1. The man took me back to the outer courtyard, near the east gate of the temple area. I saw that the doors to this gate were closed.
2. The Lord said:I, the Lord God of Israel, came through this gate, so it must remain closed for ever! No one must ever use it.
3. The ruler of Israel may come here to eat a sacrificial meal that has been offered to me, but he must use only the entrance room of this gate.
4. Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I saw that the brightness of the Lord's glory had filled the temple, and I immediately bowed with my face to the ground.
5. The Lord said:Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to give you the laws for my temple. So pay attention and listen carefully to what kind of people are allowed to come in the temple, and what kind are not.
6. Tell those rebellious people of Israel:I, the Lord God, command you to stop your evil ways!
7. My temple has been disgraced, because you have let godless, stubborn foreigners come here when sacrifices are being offered to me. You have sinned and have broken our solemn agreement.
8. Instead of following the proper ways to worship me, you have put foreigners in charge of worship at my temple.
9. And so I, the Lord God, say that no godless foreigner who disobeys me will be allowed in my temple. This includes any foreigner living in Israel.
10. Some of the Levites turned their backs on me and joined the other people of Israel in worshipping idols. So these Levites must be punished!
11. They will still be allowed to serve me as temple workers by guarding the gates and by killing the animals to be sacrificed and by helping the worshippers.
12. But because these Levites served the people of Israel when they worshipped idols, I, the Lord God, promise that the Levites will be punished. They did not stop the Israelites from sinning,
13. and now I will no longer let the Levites serve as my priests or come near anything sacred to me. They must suffer shame and disgrace for their disgusting sins.
14. They will be responsible for all the hard work that must be done in the temple.
15. The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices.