Ezekiel 44:9

Easy-to-Read Version

This is what the Lord God says: "A foreigner who is not truly circumcised must not come into my Temple—not even a foreigner living permanently among the people of Israel. He must be circumcised, and he must give himself completely to me before he can come into my Temple.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“This is what the Lord God says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, may enter my sanctuary, not even a foreigner who is among the Israelites.

Hebrew Names Version
Thus says the Lord GOD, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Yisra'el.

King James Version
Thus saith the Lord God ; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

English Standard Version
"Thus says the Lord God : No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

New American Standard Bible
'This is what the Lord GOD says: "No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

New Century Version
This is what the Lord God says: Foreigners who are not circumcised in flesh and who do not give themselves to serving me may not enter my Temple. Not even a foreigner living among the people of Israel may enter.

Amplified Bible
'Thus says the Lord GOD, "No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thus saieth the Lord God, No stranger vncircumcised in heart, nor vncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my Sanctuarie, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Thus says the Lord GOD, "No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

Berean Standard Bible
This is what the Lord GOD says: 'No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary-not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

Contemporary English Version
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.

Complete Jewish Bible
Here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘No foreigner, uncircumcised in both heart and flesh, is to enter my sanctuary — no foreigner living among the people of Isra'el.

Darby Translation
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: No stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

George Lamsa Translation
Thus says the LORD God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in his heart and uncircumcised in his flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, nor any strangers who are among the children of Israel.

Good News Translation
"I, the Sovereign Lord , declare that no uncircumcised foreigner, no one who disobeys me, will enter my Temple, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel."

Lexham English Bible
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Every foreigner uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh shall not come into my sanctuary—not any of the foreigners who are in the midst of the Israelites.

Literal Translation
So says the Lord Jehovah: No son of an alien, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, or any son of an alien who is among the sons of Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore thus saieth ye LORDE God: Of all the straungers that dwell amoge the childre of Israel, no straunger (whose herte & flesh is not circumcised) shal come within my Sanctuary:

American Standard Version
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel.

Bible in Basic English
For this cause the Lord has said, No man from a strange land, without circumcision of heart and flesh, of all those who are living among the children of Israel, is to come into my holy place.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thus saith the Lord GOD: No alien, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, even any alien that is among the children of Israel.

King James Version (1611)
Thus sayth the Lord God, No stranger vncircumcised in heart, nor vncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my Sanctuarie, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therefore thus saith the Lorde God: Of al the straungers that dwell among the children of Israel, no straunger vncircumcized in heart, nor vncircumcized in fleshe, shall enter into my sanctuarie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; No alien, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the children of strangers that are in the midst of the house of Israel.

English Revised Version
Thus saith the Lord GOD, No alien, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any alien that is among the children of Israel.

World English Bible
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord God seith these thingis, Ech alien `that is vncircumcidid in herte, and vncircumcidid in fleisch, schal not entre in to my seyntuarie; ech alien sone, which is in the myddis of the sones of Israel.

Update Bible Version
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the sons of Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that [is] among the children of Israel.

New English Translation
This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.

New King James Version
Thus says the Lord GOD: "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

New Living Translation
"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigners, including those who live among the people of Israel, will enter my sanctuary if they have not been circumcised and have not surrendered themselves to the Lord .

New Life Bible
‘So the Lord God says, "No stranger among the people of Israel who has not gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, and is sinful in his heart, may come into My holy place.

New Revised Standard
Thus says the Lord God : No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh, No son of a foreigner Uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, - -of any son of a foreigner, who is in the midst of the sons of Israel.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

Young's Literal Translation
`Thus said the Lord Jehovah: No son of a stranger, uncircumcised of heart, and uncircumcised of flesh, cometh in unto My sanctuary, even any son of a stranger, who [is] in the midst of the sons of Israel,

Contextual Overview

⁴ Then the man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw the Glory of the Lord filling the Lord 's Temple. I bowed with my face touching the ground. ⁵ The Lord said to me, "Son of man, look very carefully! Use your eyes and ears. Look at these things, and listen very carefully to everything that I tell you about all the rules and laws about the Lord 's Temple. Look carefully at the entrances to the Temple and at all the exits from the holy place. ⁶ Then give this message to all the people of Israel who refused to obey me. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God said: Family of Israel, I have had enough of the terrible things you have done! ⁷ You brought foreigners into my Temple who are not circumcised and have not given themselves to me. In this way you made my Temple unclean. You broke our agreement and did terrible things, and then you gave me the offerings of bread, the fat, and the blood. But this only made my Temple unclean. ⁸ You did not take care of my holy things. No, you let foreigners have responsibility of my holy place!'" ⁹ This is what the Lord God says: "A foreigner who is not truly circumcised must not come into my Temple—not even a foreigner living permanently among the people of Israel. He must be circumcised, and he must give himself completely to me before he can come into my Temple.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 44:7, Psalms 50:16, Psalms 93:5, Joel 3:17, Zechariah 14:21, Mark 16:16, John 3:3-5, Titus 1:5-9

Reciprocal: Exodus 12:48 - let all Leviticus 21:23 - go in Isaiah 35:8 - the unclean Jeremiah 9:26 - uncircumcised in Jeremiah 33:18 - General Ezekiel 28:10 - the deaths Ezekiel 32:25 - all of them Malachi 2:4 - that my Mark 13:14 - where Acts 7:51 - uncircumcised

Cross-References

Genesis 31:32
But I did not steal your gods. If you find anyone here with me who has taken your gods, they will be killed. Your men will be my witnesses. You can look for anything that belongs to you. Take anything that is yours." (Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban's gods.)

Genesis 43:18
The brothers were afraid when they were taken to Joseph's house and said, "We have been brought here because of the money that was put back in our sacks the last time. They will use this as proof against us and steal our donkeys and make us slaves."

Genesis 44:3
Early the next morning the brothers and their donkeys were sent back to their country.

Genesis 44:5
My master drinks from that cup, and he uses it to learn secret things. What you did was wrong!'"

Genesis 44:16
Judah said, "Sir, there is nothing we can say. There is no way to explain. There is no way to show that we are not guilty. God has judged us guilty for something else we have done. So all of us, even Benjamin, will be your slaves."

Acts 25:11
If I have done something wrong and the law says I must die, then I agree that I should die. I don't ask to be saved from death. But if these charges are not true, then no one can hand me over to these people. No, I want Caesar to hear my case!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thus saith the Lord God,.... This that follows is the law and rule to be observed, and which will be observed by the churches in the latter day, though so little regarded now:

no stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary; of these :- unregenerate men may not be admitted members of a Gospel church; for that is holy, and holiness becomes it; but they are unholy, and as unfit to be received as swine into a king's palace; saints and they cannot talk together, their language being different, they are barbarians to one another; nor can they walk together, being not agreed in sentiment and practice; besides, such persons disquiet the churches of Christ by their quarrelsome behaviour in it, and immoral conversation out of it; and are dangerous and infectious persons, whether heterodox in principle, or immoral in life: and much less should such be admitted to public service, to preach the word, and administer ordinances; since they should be holy that bear the vessels of the Lord, his name, and Gospel; they are blind and ignorant, and so not apt and fit to teach others; they are dumb, and cannot speak to cases they are strangers to, as those of wounded consciences, tempted and deserted, or backslidden ones; they will bring in strange doctrines, foreign to the Scriptures, and the experience of saints; and it is no wonder they are unsuccessful in their ministry, and churches do not thrive under them; to which, among other things, we must impute the great decline of religion, even among Protestant dissenters, who, it is to be feared, have too many of this character among them: but there should not be here

of any stranger that is among the children of Israel; though they are among them, nay, though they are the children of them, and have had a religious education; yet being strangers to the grace of God, should not be admitted members, and much less ministers, of the churches of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Admonition to the ministering priests, grounded upon former neglect.

Ezekiel 44:4

The north gate before the house - The north gate of the inner court. God expostulates with His people in the seat of their former idolatries Ezekiel 8:3.

Ezekiel 44:5

Mark well - The careful arrangements made had all been intended to keep the temple and its surroundings from profanation. Hence, attention to these particulars is enjoined.

Ezekiel 44:7

Strangers - This refers especially to the sin of unauthorized and unfaithful priests ministering in the services of the temple. Compare marginal references.

Ezekiel 44:8

Mine holy things - The altar, its sacrifices, the sacred utensils, and the like.

For yourselves - According to your own pleasure, not My ordinances Numbers 16:40.

Ezekiel 44:10

The Levites as a body had remained true to the temple-service at Jerusalem 2 Chronicles 11:13; but individuals among them deserted to Israel probably from the first (see the marginal references), as in later years some went over to the worship of the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim. These apostate Levites “shall bear their iniquities,” they shall not be restored to their former rank and privileges.

Ezekiel 44:11

Ministers - As, according to the new system, the Levites, as a body, were to receive their portion in the “oblation” Ezekiel 45:5; the only manner in which the Levites of Ezekiel 44:10 could live at all, was as part of the whole body, to which they were therefore reunited, but in the lowest grade. It is remarkable that the number of Levites who returned after the captivity was very small, not exceeding 400, of whom only 74 were priests’ assistants (Ezra 2:40-42; compare Ezra 8:15-19). The gap in their number was filled up by 220 Nethinim (“given” ones), probably originally strangers and captives, who, although employed in the temple services, were held by the Jews in the lowest repute.

Ezekiel 44:12

Lifted up mine hand - i. e., “The Lord sware” Ezekiel 20:5, that they should bear their iniquities.