And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut.

Et convertit me ad viam portæ sanctuarii exterioris, quæ respiciebat ad orientem: et erat clausa.

Then he brought me back to the eastern gate of the outer precincts, that was fast shut.

And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut

Et dixit Dominus ad me: Porta hæc clausa erit: non aperietur, et vir non transibit per eam, quoniam Dominus Deus Israël ingressus est per eam: eritque clausa

Shut this gate must ever be, the Lord told me, nor open its doors to give man entrance again, since the Lord, the God of Israel, entered by it. Access to it is none,

For the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord: he shall enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.

principi. Princeps ipse sedebit in ea, ut comedat panem coram Domino: per viam portæ vestibuli ingredietur, et per viam ejus egredietur.

even for the prince himself; sit there he may, to eat his share of the welcome-offering, but it is through the hall at the other end of the gateway he comes and goes.

And he brought me by the way of the north gate, in the sight of the house: and I saw, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell on my face.

Et adduxit me per viam portæ aquilonis in conspectu domus: et vidi, et ecce implevit gloria Domini domum Domini: et cecidi in faciem meam.

And so he took me towards the northern gate, in full view of the temple; and all the temple was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s presence, a sight that brought me to my knees, face to earth.

And the Lord said to me: Son of man, attend with thy heart, and behold with thy eyes, and hear with thy ears, all that I say to thee concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all the laws thereof: and mark well the ways of the temple, with all the goings out of the sanctuary.

Et dixit ad me Dominus: Fili hominis, pone cor tuum, et vide oculis tuis, et auribus tuis audi omnia quæ ego loquor ad te de universis cæremoniis domus Domini, et de cunctis legibus ejus: et pones cor tuum in viis templi per omnes exitus sanctuarii.

Give good heed, son of man, the Lord said to me; the open eye, the open ear! Rule and observance of the Lord’s house I mean to tell thee; of the temple, and who may approach it, of my sanctuary, and the manner of leaving it.

And thou shalt say to the house of Israel that provoketh me: Thus saith the Lord God: Let all your wicked doings suffice you, O house of Israel:

Et dices ad exasperantem me domum Israël: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Sufficiant vobis omnia scelera vestra, domus Israël:

This message deliver, from the Lord God, to the rebel brood of Israel: Will you never have done with insult, men of Israel,

In that you have brought in strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to defile my house: and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood: and you have broken my covenant by all your wicked doings.

eo quod inducitis filios alienos incircumcisos corde, et incircumcisos carne, ut sint in sanctuario meo, et polluant domum meam: et offertis panes meos, adipem et sanguinem, et dissolvitis pactum meum in omnibus sceleribus vestris.

letting alien folk, that in mind and body circumcision have none, profane my house by entering the sanctuary? What avails it, to offer me bread, and fat, and blood, when all the while these foul doings of yours violate my covenant?

And you have not kept the ordinances of my sanctuary: but you have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

Et non servastis præcepta sanctuarii mei, et posuistis custodes observationum mearum in sanctuario meo vobismetipsis.

The sacred charge committed to you went for nothing; guardians of my own worship, in my own sanctuary, should be men of your choosing!

Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, no stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.

Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Omnis alienigena incircumcisus corde, et incircumcisus carne, non ingredietur sanctuarium meum: omnis filius alienus qui est in medio filiorum Israël.

Place the alien may have, though body and mind be both uncircumcised, in the commonwealth of Israel, the Lord says; place in my sanctuary he has none.

Moreover the Levites that went away far from me, when the children of Israel went astray, and have wandered from me after their idols, and have borne their iniquity:

Sed et Levitæ qui longe recesserunt a me in errore filiorum Israël, et erraverunt a me post idola sua, et portaverunt iniquitatem suam,

There be Levites that have forsaken the following of me, when all the race of Israel went a-straying; that have betaken themselves to false gods, and must needs do penance for their fault.

They shall be officers in my sanctuary, and doorkeepers of the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the holocausts, and the victims of the people: and they shall stand in their sight, to minister to them.

erunt in sanctuario meo æditui, et janitores portarum domus, et ministri domus: ipsi mactabunt holocausta et victimas populi, et ipsi stabunt in conspectu eorum ut ministrent eis.

What forbids they should be sacrists and door-keepers of mine, temple attendants to prepare burnt-sacrifice, slay victim, and stand ministering in the people’s presence?

Because they ministered to them before their idols, and were a stumblingblock of iniquity to the house of Israel: therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity:

Pro eo quod ministraverunt illis in conspectu idolorum suorum, et facti sunt domui Israël in offendiculum iniquitatis: idcirco levavi manum meam super eos, ait Dominus Deus, et portabunt iniquitatem suam.

Ministers of false worship, that betrayed Israel into guilt, they have made me their sworn enemy, and must be held to account for it;

And they shall not come near to me, to do the office of priest to me, neither shall they come near to any of my holy things that are by the holy of holies: but they shall bear their shame, and their wickednesses which they have committed.

Et non appropinquabunt ad me ut sacerdotio fungantur mihi, neque accedent ad omne sanctuarium meum juxta Sancta sanctorum: sed portabunt confusionem suam, et scelera sua quæ fecerunt.

never may they come before me as priests, never touch consecrated gift that is set apart for holy uses; disgraced they must needs be, penance must needs bear;

And I will make them doorkeepers of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

Et dabo eos janitores domus in omni ministerio ejus, et in universis quæ fient in ea.

yet I would have them keep the doors of my house, and be charged with all the menial offices that belong to it.

But the priests, and Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me, to minister to me: and they shall stand before me, to offer me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord God.

Sacerdotes autem et Levitæ, filii Sadoc, qui custodierunt cæremonias sanctuarii mei, cum errarent filii Israël a me, ipsi accedent ad me ut ministrent mihi: et stabunt in conspectu meo, ut offerant mihi adipem et sanguinem, ait Dominus Deus.

The priests, the true Levites, shall be those sons of Sadoc that held fast by my temple worship when Israel left the following of me. Theirs to come forward as my ministers; theirs to wait upon my presence, offering me fat and blood of victims, the Lord God says;

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my ceremonies.

Ipsi ingredientur sanctuarium meum, et ipsi accedent ad mensam meam, ut ministrent mihi, et custodiant cæremonias meas.

theirs my sanctuary to enter, my table to approach, servants of mine that shall keep the charge I gave them.

And when they shall enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments: neither shall any woollen come upon them, when they minister in the gates of the inner court and within.

Cumque ingredientur portas atrii interioris, vestibus lineis induentur: nec ascendet super eos quidquam laneum, quando ministrant in portis atrii interioris et intrinsecus.

Come they within the inner gate, they shall be all vested in linen; nothing of wool shall clothe them, when they serve me in the intimacy of the inner court;

They shall have linen mitres on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins, and they shall not be girded with any thing that causeth sweat.

Vittæ lineæ erunt in capitibus eorum, et feminalia linea erunt in lumbis eorum, et non accingentur in sudore.

mitres of linen on their brows, breeches of linen about their loins, with no such habiting as may bring them out in a sweat.

And when they shall go forth to the outward court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them up in the store chamber of the sanctuary, and they shall clothe themselves with other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people with their vestments.

Cumque egredientur atrium exterius ad populum, exuent se vestimentis suis in quibus ministraverant, et reponent ea in gazophylacio sanctuarii: et vestient se vestimentis aliis, et non sanctificabunt populum in vestibus suis.

These vestments of office they must lay aside, and put away in the temple sacristy, when they go out to mingle with the people in the outer court; that holy contact is not for common folk; it is time they put on their workaday clothes instead.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor wear long hair: but they shall only poll their heads.

Caput autem suum non radent, neque comam nutrient: sed tondentes attondent capita sua.

They shall be at pains to cut their hair, not grow it long; yet cropped their heads must not be.

And no priest shall drink wine when he is to go into the inner court.

Et vinum non bibet omnis sacerdos, quando ingressurus est atrium interius.

As for wine, a priest may not drink it when he is soon to enter the sanctuary.

Neither shall they take to wife a widow, nor one that is divorced, but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel: but they may take a widow also, that is, the widow of a priest.

Et viduam et repudiatam non accipient uxores, sed virgines de semine domus Israël: sed et viduam quæ fuerit vidua a sacerdote, accipient.

Wed he, it must be a maid he weds, of Israelite birth; not rejected wife or widow, save it be the widow of another priest.

And they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane, and shew them how to discern between clean and unclean.

Et populum meum docebunt quid sit inter sanctum et pollutum, et inter mundum et immundum ostendent eis.

Their office it is, to teach the people what is clean and unclean, what is holy and what profane;

And when there shall be a controversy, they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge: they shall keep my laws, and my ordinances in all my solemnities, and sanctify my sabbaths.

Et cum fuerit controversia, stabunt in judiciis meis, et judicabunt: leges meas et præcepta mea in omnibus solemnitatibus meis custodient, et sabbata mea sanctificabunt.

when dispute arises, to take their place at my judgement-seat and give award; my feasts with due rite and ordinance to observe, my sabbaths to keep holy.

And they shall come near no dead person, lest they be defiled, only their father and mother, and son and daughter, and brother and sister, that hath not had another husband: for whom they may become unclean.

Et ad mortuum hominem non ingredientur, ne polluantur, nisi ad patrem et matrem, et filium et filiam, et fratrem, et sororem quæ alterum virum non habuerit: in quibus contaminabuntur.

Never shall they defile themselves with dead body’s contact, save only it be father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unwedded sister of theirs.

And after one is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

Et postquam fuerit emundatus, septem dies numerabuntur ei.

Cleansed though he be after such contact, a priest must wait for seven days yet,

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin, saith the Lord God.

Et in die introitus sui in sanctuarium ad atrium interius, ut ministret mihi in sanctuario, offeret pro peccato suo, ait Dominus Deus.

nor enter the inner court to do service in my sanctuary, the Lord God says, till he has made an offering in amends for his fault.

And they shall have no inheritance, I am their inheritance: neither shall you give them any possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

Non erit autem eis hæreditas: ego hæreditas eorum. Et possessionem non dabitis eis in Israël: ego enim possessio eorum.

And for the priestly tribe, it must have no patrimony assigned to it; I am their patrimony, nor needs he portion, whose portion is his God.

They shall eat the victim both for sin and for trespass: and every vowed thing in Israel shall be theirs.

Victimam et pro peccato et pro delicto ipsi comedent, et omne votum in Israël ipsorum erit.

Bloodless offering they shall eat, and the victim that is offered for a fault or a wrong done; theirs every gift an Israelite vows to me,

And the firstfruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations of all things that are offered, shall be the priest’s: and you shall give the firstfruits of your meats to the priest, that he may return a blessing upon thy house.

Et primitiva omnium primogenitorum, et omnia libamenta ex omnibus quæ offeruntur, sacerdotum erunt: et primitiva ciborum vestrorum dabitis sacerdoti, ut reponat benedictionem domui tuæ.

theirs the first of all first-fruits, and the residue of all you offer; and the first batch of your baking you must give to the priest, to win his blessing for you and yours.

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself or caught by a beast, whether it be fowl or cattle.

Omne morticinum, et captum a bestia, de avibus et de pecoribus, non comedent sacerdotes.

Bird or beast that drops dead, or has been a wild thing’s prey, the priest may not eat.