44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed 1 the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. 44:5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, 2 watch closely and listen carefully to 3 everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances 4 to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 44:6 Say to the rebellious, 5 to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! 44:7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate 6 it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You 7 have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. 44:8 You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners 8 to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.
1 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
2 tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).
3 tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”
4 tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.
3 tc The LXX reads “house of rebellion.”
4 tn Heb “to desecrate.”
5 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”
5 tc Instead of an energic nun (ן), the text may have read a third masculine plural suffix ם (mem), “them,” which was confused with ן (nun) in the old script. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:621.