^42:1Then he led me out to the outer court, toward the north, and brought me to the chamber which was opposite the courtyard and opposite the building on the north. ^42:2Its length was 175 feet¹ on the north side,² and its width 87½ feet.³^42:3Opposite the 35 feet⁴ that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories. ^42:4In front of the chambers was a walkway on the inner side, 17½ feet⁵ wide at a distance of 1¾ feet,⁶ and their entrances were on the north. ^42:5Now the upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more space from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. ^42:6For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers⁷ were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones. ^42:7As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, it was 87½ feet⁸ long. ^42:8For the chambers on the outer court were 87½ feet⁹ long, while those facing the temple were 175 feet¹⁰ long. ^42:9Below these chambers was a passage on the east side as one enters from the outer court.

^42:10At the beginning¹¹ of the wall of the court toward the south,¹² facing the courtyard and the building, were chambers ^42:11with a passage in front of them. They looked like the chambers on the north. Of the same length and width, and all their exits according to their arrangements and entrances ^42:12were the chambers¹³ which were toward the south. There was an opening at the head of the passage, the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the east when one enters.

^42:13Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers which face the courtyard are holy chambers where the priests¹⁴ who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy. ^42:14When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are.”

^42:15Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around. ^42:16He measured the east side with the measuring stick¹⁵ as 875 feet¹⁶ by the measuring stick. ^42:17He measured the north side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. ^42:18He measured the south side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. ^42:19He turned to the west side and measured 875 feet by the measuring stick. ^42:20He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.

The Glory Returns to the Temple

^43:1Then he brought me to the gate that faced toward the east. ^43:2I saw¹ the glory of the God of Israel² coming from the east;³ the sound was like that of rushing water;⁴ and the earth radiated⁵ his glory. ^43:3It was like the vision I saw when he⁶ came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the Kebar River. I threw myself face down. ^43:4The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate that faces east. ^43:5Then a wind⁷ lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; I watched⁸ the glory of the Lord filling the temple.⁹

^43:6I heard someone speaking to me from the temple, while the man was standing beside me. ^43:7He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne¹⁰ and the place for the soles of my feet,¹¹ where I will live among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their spiritual prostitution or by the pillars of their kings set up when they die.¹²^43:8When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my doorpost, with only the wall between me and them, they profaned my holy name by the abominable deeds they committed. So I consumed them in my anger. ^43:9Now they must put away their spiritual prostitution and the pillars of their kings far from me, and then I will live among them forever.

^43:10“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern. ^43:11When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design—all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire design and all its statutes and do them.

^43:12“This is the law of the temple: The entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. Indeed, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

^43:13“And these are the measurements of the altar:¹³ Its base¹⁴ is 1¾ feet¹⁵ high,¹⁶ and 1¾ feet¹⁷ wide, and its border nine inches¹⁸ on its edge. This is to be the height¹⁹ of the altar. ^43:14From the base of the ground to the lower edge is 3½ feet,²⁰ and the width 1¾ feet;²¹ and from the smaller ledge to the larger edge, 7 feet,²² and the width 1¾ feet; ^43:15and the altar hearth, 7 feet, and from the altar hearth four horns projecting upward. ^43:16Now the altar hearth²³ is a perfect square, 21 feet²⁴ long and 21 feet wide. ^43:17The ledge is 24½ feet²⁵ long and 24½ feet wide on four sides; the border around it is 10½ inches,²⁶ and its surrounding base 1¾ feet.²⁷ Its steps face east.”

^43:18Then he said to me: “Son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it,²⁸^43:19you will give a young bull for a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are descended from Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, declares the sovereign Lord. ^43:20You will take some of its blood, and place it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around; you will cleanse it and make atonement for it.²⁹^43:21You will also take the bull for the sin offering, and it will be burned in the appointed place in the temple, outside the sanctuary.

^43:22“On the second day, you will offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. They will purify the altar just as they purified it with the bull. ^43:23When you have finished purifying it, you will offer an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. ^43:24You will present them before the Lord, and the priests will scatter salt on them³⁰ and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

^43:25“For seven days you will provide every day a goat for a sin offering; a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish, will be provided. ^43:26For seven days they will make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, so they will consecrate it.³¹^43:27When the prescribed period is over,³² on the eighth day and thereafter the priests will offer up on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings;³³ I will accept you, declares the sovereign Lord.”

The Closed Gate

^44:1Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut. ^44:2The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. ^44:3Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal¹ before the Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way.”

^44:4Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed² the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. ^44:5The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention,³ watch closely and listen carefully to⁴ everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances⁵ to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. ^44:6Say to the rebellious,⁶ to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel! ^44:7When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate⁷ it—even my house—when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You⁸ have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. ^44:8You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners⁹ to keep charge of my sanctuary for you. ^44:9This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.¹⁰

^44:10“ ‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for¹¹ their sin. ^44:11Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. ^44:12Because they used to minister to them before their idols, and became a sinful obstacle¹² to the house of Israel, consequently I have made a vow¹³ concerning them, declares the sovereign Lord, that they will be responsible¹⁴ for their sin. ^44:13They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed. ^44:14Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all of its service and all that will be done in it.

The Levitical Priests

^44:15“ ‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok¹⁵ who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to…

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Footnotes

1 Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).
2 Heb “the door of the north.”
3 Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
4 Heb “twenty cubits” (i.e., 10.5 meters).
5 Heb “ten cubits” (i.e., 5.25 meters).
6 Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm). The and the read “one hundred cubits” (= 175 feet).
7 The phrase “upper chambers” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied from the context.
8 Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
9 Heb “fifty cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
10 Heb “one hundred cubits” (i.e., 52.5 meters).
11 The reading is supported by the .
12 This reading is supported by the ; the reads “east.”
13 The apparently evidences dittography, repeating most of the last word of the previous verse: “and like the openings of.”
14 The priests are from the Zadokite family (Ezek 40:6; 44:15).
15 Heb “reed” (also in the following verses).
16 Heb “five hundred cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters).
1 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
2 This same title appears in 8:4; 9:3; 10:19; and 11:22.
3 Earlier Ezekiel had observed God leaving the temple to the east (11:23).
5 Heb “shone from.”
6 Heb “I.” The reading is due to the confusion of yod (י, indicating a first person pronoun) and vav (ו, indicating a third person pronoun). A few medieval Hebrew , Theodotion’s Greek version, and the Latin support a third person pronoun here.
7 See note on “wind” in .
8 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
9 In 1 Kgs 8:10–11 we find a similar event with regard to Solomon’s temple. See also Exod 40:34–35. and Isa 6:4.
10 God’s throne is mentioned in Isa 6:1; Jer 3:17.
12 Heb “by their corpses in their death.” But the term normally translated “corpses” is better understood here as a reference to funeral pillars or funerary offerings. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 2:, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (), 2:.
13 Heb “the measurements of the altar by cubits, the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes. On the altar see Ezek 40:47.
14 The Hebrew term normally means “bosom.” Here it refers to a hollow in the ground.
15 Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
16 The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
17 Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
18 Heb “one span.” A span was three handbreadths, or about nine inches (i.e., 22.5 cm).
19 Heb “bulge, protuberance, mound.” The translation follows the .
20 Heb “two cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).
21 Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm; the phrase occurs again later in this verse).
22 Heb “four cubits” (i.e., 2.1 meters; the phrase also occurs in the next verse).
23 The precise Hebrew word used here to refer to an “altar hearth” occurs only here in the OT.
24 Heb “twelve cubits” (i.e., 6.3 meters; the phrase occurs twice in this verse).
25 Heb “fourteen”; the word “cubits” is not in the Hebrew text but is understood from the context; the phrase occurs again later in this verse. Fourteen cubits is about 7.35 meters.
26 Heb “half a cubit” (i.e., 26.25 cm).
27 Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
28 For the “sprinkling of blood,” see Lev 1:5, 11; 8:19; 9:12.
29 Note the similar language in Lev 16:18.
30 It is likely that salt was used with sacrificial meals (Num 18:19; 2 Chr 13:5).
31 Heb “fill its hands.”
32 Heb “and they will complete the days.”
33 The people also could partake of the food of the peace offering (Lev 3).
1 Heb “to eat bread.”
2 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
3 Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).
4 Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”
5 The , , and read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 2:.
6 The reads “house of rebellion.”
7 Heb “to desecrate.”
8 The Greek, , and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”
9 Instead of an energic nun (ן), the text may have read a third masculine plural suffix ם (mem), “them,” which was confused with ן (nun) in the old script. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 2:. This word is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied from the context.
10 Tobiah, an Ammonite (Neh 13:8), was dismissed from the temple.
11 Heb “will bear.”
12 Heb “a stumbling block of iniquity.” This is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (cf. also Ezek 7:19; 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30).
13 Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
14 Heb “will bear.”
15 Zadok was a descendant of Aaron through Eleazar (1 Chr 6:50–53), who served as a priest during David’s reign (2 Sam 8:17).

Cross references

4 See Ezek 1:24; Rev 1:15; 14:2; 19:6.
11 See 1 Chr 28:2; Ps 99:5; 132:7; Isa 60:13; Lam 2:1.