The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

43 Then he led me to ^(A)the gate, the gate facing east. ² And behold, ^(B)the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And ^(C)the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and ^(D)the earth shone with his glory. ³ And ^(E)the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen ^(F)when he^[a] came to destroy the city, and just like ^(G)the vision that I had seen ^(H)by the Chebar canal. And ^(I)I fell on my face. ⁴ As ^(J)the glory of the Lord ^(K)entered the temple by the gate facing east, ^5 (L)the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into ^(M)the inner court; and behold, ^(N)the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

^6 (O)While the man was standing beside me, ^(P)I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, ⁷ and he said to me, ^(Q)“Son of man, this is ^(R)the place of my throne and ^(S)the place of the soles of my feet, ^(T)where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more ^(U)defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies^[b] of their kings at their high places,^{[c] 8} by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with ^(V)only a wall between me and them. They have ^(W)defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, ^(X)and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰ “As for you, ^(Y)son of man, ^(Z)describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, ^(AA)make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, ^(AB)its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down ^(AC)in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. ¹² This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of ^(AD)the mountain ^(AE)all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of ^(AF)the altar by cubits (the cubit being ^(AG)a cubit and a handbreadth):^[d] its base shall be one cubit high^[e] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[f] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; ¹⁵ and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, ^(AH)four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be ^(AI)square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷ The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. ^(AJ)The steps of the altar shall face east.”

¹⁸ And he said to me, ^(AK)“Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and ^(AL)for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to ^(AM)the Levitical priests ^(AN)of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, ^(AO)a bull from the herd for a sin offering. ²⁰ And ^(AP)you shall take some of its blood and put it on ^(AQ)the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon ^(AR)the rim all around. ^(AS)Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^(AT)it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished ^(AU)purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ^(AV)a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests ^(AW)shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^25 (AX)For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.^{[g] 27} And when they have completed these days, then ^(AY)from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ^(AZ)peace offerings, and ^(BA)I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me ^(BB)back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^(BC)which faces east. And it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^(BD)the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³ Only ^(BE)the prince may sit in it ^(BF)to eat bread before the Lord. He ^(BG)shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴ Then he brought me by way of ^(BH)the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^(BI)the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ^(BJ)I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, ^(BK)“Son of man, mark well, ^(BL)see with your eyes, ^(BM)and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ^(BN)all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well ^(BO)the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶ And say to ^(BP)the rebellious house,^[h] to the ^(BQ)house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^(BR)enough of all your abominations, ⁷ in ^(BS)admitting foreigners, ^(BT)uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ^(BU)profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You^[i] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And ^(BV)you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(BW)No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰ But ^(BX)the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols ^(BY)when Israel went astray, ^(BZ)shall bear their punishment.^{[j] 11} They shall be ^(CA)ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight ^(CB)at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(CC)they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^(CD)a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^(CE)sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They ^(CF)shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^(CG)they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep ^(CH)charge of the temple, ^(CI)to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(CJ)the Levitical priests, ^(CK)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(CL)the charge of my sanctuary ^(CM)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(CN)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(CO)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(CP)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(CQ)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(CR)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(CS)they shall put on other garments, ^(CT)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (CU)They shall not shave their heads or ^(CV)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (CW)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (CX)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (CY)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(CZ)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (DA)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 ^(DB)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ^25 (DC)They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ^26 (DD)After he^[k] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^(DE)into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^(DF)he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

^28 (DG)“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^(DH)you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29 (DI)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^(DJ)every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30 (DK)And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^(DL)You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^(DM)that a blessing may rest on your house. ^31 (DN)The priests shall not eat of ^(DO)anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ^(A)things not seen. ² For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by ^(B)the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of ^(C)things that are visible.

⁴ By faith ^(D)Abel offered to God ^(E)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^(F)through his faith, though he died, he ^(G)still speaks. ⁵ By faith ^(H)Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God ^(I)must believe that he exists and ^(J)that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith ^(K)Noah, being warned by God concerning ^(L)events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of ^(M)the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith ^(N)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(O)that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in ^(P)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(Q)living in tents ^(R)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to ^(S)the city that has ^(T)foundations, ^(U)whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith ^(V)Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^(W)him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and ^(X)him as good as dead, were born descendants ^(Y)as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, ^(Z)not having received the things promised, but ^(AA)having seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^(AB)having acknowledged that they were ^(AC)strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.