And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have not performed the duty of my holy things; but you have set performers of my duty in my sanctuary for yourselves.
- BSB And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’
- NKJV And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.”
- NASB And you have not taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”
- NLT Instead of safeguarding my sacred rituals, you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel failed to keep charge of God's holy things and instead delegated sacred duties to unfit substitutes.
Overview
Rather than guarding the sanctuary's holiness themselves, the people handed its care to those who had no right to it. This neglect of sacred responsibility dishonored God and corrupted worship. The passage underscores that God's holiness demands faithful stewardship, a charge ultimately kept perfectly by Christ our great High Priest.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 40:45–46And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
- 1 Chr 23:32And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.
- 2 Tim 4:1I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
- Ezra 8:24–30Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
- 1 Tim 6:13I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
- Num 18:7Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
- Ezek 44:14But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.
- Num 18:3–5And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
- Acts 7:53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
- Lev 22:2–33Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.
- Ezek 44:16They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 44:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.