Ezekiel 46:1–8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezekiel 46:1–8
Sabbath and New-Moon Gate Worship Orders Prince and People
The inner east gate is shut the six working days
Thus saith the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
Quantities for sabbath and new moon
The burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. The meat offering is an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. In the day of the new moon, a young bullock without blemish, six lambs, and a ram; an ephah for the bullock, an ephah for the ram, for the lambs as he is able, oil by the hin.
When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. The prince worships at the post; the people at the door. Place is ordered, not a ranking of human worth, and not political control of worship. Ability to give already scales the lambs' grain.
How this should shape us
Keep a working week and open a gate for sabbath and new moon. Stand where you are assigned without calling the prince more human than the people at the door. Do not let a politician occupy the threshold as if the Presence were his.
Teach it back
Explain Ezekiel 46:1–8 in your own words. Name its place in Ezekiel, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The prince's place does not authorize political control of worship or unequal human worth.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Ezekiel 46:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 46:1–8
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and Theological Themes: temple, glory, worship, river, land, tribes, and city; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Part 3 study guide: dry bones, Gog, land, and temple utopia; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Supports: Gates, access, hierarchy, protection, and social space in the final vision, without pretending the inspected sample is a complete commentary.
Rhyder, 'Gates and Entrances in Ezekiel 40-48,' Vetus Testamentum 73 (2023), publication record, abstract, and author-hosted reading sample for pp. 752-765; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 46:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 46:1–8
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and Theological Themes: temple, glory, worship, river, land, tribes, and city; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Part 3 study guide: dry bones, Gog, land, and temple utopia; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed spatial and social study
Gates and Entrances in Ezekiel 40-48
Julia Rhyder
Vetus Testamentum 73, 2023
Supports: Gates, access, hierarchy, protection, and social space in the final vision, without pretending the inspected sample is a complete commentary.
Exact location: Rhyder, 'Gates and Entrances in Ezekiel 40-48,' Vetus Testamentum 73 (2023), publication record, abstract, and author-hosted reading sample for pp. 752-765; applied to Ezekiel 46:1–8
Open the article record ↗