Miscellaneous Regulations

1Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall remain closed on the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt-offering and his offerings of well-being, and he shall bow down at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until evening. 3The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 4The burnt-offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; 5and the grain-offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain-offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 6On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish; 7as a grain-offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8When the prince enters, he shall come in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

9When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return by way of the gate by which they entered, but shall go out straight ahead. 10When they come in, the prince shall come in with them; and when they go out, he shall go out.

11At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain-offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12When the prince provides a freewill-offering, either a burnt-offering or offerings of well-being as a freewill-offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him; and he shall offer his burnt-offering or his offerings of well-being as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be closed.

13He shall provide a lamb, a yearling without blemish, for a burnt-offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning he shall provide it. 14And he shall provide a grain-offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah, and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain-offering to the LORD; this is the ordinance for all time. 15Thus the lamb and the grain-offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt-offering.

16Thus says the Lord GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance,46.16 Gk: Heb it is his inheritance it shall belong to his sons, it is their holding by inheritance. 17But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance. 18The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; he shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own holding, so that none of my people shall be dispossessed of their holding.

19Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests; and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them. 20He said to me, ‘This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt-offering and the sin-offering, and where they shall bake the grain-offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so communicate holiness to the people.’

21Then he brought me out to the outer court, and led me past the four corners of the court; and in each corner of the court there was a court— 22in the four corners of the court were small46.22 Gk Syr Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; the four were of the same size. 23On the inside, round each of the four courts46.23 Heb the four of them was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all round. 24Then he said to me, ‘These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.’