Ezekiel 43

1Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:

2And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

3And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.footnote a

4And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.

5So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.

6And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

7And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

8In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.footnote b

9Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

10Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.footnote c

11And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

12This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.

13And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar.footnote dfootnote e

14And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit.

15So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.footnote ffootnote g

16And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.

17And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east.

18And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.

19And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.

20And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.

21Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.

22And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.

23When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.

24And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

25Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.

26Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.footnote h

27And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.footnote i

The Glory of the LORD Returns to the Temple

1Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east, 2and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

3The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He camefootnote a to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown, 4and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

6While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, 7and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offeringsfootnote b for their kings at their deaths.footnote c 8When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

10As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan, 11and if they are ashamedfootnote d of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

12This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar of Sacrifice

13These are the measurements of the altar in long cubitsfootnote e (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one spanfootnote f around its edge.
And this is the height of the altar: 14The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.footnote g The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.footnote h

15The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth. 16The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.footnote i 17The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide,footnote j with a rim of half a cubitfootnote k and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

18Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splattered on it: 19You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD. 20You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. 21Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

22On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull. 23When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. 24You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

25For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished. 26For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it.footnote l 27At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”