Ezekiel 43:13–46:24

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: ¹⁴from 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; ¹⁵and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, ^efour horns. ¹⁶The altar hearth shall be ^fsquare, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷The 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.”

¹⁸And 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, ¹⁹you 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. ²⁰And ^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. ²¹You 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. ²²And 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. ²³When you have finished ^opurifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ^qa ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴You 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. ^25sFor 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. ²⁶Seven 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

44Then he brought me ^wback to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^xwhich faces east. And it was shut. ²And 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. ³Only ^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.”

⁴Then 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. ⁵And 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. ⁶And 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, ⁷in ^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. ⁸And ^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. ¹⁰But ^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. ¹²Because 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. ¹³They ^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. ¹⁴Yet 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. ¹⁶They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^fmy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷When 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. ¹⁸They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹And 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. ^20kThey shall not shave their heads or ^llet their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21mNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²²ⁿThey 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. ^23oThey shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^oshow them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24pIn 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. ^25rThey 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. ^26sAfter he⁴ has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷And 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.

^28v“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^wyou shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29xThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^yevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30zAnd 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. ^31cThe priests shall not eat of ^danything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Holy District

45“When ^eyou allot the land as an inheritance, ^fyou shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits¹ long and 20,000² cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ^2gOf this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^han open space around it. ³And ⁱfrom this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^jin which shall be the sanctuary, ^kthe Most Holy Place. ^4lIt shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ^5mAnother section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.³

⁶“Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ⁿyou shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^oIt shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

^7p“And to ^qthe prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary ⁸of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^rmy princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^sthey shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹“Thus says the Lord God: ^tEnough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^uyour evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

^10v“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^{4 11}The ephah and the bath shall be ^wof the same measure, ^xthe bath containing one tenth of a homer,⁵ and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ^12yThe shekel shall be twenty gerahs;⁶ twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.⁷

^13z“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each…