Ezekiel 44:24

THE MESSAGE

"When there's a difference of opinion, the priests will arbitrate. They'll decide on the basis of my judgments, laws, and statutes. They are in charge of making sure the appointed feasts are honored and my Sabbaths kept holy in the ways I've commanded.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“In a dispute, they will officiate as judges and decide the case according to my ordinances. They are to observe my laws and statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and keep my Sabbaths holy.

Hebrew Names Version
In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Shabbatot holy.

King James Version
And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

English Standard Version
In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.

New American Standard Bible
"In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My Sabbaths.

New Century Version
"‘In court they will act as judges. When they judge, they will follow my teachings. They must obey my laws and my rules at all my special feasts and keep my Sabbaths holy.

Amplified Bible
"In a controversy they shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My Sabbaths.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And in controuersie they shall stande to iudge, and they shall iudge it according to my iudgements: and they shall keepe my lawes and my statutes in all mine assemblies, and they shall sanctifie my Sabbaths.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths.

Legacy Standard Bible
And in a dispute, they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My judgments. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed times and keep My sabbaths holy.

Berean Standard Bible
In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must observe My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

Contemporary English Version
They will make decisions in difficult legal cases, according to my own laws. They must also observe the religious festivals my Law requires and must always respect the Sabbath.

Complete Jewish Bible
They are to be judges in controversies, and they are to render decisions in keeping with my rulings. At all my designated festivals they are to keep my laws and regulations, and they are to keep my shabbats holy.

Darby Translation
And in controversy they shall stand to judge: they shall judge it according to my judgments; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my solemnities; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Easy-to-Read Version
The priests will be the judges in court. They will follow my laws when they judge people. They will obey my laws and my rules at all my special feasts. They will respect my special days of rest and keep them holy.

George Lamsa Translation
And in the case of lawsuits they shall be appointed as judges; and they shall judge according to my judgments; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Good News Translation
When a legal dispute arises, the priests are to decide the case according to my laws. They are to keep the religious festivals according to my rules and regulations, and they are to keep the Sabbaths holy.

Lexham English Bible
And at a legal dispute they themselves shall stand to judge; employing my judgments they shall judge it, and with respect to my laws and my statutes. All my festivals they shall keep and my Sabbaths they shall consecrate.

Literal Translation
And in a dispute, they shall stand to judge, they shall judge it by My judgments. And they shall observe My laws and My statutes in My appointed feasts , and they shall sanctify My sabbaths.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf eny discorde aryse, they shal discerne it, and geue sentence after my iudgmentes. My solempne feastes, my lawes and ordinaunces shal they kepe, and halowe my Sabbathes.

American Standard Version
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to mine ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Bible in Basic English
In any cause, they are to be in the position of judges, judging in harmony with my decisions: they are to keep my laws and my rules in all my fixed feasts; and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to Mine ordinances shall they judge it; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed seasons, and they shall hallow My sabbaths.

King James Version (1611)
And in controuersie they shall stand in iudgement, and they shall iudge it according to my iudgements: and they shall keepe my lawes and my statutes in all mine assemblies, and they shall halow my Sabbaths.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And in controuersie they shall stand to iudge, and geue sentence after my iudgementes: and my lawes and my statutes shal they kepe in al my solempne feastes, and halowe my Sabbathes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And these shall attend at a judgment of blood to decide it: they shall rightly observe my ordinances, and judge my judgments, and keep my statutes and my commandments in all my feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

English Revised Version
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my judgments shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

World English Bible
In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths holy.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne debate is, thei schulen stonde in my domes, and schulen deme my lawis; and thei schulen kepe my comaundementis in alle my solempnytees, and thei schulen halewe my sabatis.

Update Bible Version
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances they shall judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my Sabbaths.

Webster's Bible Translation
And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; [and] they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

New English Translation
"‘In a controversy they will act as judges; they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe my Sabbaths.

New King James Version
In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

New Living Translation
"They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based on my regulations. And the priests themselves must obey my instructions and decrees at all the sacred festivals, and see to it that the Sabbaths are set apart as holy days.

New Life Bible
In an argument, the religious leaders will serve as judges, and will judge by My Laws. They will also keep My Laws in all My special suppers. And they will keep My Day of Rest holy.

New Revised Standard
In a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And in a controversy, They shall stand up for justice, With my judgments, shall they judge it, And my laws and my statutes in all mine appointed assemblies, shall they observe, And my sabbaths, shall they hallow.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
In a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy.

Young's Literal Translation
And concerning controversy, they stand up for judgment; with My judgments they judge it; and My law and My statutes in all My appointed places they keep; and My sabbaths they sanctify.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷"When they enter the gate complex of the inside courtyard, they are to dress in linen. No woolens are to be worn while serving at the gate complex of the inside courtyard or inside the Temple itself. They're to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes—nothing that makes them sweat. When they go out into the outside courtyard where the people gather, they must first change out of the clothes they have been serving in, leaving them in the sacred rooms where they change to their everyday clothes, so that they don't trivialize their holy work by the way they dress. ²⁰ "They are to neither shave their heads nor let their hair become unkempt, but must keep their hair trimmed and neat. ²¹ "No priest is to drink on the job—no wine while in the inside courtyard. ²² "Priests are not to marry widows or divorcees, but only Israelite virgins or widows of priests. ²³ "Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean. ²⁴ "When there's a difference of opinion, the priests will arbitrate. They'll decide on the basis of my judgments, laws, and statutes. They are in charge of making sure the appointed feasts are honored and my Sabbaths kept holy in the ways I've commanded. ²⁵"A priest must not contaminate himself by going near a corpse. But when the dead person is his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, he can approach the dead. But after he has been purified, he must wait another seven days. Then, when he returns to the inside courtyard of the Sanctuary to do his priestly work in the Sanctuary, he must first offer a sin offering for himself. Decree of God , the Master. ²⁸"As to priests owning land, I am their inheritance. Don't give any land in Israel to them. I am their ‘land,' their inheritance. They'll take their meals from the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel offered to God in worship is theirs. The best of everything grown, plus all special gifts, comes to the priests. All that is given in worship to God goes to them. Serve them first. Serve from your best and your home will be blessed. ³¹ "Priests are not to eat any meat from bird or animal unfit for ordinary human consumption, such as carcasses found dead on the road or in the field."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in controversy: This seems to intimate, that controversies, in the period predicted, will be generally decided by arbitration, according to the law of God; and not by litigations before human tribunals, according to the laws of man. Deuteronomy 17:8-13, 1 Chronicles 23:4, 2 Chronicles 19:8-10, Ezra 2:63

they shall keep: 1 Timothy 3:15

in all: Leviticus 23:1-44, Numbers 28:1 - Numbers 29:40, Nehemiah 8:1-18

and they shall hallow: Ezekiel 22:26, Isaiah 58:13, Isaiah 58:14

Reciprocal: Exodus 31:13 - a sign Exodus 31:14 - keep Deuteronomy 17:9 - they shall Deuteronomy 25:1 - General Deuteronomy 33:10 - They shall teach Ezekiel 20:20 - General Haggai 2:11 - General Zechariah 7:3 - speak Malachi 2:6 - law Colossians 4:17 - Take

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment,.... When any controversy arises among the saints concerning civil things, this shall not be carried into a court of judicature, of the men of the world; but it shall be brought before the church, and there heard, tried, judged, and determined; the ministers of the word there presiding, who shall give the definitive sentence, and stand to it, and abide by it, 1 Corinthians 6:1 and when any controversy arises about the doctrines of the Gospel, or modes of worship, or rules of discipline, they shall rise up, discuss the point, determine the question, pass the sentence, and not depart from it:

and they shall judge it according to my judgments; not according to their own judgments, or according to their own fancies, or the reasonings of their own minds, but according to those directions and rules given in the word of God; which is profitable for the settling and establishing true doctrine, and the reproof and correction of error, and for the instruction of men in the paths of righteousness:

and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; which assemblies are the churches of Christ, gathered according to Gospel order; where the saints assemble together for divine worship, and where the Lord grants his presence; and where his word is preached, and his ordinances administered, and so called his; and of which assemblies Gospel ministers are the masters, and where they preside; and whose business is to observe the laws and statutes the Lord has made, and to interpret them unto the people, and enforce them on them, and see that they are kept by them:

and they shall hallow my sabbaths; such times as are appointed for divine worship; these they shall keep holy themselves, in the exercise both of private and public worship, and shall exhort and stir up all with whom they are concerned to do the same.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Regulations as to the priests’ services. The garments of the priests are defined and various rules prescribed in the Law are repeated with some additions in order to denote additional care to avoid uncleanness.

Ezekiel 44:18

The material of which the four vestments of the ordinary priest were made was “linen,” or, more accurately, “byssus,” the cotton stuff of Egypt. The two special qualities of the byssus - white and shining - are characteristic, and on them part of the symbolic meaning depended. Compare Revelation 19:8.

Ezekiel 44:19

They shall not sanctify the people - They shall not touch the people with their holy garments. The word “sanctify” is used because the effect of touching was to separate as holy the persons or things so touched (Exodus 29:37; Exodus 30:29; compare Leviticus 6:18). The priests wore the distinctive dress, only while performing in the temple strictly sacrificial services.

The holy chambers; see Ezekiel 42:1 ff.

Ezekiel 44:22

Restrictions and exceptions intended to mark the holiness of the office of a priest, imposing on him additional (compare the marginal reference) obligations to purity, and communicating it in some degree to his wife. In the Christian Church all the members are “priests” 1 Peter 2:5; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 20:6. Hence, the directions for maintaining the holiness of the “priesthood” in the new order, represent the necessity for holiness in all Christians, and the exclusion of the “uncircumcised in heart and in flesh” is equivalent to the exclusion of “all that defileth” from the New Jerusalem Revelation 21:27.

Ezekiel 44:24

There was in Herod’s Temple a council of priests, whose special duty it was to regulate every thing connected with the sanctuary. They did not ordinarily busy themselves with criminal questions, although they took a leading part in the condemnation of Jesus Mark 15:1.

Ezekiel 44:28

It shall be unto them - The remains of the sacrifices were a chief source of the priests’ support. The burnt-offerings being entirely consumed, the priests had the skins, which yielded a considerable revenue; meat-offerings and drink-offerings belonged entirely to them. sin-offerings and trepass-offerings, except in particular cases, also belonged to the priests and were partaken of in the temple. Of the peace-offerings a portion dedicated to the Lord by waving was left for the priests, and the rest eaten by the officers and their friends, either in the courts of the temple, or at least within Jerusalem. The kitchen-courts (K, Plan II Ezek. Ezekiel 46:21-24), were provided in order to prepare these public meals.

Ezekiel 44:30

Oblation - Offering, margin “heave-offering” (see Ezekiel 45:1; Exodus 25:2; Exodus 29:27; Notes and Pref. to Leviticus).