The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

43 Then he led me to bthe gate, the gate facing east. 2 And behold, cthe glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And dthe sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and ethe earth shone with his glory. 3 And fthe vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen gwhen he1 came to destroy the city, and just like hthe vision that I had seen iby the Chebar canal. And jI fell on my face. 4 As cthe glory of the Lord kentered the temple by the gate facing east, 5 lthe Spirit lifted me up and brought me into mthe inner court; and behold, nthe glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 oWhile the man was standing beside me, pI heard one speaking to me out of the temple, 7 and he said to me, q“Son of man, this is rthe place of my throne and sthe place of the soles of my feet, twhere I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more udefile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies2 of their kings at their high places,3 8 by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with vonly a wall between me and them. They have wdefiled 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, tand I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 “As for you, qson of man, xdescribe 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, xmake known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, yits 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 zin 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 athe mountain ball around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 “These are the measurements of cthe altar by cubits (the cubit being da cubit and a handbreadth):4 its base shall be one cubit high5 and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span6 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, efour horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be fsquare, 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. gThe steps of the altar shall face east.”

18 And he said to me, h“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 ifor throwing blood against it, 19 you shall give to jthe Levitical priests kof the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, la bull from the herd for a sin offering. 20 And myou shall take some of its blood and put it on ethe four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon nthe rim all around. oThus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and pit 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 opurifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and qa ram from the flock without blemish. 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests rshall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 sFor 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.7 27 And when they have completed these days, then tfrom the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your upeace offerings, and vI will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me wback to the outer gate of the sanctuary, xwhich 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 ythe Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only zthe prince may sit in it ato eat bread before the Lord. He bshall 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 cthe north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, dthe glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And eI fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, f“Son of man, mark well, gsee with your eyes, gand hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning hall the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well hthe entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6 And say to ithe rebellious house,1 to the jhouse of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, kenough of all your abominations, 7 in ladmitting foreigners, muncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, nprofaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You2 have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And oyou 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: pNo foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But qthe Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols rwhen Israel went astray, sshall bear their punishment.3 11 They shall be tministers in my sanctuary, having oversight uat the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and vthey shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became wa stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have xsworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They yshall 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 zthey shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep acharge of the temple, bto do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

15 “But cthe Levitical priests, cthe sons of Zadok, who kept athe charge of my sanctuary rwhen the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me dto minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ethe fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach fmy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear glinen 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 hand lay them in the holy chambers. And ithey shall put on other garments, jlest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 kThey shall not shave their heads or llet their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 mNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 nThey 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 oThey shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and oshow them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 pIn 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 qthey shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 rThey 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 sAfter he4 has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, tinto the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, uhe shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

28 v“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and wyou shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 xThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and yevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 zAnd the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. aYou shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, bthat a blessing may rest on your house. 31 cThe priests shall not eat of danything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.