt offering continually.

16; So says Adonai YAHWEH: If the prince gives a gift to sons of his inheritance, it shall be to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.

17; But if he gives it as a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty, then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance is only his sons'; it shall be theirs.

18; And the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, oppressing them from their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons from his possession, so that My people shall not be dispersed, each man from his possession.

19; And he brought me through the entry which was at the side of the gate, into the set-apart rooms for the priests, facing north. And, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.

20; And he said to me, This is the place, there where the priests shall boil the guilt offering, and the sin offering, where they shall bake the food offering, so as not to bring them out to the outer court to sanctify the people.

21; And he led me out to the outer court. And he made me pass by the four corners of the court. And, behold, a court in each corner of the court, a court in each corner of the court.

22; In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts forty cubits long and thirty wide, one measure to the four of them, being made in corners.

23; And a row was around in them, around the four of them, and boiling places were made under the rows round about.

24; And he said to me, These are the houses of those who boil, there where the servants of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

 

Chapter 47

1; And he made me turn back to the opening of the house. And, behold, water came out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the face of the house is east, and the water came down from under the right side of the house, at the south from the altar.

2; And he led me out by way of the north gate, and led me around the way outside to the outer gate, by the way facing east. And, behold, water was dropping out of the right side.

3; When the man went out eastward, and the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits. And he passed me through the water, water to the ankles.

4; And he measured a thousand and passed me through the water, water to the knees. And he measured a thousand, and passed me through water to the loins.

5; And he measured a thousand, and there was a torrent which I was not able to pass, for the water had risen, water to swim in, a torrent that could not be passed.

6; And he said to me, Have you seen, son of man? And he led me and made me return to the lip of the torrent.

7; When I returned, then, behold, on the lip of the torrent were many trees on this side and on that side.

8; And he said to me, These waters go out toward the eastern circuit, and go down into the Aravah, and enter the sea. They are brought out into the sea, and the waters shall be healed.

9; And it shall be, every soul that lives, which swarms in every place, there where the two torrents go, that soul shall live. And there shall be very many fish, because these waters shall come there. And they shall be healed. And all shall live there where the torrent goes.

10; And it will be, the fishermen shall stand on it; from En-Gedi even to En- Eglaim, a spreading place for nets shall be there; their fish shall be by its kind, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many.

11; Its swamps and its marshes shall not even be healed, they shall be given to salt.

12; And all trees for food shall go up by the torrent, on its lip on this side and on that. Its leaf shall not fade, and its fruit shall not fail; it will bear by its months, because its waters come out from the sanctuary. And its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing medicine.

13; So says Adonai YAHWEH: This shall be the border by which you shall inherit the land, by the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.

14; And you shall inherit it, each man like his brother, that I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers, even this land shall fall to you for an inheritance.

15; And this is the border of the land to the north side, from the Great Sea, the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad:

16; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.

17; And the border shall be from the sea to Hazarenan, at the border of Damascus; and the north northward, even the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

18; And you shall measure the east side from between Hauran, and Damascus, and Gilead, and the land of Israel; shall be the Jordan, from the border to the Eastern Sea, and this is the east side.

19; And the south side southward from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth- Kadesh, the torrent to the Great Sea. And this is the south side to the Negev.

20; And the west side is the Great Sea from the border until beside the entrance of Hamath; this is the west side.

21; And you shall divide this land for yourselves by the tribes of Israel.

22; And it will be, you shall divide by lot for an inheritance to yourselves, and to the foreigners who reside among you, who shall father sons among you. And they shall be to you as native born among the sons of Israel. They shall have an inheritance fall among the tribes of Israel.

23; And it shall be, in the tribe in which the foreigner resides, there you shall give his inheritance, declares Adonai 

YAHWEH.

 

Chapter 48

1; And these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, at the hand of the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, at the hand of Hamath; and there shall be to it an east side and a west: To Dan, one part.

2; And by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one part.

3; And by the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, one part.

4; And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side even to the west side, Manasseh, one part.

5; And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one part.

6; And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one part.

7; And by the border of Reuben, from the east side even to the west side, Judah, one part.

8; And by the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the heave offering which you shall offer, twenty five thousand cubits wide and long, as one of the parts, from the east side to the west side. And the sanctuary shall be in its midst.

9; The heave offering that you shall offer to YAHWEH shall be twenty five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide.

10; And for these shall be the set-apart heave offering for the priests: northward, twenty five thousand; and westward, ten thousand cubits wide; and eastward, ten thousand wide; and southward, twenty five thousand cubits long. And the sanctuary of YAHWEH shall be in its midst,

11; for the priests who are sanctified, of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12; And the heave offering shall be theirs, from the heave offering of the land, the holiest of the set-apart places, by the border of the Levites.

13; And the Levites shall have alongside the border of the priests twenty five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide. All the length shall be twenty five thousand, and the width ten thousand.

14; And they shall not sell any of it, and shall not trade, and shall not cause to pass away the first-fruits of the land. For it is set-apart to YAHWEH.

15; And the five thousand being left in the width in front of the twenty five thousand, it is common for the city, for dwelling and for open land. And the city shall be in its midst.

16; And these shall be its measures: the north side, four thousand and five hundred; and the south side, four thousand and five hundred cubits; and the east side, four thousand and five hundred; and the west side, four thousand and five hundred.

17; And the open land shall be of the city northward, two hundred and fifty cubits; and southward, two hundred and fifty; and eastward, two hundred and fifty; and westward, two hundred and fifty cubits.

18; And the remainder in length alongside the heave offering of the set-apart parts shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward. And it shall be alongside the heave offering of the set-apart part. And its produce shall be for bread to those who serve the city.

19; And he who serves the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

20; All the heave offering shall be twenty five thousand by twenty five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall offer the set-apart heave offering to the possession of the city.

21; And the remainder is for the prince, on this side and on that of the set-apart heave offering, and of the possession of the city in the front of the twenty five thousand of the heave offering to the east border, and westward in the front of the twenty five thousand to the west border; alongside the parts of the prince. And it shall be a set-apart heave offering, and the sanctuary of the house in its midst.

22; And to the prince shall be from the possession of the Levites, and from the city's possession, amidst that for the prince, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin.

23; And the rest of the tribes: From the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one part.

24; And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one part.

25; And by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one part.

26; And by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one part.

27; And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side Gad, one part.

28; And by the border of Gad to the south side southward, from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth-Kadesh, to the torrent to the Great Sea.

29; This is the land which you shall make fall by lot for an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these their parts, declares Adonai YAHWEH.

30; And these are the exits of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.

31; And the gates of the city shall be by the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward, the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

32; And at the east side four thousand five hundred, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.

33; And the south side, four thousand and five hundred measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.

34; The west side, four thousand and five hundred, their gates three: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.

35; All around it shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that day shall be YAHWEH IS THERE.