Ezekiel 43:1-44:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Divine Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east.(A) 2 And there the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters, and the earth shone with his glory.(B) 3 The[a] vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city and[b] like the vision that I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell upon my face.(C) 4 As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east,(D) 5 the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(E)
6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple.(F) 7 He said to me: “Mortal, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution and by sacrificing to their kings[c] at their death.[d](G) 8 When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed; therefore I have consumed them in my anger.(H) 9 Now let them put away their idolatry and sacrifices to their kings[e] far from me, and I will reside among them forever.(I)
10 “As for you, mortal, describe the temple to the house of Israel, and let them measure the pattern, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities.(J) 11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form—all its ordinances and its entire plan and all its laws; and write it down in their sight so that they may observe and follow the entire plan and all its ordinances.(K) 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple.(L)
The Altar
13 “These are the dimensions of the altar by long cubits in which each is a cubit and a handbreadth: its base shall be one cubit high[f] and one cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. This shall be the height of the altar:(M) 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a width of one cubit, and from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, four cubits, with a width of one cubit,(N) 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits, and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns.(O) 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve wide.(P) 17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide, with a rim around it half a cubit high, and its surrounding base, one cubit. Its steps shall face east.”(Q)
18 Then he said to me: “Mortal, 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 for dashing blood against it,(R) 19 you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, says the Lord God, a bull of the herd for a purification offering.(S) 20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around; thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the purification offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.(T)
22 “On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a purification offering, and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.(U) 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.(V) 25 For seven days you shall provide daily a goat for a purification offering; also a bull of the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.(W) 26 Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it and so consecrate it. 27 When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, and I will accept you, says the Lord God.”(X)
The Closed Gate
44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”(Y)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.