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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB ‘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.
- NLT “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.
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
God forbids any foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh from entering His sanctuary.
Overview
The Lord reaffirms the boundary protecting His holy presence from the unconsecrated. The emphasis on the 'uncircumcised in heart' shows the issue is unconverted, unbelieving allegiance, not ethnicity itself, since faithful foreigners were elsewhere welcomed. The gospel later opens the sanctuary to all nations through faith in Christ, who circumcises the heart by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:13-19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Joel 3:17Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
- Zech 14:21Indeed, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take some pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezek 44:7In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
- Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- John 3:3–5Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- Ps 93:5Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, for all the days to come.
- Titus 1:5–9The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
- Ps 50:16To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
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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 44:9 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
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