1 " 'This is what the Almighty LORD says: The east gate of the inner courtyard must be closed during the six working days, but it must be opened on the weekly day of worship. It must also be opened on the New Moon Festival. 2 The prince must enter from the outside through the entrance hall of the gateway. He must stand by the doorposts of the gateway. Then the priests must prepare the prince's burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He must worship at the entrance of the gateway and then leave. The gate must not be closed until evening. 3 The common people must worship at the door of the gateway in the presence of the LORD on the weekly days of worship and on New Moon Festivals. 4 The prince must offer to the LORD six lambs that have no defects and one ram that has no defects as a burnt offering on the day of worship. 5 The grain offering that is to be brought with the ram must be a half-bushel, and the grain offering that is to be brought with the lambs must be whatever the prince can bring. One gallon of olive oil must be brought with each half-bushel of grain. 6 On the first day of the month, the burnt offering must be one young bull, six lambs, and one ram-all animals that have no defects. 7 With each young bull and each ram the offering must include a half-bushel of grain, and with each lamb the offering must be whatever the prince wants to bring. One gallon of olive oil must be offered with each half-bushel of grain. 8 When the prince enters, he must enter through the entrance hall of the gateway. He must enter and leave the same way. 9 " 'The people will enter the LORD's presence at the time of the appointed festivals. Those entering through the north gate to worship must leave through the south gate. Those entering through the south gate must leave through the north gate. They must not leave through the same gate they entered. They must leave through the opposite gate. 10 The prince must be among them. When they enter, he must enter. When they leave, he must leave. 11 " 'On festival days and at appointed festivals, a grain offering of a half-bushel must be brought with each young bull, and a half-bushel must be brought with each ram. But with the lambs, the prince may bring whatever he wants to bring. One gallon of olive oil must be brought with each half-bushel of grain. 12 When the prince prepares a freewill burnt offering, either a burnt offering or a fellowship offering to the LORD, the east gate must be opened for him. He must sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings as he does on the day of worship. When he leaves, the gate must be shut after him. 13 " 'Prepare a year-old lamb that has no defects every day as a burnt offering to the LORD. Do this every morning. 14 Also, prepare a grain offering with it every morning: three-and-a-third quarts of grain and one-and-a-third quarts of olive oil to moisten the flour. It will be a grain offering dedicated to the LORD. These rules are to be followed always. 15 Prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil every morning as a daily burnt offering. 16 " 'This is what the Almighty LORD says: Suppose the prince offers one of his sons a gift from his property. The gift will belong to his descendants because it is their inheritance. 17 But suppose the prince offers a gift from his property to one of his servants. The gift will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the gift will go back to the prince. Only his sons can inherit his property. 18 The prince must not take any of the people's property. He must not force them to give up their property. He must give his own property as an inheritance to his sons so that none of my people will be separated from their property.'" 19 The man brought me through a passage beside the gateway to the side rooms that faced north. These rooms were reserved for the priests. He showed me a place on the west side of the rooms. 20 He said to me, "This is the place where the priests must boil the meat for the guilt offering and the offering for sin. This is the place where they must bake grain offerings so that they don't have to bring the offerings into the outer courtyard. This way they won't transfer holiness to the people." 21 Then the man led me to the outer courtyard and took me past the four corners of the courtyard. I saw that in each corner of the courtyard there was a smaller courtyard. 22 The smaller courtyards that were in each of the four corners of the courtyard were 60 feet long and 45 feet wide. All four of the smaller courtyards in the corners of the courtyard were the same size. 23 Around each of the four courtyards were stone walls, and these walls were equipped with fireplaces. 24 Then the man said to me, "These are the kitchens where the temple servants must boil the people's sacrifices." GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. | |