The Prince’s Offerings

1‘This is what the Lord [a]GOD says: “The gate of the inner courtyard facing east shall be shut for the six working days; but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon. 2The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; 5and the grain offering shall be an [b]ephah [c]with the ram, and the grain offering [d]with the lambs [e]as much as he is able to give, and a [f]hin of oil [g]with an ephah. 6On the day of the new moon he shall offer a [h]bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. 7And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah [i]with the bull and an ephah [j]with the ram, and [k]with the lambs as [l]much as he is able, and a hin of oil [m]with an ephah. 8When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate, and go out by [n]the same way. 9But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, one who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And one who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. [o]No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but shall go straight out. 10And when they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, [p]he shall go out.

11“At the festivals and the appointed feasts, the grain offering shall be an ephah [q]with a bull and an ephah [r]with a ram, and [s]with the lambs as [t]much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil [u]with an ephah. 12And when the prince provides a [v]voluntary offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a [w]voluntary offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.

13“And you shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. 14You shall also provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour, a grain offering to the LORD continually by [x]a permanent ordinance. 15So they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil, morning by morning, as a continual burnt offering.”

16‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “If the prince gives a gift from his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of [y]release; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’; it shall belong to them. 18And the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance, [z]depriving them of their property; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own property, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his property.”’”

The Boiling Places

19Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, a place was there at the extreme rear toward the west. 20And he 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, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard [aa]and transfer holiness to the people.”

21Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was a small courtyard. 22In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty [ab]cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were [ac]the same size. 23And there was a row of masonry all around in them, around the four of them, and cooking hearths were made under the rows all around. 24Then he said to me, “These are the cooking [ad]places where the ministers of the house shall cook the sacrifices of the people.”

[a] 1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
[b] 5 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters, and so throughout the ch
[c] 5 Lit for
[d] 5 Lit for
[e] 5 Lit a gift of his hand
[f] 5 About 1 gallon or 3.8 liters, and so throughout the ch
[g] 5 Lit for
[h] 6 Or young bull
[i] 7 Lit for
[j] 7 Lit for
[k] 7 Lit for
[l] 7 Lit his hand can reach
[m] 7 Lit for
[n] 8 Lit its way
[o] 9 Lit He shall not
[p] 10 As in many mss and ancient versions; MT they
[q] 11 Lit for
[r] 11 Lit for
[s] 11 Lit for
[t] 11 Lit a gift of his hand
[u] 11 Lit for
[v] 12 Or freewill offering
[w] 12 Or freewill offering
[x] 14 Lit perpetual statutes
[y] 17 Or liberty
[z] 18 Lit oppressing
[aa] 20 Lit to
[ab] 22 Each of these cubits equals about 21 in. or 53 cm
[ac] 22 Lit one measure
[ad] 24 Lit houses