42^*Then the man took me into the outer courtyard and led me to a building on the north side of the Temple, not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ²^*This building was fifty metres long and twenty-five metres wide. ³^*On one side it faced the space ten metres wide which was alongside the Temple, and on the other side it faced the pavement of the outer court. It was built on three levels, each one set further back than the one below it. ⁴^*Along the north side of this building was a passage five metres wide and fifty metres long,^f with entrances on that side. ⁵^*The rooms at the upper level of the building were narrower than those at the middle and lower levels because they were set further back. ⁶^*The rooms at all three levels were on terraces and were not supported by columns like the other buildings in the courtyard. ^7–8^*At the lower level the outer wall of the building was solid for twenty-five metres, half its length; and there were rooms in the remaining twenty-five metres. At the top level there were rooms in the entire length of the building. ^9–10^*Below these two rooms at the east end of the building, where the wall of the courtyard began,^g there was an entrance into the outer courtyard.

At the south^h side of the Temple there was an identical building not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ¹¹^*In front of the rooms there was a passage just like the one on the north side. It had the same measurements, the same design, and the same kind of entrances. ¹²^*There was a door under the rooms on the south side of the building, at the east end where the wall began.

¹³^*The man said to me, “Both these buildings are holy. In them the priests who enter the Lord’s presence eat the holiest offerings. Because the rooms are holy, the priests will place the holiest offerings there: the grain offerings and the sacrifices offered for sin or as repayment offerings. ¹⁴^*When priests have been in the Temple and want to go to the outer courtyard, they must leave in these rooms the holy clothing they wore while serving the Lord. They must put on other clothes before going out to the area where the people gather.”

The Measurements of the Temple Area

¹⁵^*When the man had finished measuring inside the temple area, he took me out through the east gate and then measured the outside of the area. ¹⁶^*He took the measuring rod and measured the east side, and it was 250 metres. ^17–19^*Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side; each side had the same length, 250 metres,ⁱ ²⁰^*so that the wall enclosed a square 250 metres on each side. The wall served to separate what was holy from what was not.

The Returns to the Temple

43The man took me to the gate that faces east, ²^*and there I saw coming from the east the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel. God’s voice sounded like the roar of the sea, and the earth shone with the dazzling light. ³This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem, and the one I saw by the River Chebar. Then I threw myself face downwards on the ground. ⁴The dazzling light passed through the east gate and went into the Temple.

⁵The Lord’s spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. ⁶The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: ⁷“Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule over them for ever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshipping other gods or by burying the corpses of^j their kings in this place. ⁸The kings built the thresholds and doorposts of their palace right against the thresholds and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. ⁹Now they must stop worshipping other gods and remove the corpses of^k their kings. If they do, I will live among them for ever.”

¹⁰And the Lord continued, “Mortal man, tell the people of Israel about the Temple, and let them study its plan. Make them ashamed of their sinful actions. ¹¹Then if they are ashamed of what they have done, explain the plan of the Temple to them: its design, its entrances and exits, its shape, the arrangement of everything, and all its rules and regulations. Write all this down for them so that they can see how everything is arranged and can carry out all the rules. ¹²This is the law of the Temple: all the area surrounding it on the top of the mountain is sacred and holy.”

The Altar

¹³^*These are the measurements of the altar, using the same unit of measurement as in measuring the Temple. All round the base of the altar there was a gutter fifty centimetres deep and fifty centimetres wide, with a rim at the outside edge twenty-five centimetres high. ¹⁴^*The lowest section of the altar, from the top of the base, was one metre high. The next section was set back from the edge fifty centimetres all round, and was two metres high. The section after that was also set back from the edge fifty centimetres all round. ¹⁵^*This top section, on which the sacrifices were burnt, was also two metres high. The projections on the four corners were higher than the rest of the top. ¹⁶^*The top of the altar was a square, six metres on each side. ¹⁷^*The middle section was also a square, seven metres on each side, with a rim at the outside edge twenty-five centimetres high. (The gutter was fifty centimetres wide.) The steps going up the altar were on the east side.

The Consecration of the Altar

¹⁸^*The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. When the altar is built, you are to dedicate it by burning sacrifices on it and by sprinkling on it the blood of the animals that were sacrificed. ¹⁹^*Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok are the only ones who are to come into my presence to serve me. I, the Sovereign Lord, command this. You will give them a young bull to offer as a sacrifice for sin. ²⁰^*You are to take some of its blood and put it on the projections on the top corners of the altar, and on the corners of the middle section of the altar, and all round its edges. In this way you will purify the altar and consecrate it. ²¹^*You are to take the bull that is offered as a sacrifice for sin and burn it at the specified place outside the temple area. ²²^*The next day you are to take a male goat without any defects and offer it as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood in the same way as you did with the bull. ²³^*When you have finished doing that, take a young bull and a young ram, both of them without any defects, ²⁴^*and bring them to me. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and burn them as an offering to me. ²⁵^*Each day for seven days you are to offer a goat, a bull, and a ram as sacrifices for sin. All of them must be without any defects. ²⁶^*For seven days the priests are to consecrate the altar and make it ready for use. ²⁷^*When the week is over, the priests are to begin offering on the altar the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings of the people. Then I will be pleased with all of you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

The Use of the East Gate

44The man led me to the outer gate at the east side of the temple area. The gate was closed, ²and the Lord said to me, “This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed. ³The ruling prince, however, may go there to eat a holy meal in my presence. He is to enter and leave the gateway through the entrance room at the inner end.”

Rules for Admission to the Temple

⁴Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw that the Temple of the Lord was filled with the dazzling light of his presence. I threw myself face downwards on the ground, ⁵and the Lord said to me, “Mortal man, pay attention to everything you see and hear. I am going to tell you the rules and regulations for the Temple. Note carefully which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Temple and which persons are not.

⁶“Tell those rebellious people of Israel that I, the Sovereign Lord, will no longer tolerate the disgusting things that they have been doing. ⁷They have profaned my Temple by letting uncircumcised foreigners, people who do not obey me, enter the Temple when the fat and the blood of the sacrifices are being offered to me. So my people have broken my covenant by all the disgusting things they have done. ⁸They have not taken charge of the sacred rituals in my Temple, but instead have put foreigners in charge.

⁹“I, the Sovereign Lord, declare that no uncircumcised foreigner, no one who disobeys me, will enter my Temple, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel.”

The Levites Are Excluded from the Priesthood

¹⁰The Lord said to me, “I am punishing those Levites who, together with the rest of the people of Israel, deserted me and worshipped idols. ¹¹They may serve me in the Temple by taking charge of the gates and by performing the work of the Temple. They may kill the animals which the people offer for burnt offerings and for sacrifices, and they are to be on duty to serve the people. ¹²But because they conducted the worship of idols for the people of Israel and in this way led the people into sin, I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly swear that they must be punished. ¹³They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place. This is the punishment for the disgusting things they have done. ¹⁴I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the Temple.”

The Priests

¹⁵The Sovereign Lord said, “Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Ezekiel 42–44 in Logos

Footnotes

fSome ancient translations fifty metres long; Hebrew a way of fifty centimetres.
gOne ancient translation where … began; Hebrew in the breadth of the wall of the courtyard.
hOne ancient translation south; Hebrew east.
iVerses 16–19 in Hebrew are unclear.
jby burying the corpses of; or by putting up monuments to.
kremove the corpses of; or remove the monuments to.

Cross references

*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*42.1–20: 1 K 6:1–38; 2 Ch 3:1–9
*43.2: Ez 10:3, 4, 18, 19; 11:22, 23; Rev 1:15
*43.13–17: Ex 27:1, 2; 2 Ch 4:1
*43.13–17: Ex 27:1, 2; 2 Ch 4:1
*43.13–17: Ex 27:1, 2; 2 Ch 4:1
*43.13–17: Ex 27:1, 2; 2 Ch 4:1
*43.13–17: Ex 27:1, 2; 2 Ch 4:1
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37
*43.18–27: Ex 29:35–37