Ezekiel, 46

1. ' "The Lord Yahweh says this: The east gate of the inner court must be kept shut for the six working days. On the Sabbath day, however, it must be opened, as also on the day of the New Moon;

2. and the prince must go in through the porch of the outer gate and take his position by the doorposts of the gate. The priests must then offer his burnt offerings and his communion sacrifice. He must prostrate himself on the threshold of the gate and go out, and the gate must not be shut again until the evening.

3. The people of the country must prostrate themselves in the presence of Yahweh at the entrance to the gate on Sabbaths and days of the New Moon.

4. The burnt offering offered to Yahweh by the prince on the Sabbath day must consist of six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram,

5. with an oblation of one ephah for the ram, and such oblation as he pleases for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

6. On the day of the New Moon it must consist of an unblemished young bull, six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram,

7. when he must make an oblation of one ephah for the bull and one ephah for the ram, and what he pleases for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

8. "When the prince goes in, he must enter by the porch of the gate, and he must leave by the same way.

9. When the people of the country come into the presence of Yahweh at the solemn festivals, those who have come in by the north gate to prostrate themselves must go out by the south gate, and those who have come in by the south gate must go out by the north gate; no one must turn back to leave through the gate by which he entered but must go out on the opposite side.

10. The prince will be with them, coming in like them and going out like them.

11. "On feast days and solemn festivals the oblation must be one ephah for every bull, one ephah for every ram, what he pleases for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

12. When the prince offers Yahweh voluntary burnt offerings or a voluntary communion sacrifice, the east gate must be opened for him, and he must offer his burnt offerings and his communion sacrifice as he does on the Sabbath day; when he has gone out, the gate must shut after him.

13. Every day he must offer an unblemished lamb one year old as a burnt offering to Yahweh; he must offer this every morning.

14. Every morning in addition he must offer an oblation of one-sixth of an ephah and one-third of a hin of oil, for mixing with the flour. This is the oblation to Yahweh, a perpetual decree, fixed for ever.

15. The lamb, the oblation and the oil must be offered morning after morning for ever.

16. "Lord Yahweh says this: If the prince presents part of his hereditary portion to one of his sons, the gift must pass into the ownership of his sons and become their hereditary property.

17. If, however, he presents part of his hereditary portion to one of his slaves, it will belong to the man only until the year of liberation and then must revert to the prince. Only his sons may retain his hereditary portion.

18. The prince may not take any part of the people's hereditary portion, thus robbing them of what is theirs; he must provide the patrimony of his sons out of his own property, so that no member of my people is robbed of what is his!" '

19. He took me through the entrance at the side of the north gate that leads to the rooms of the Holy Place set apart for the priests. And there before us, to the west, was a space at the end.

20. He said to me, 'This is where the priests must boil the slaughtered animals for the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice of reparation, and where they must bake the oblation, without having to carry them into the outer court and so run the risk of hallowing the people.'

21. He then took me into the outer court and led me to each of its four corners; in each corner of the outer court was a compound;

22. in other words, the four corners of the court contained four small compounds, forty cubits by thirty, all four being the same size.

23. All four were enclosed by a wall, with hearths all round the bottom of the wall.

24. He said, 'These are the kitchens where the Temple servants must boil the sacrifices offered by the people.'