Ezekiel 42–44

Description of Rooms for the Priests

42And he brought me out to the outer courtyard to the north,^a and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the courtyard and which is opposite the building to the north. ²As to^b the face of the length of the building with the doorway to the north, it was a hundred cubits,^c and its^d width was fifty cubits.^{e 3}Opposite the twenty cubits of the inner courtyard,^f and opposite the pavement that was to the outer courtyard was a gallery facing^g a gallery in the three stories. ⁴And in front of^h the chambers was a passageway ten cubitsⁱ in width toward the inside, a walkway of one cubit,^j and their doorways were to the north. ⁵And the upper chambers narrowed, for the galleries took away space from them more than they took from the lower levels and more than they took from the middle level in the building. ⁶For they^k were three stories and they had no pillars^l like^m the pillars ofⁿ the courtyards; therefore they were smaller than the lower stories and than the middle stories from the ground up. ⁷And there was a wall that was to the outside alongside^o the chambers on the walkway to^p the outer courtyard^q in front of^r the chambers; its length was fifty^s cubits.^{t 8}For^u the length of the chambers which were to the outer courtyard was fifty^v cubits,^w and look!^x The chambers on the front of the temple were a hundred^y cubits.^{z 9}And from under these chambers was the entrance^a from the east for them when one enters^b from the outer courtyard.

¹⁰All along the width of the wall of the courtyard eastward^c in front of the courtyard to the front of the building were chambers. ¹¹And a walkway was before them^d like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north,^e just like them in their length, and so was their width and all their exits, and they were built like their arrangements and like their doorways, ¹²and like the doorways of the chambers which were on the way of the south was a doorway at the head of the way^f before the stone wall, projecting^g on^h the way of the east at their coming.ⁱ

¹³And he said to me, “The chambers of the north and the chambers of the south which are before^j the courtyard, they are the holy chambers^k in which the priests, who are near to Yahweh, will eat the most holy objects.^l There they shall put the most holy objects,^m and the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering, for the place is holy. ¹⁴When the priests enter,ⁿ then they shall not go out from the sanctuary to the outer courtyard; and there they must put^o their garments in which they serve because they are holy. They must put on other garments and then they may approach the area that is for the people.

¹⁵And he completed the measurements of the inner temple, and he brought me to the walkway of the gate that faces toward the east^p and he measured it all the way around.^{q 16}He measured the east side with the reed^r for^s measuring, five hundred cubits,^t with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement, he measured it all around. ¹⁷He measured the north side as five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement all around. ¹⁸Then he measured the south side as five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement. ¹⁹He went around the west side^u and he measured five hundred cubits, with respect to reeds with the reed for measurement. ²⁰Toward the four sides^v he measured it; there was a wall for it all the way around.^w Its length was five hundred cubits^x and its width was five hundred cubits, in order to make a separation between what is holy and what is common.

Return of the Lord’s Glory and Description of Sacrifices and Worship

43And he brought me to the gate which was facing east.^{a 2}And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters^b and the land radiated due to his glory! ³And^c the appearance of the vision which I saw was as^d the vision which I saw at his^e coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as^f the vision which I saw by the Kebar River,^g and I fell on my face.

⁴And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple by the way of the gate facing east.^{h 5}And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple! ⁶And I heard someone speaking to me from the house,ⁱ and a man was standing beside me. ⁷And he said to me, “Son of man,^j this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell^k in the midst of the Israelites^l to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile my holy name^m with their fornication and with their offerings for the deadⁿ of their kings on their high places. ⁸When they placed their threshold^o with^p my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the^q wall was between me and between them, then they defiled my holy name,^r with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger. ⁹Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead^s of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.^t

¹⁰You, son of man,^u describe to the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern. ¹¹And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans^v and all of its statutes. And all of its plans^w and all of its laws^x make known to them and write them before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them! ¹²This is the law^y of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, all the way around it,^z will be most holy.^a Look, this is the law of the temple.

¹³And these are the measurements of the altar in the cubits^b (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth):^c now its gutter^d is a cubit^e in depth by a cubit^f in width^g and its rim along its edge all around is one span,^h and this is also the height of the altar. ¹⁴And from the gutterⁱ at the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits,^j and its width is one cubit,^k and from the small ledge up to the large ledge is four cubits,^l and its width is one cubit. ¹⁵And the altar hearth was four cubits,^m and from the altar hearth and upwardsⁿ were the four horns of the altar. ¹⁶And the altar hearth was twelve^o cubits in length and twelve^p cubits in width^q; it was squared on its four sides.^{r 17}And the ledge was fourteen^s cubits in length with fourteen^t cubits its width^u to all four of its sides, and a rim was all around it of one-half cubit.^v And the gutter^w for it was a cubit^x all around, and its steps were facing east.”

¹⁸And he said to me, “Son of man,^y thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘These are the statutes of the altar on the day when it is made,^z to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” declares^a the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, a calf^b as a sin offering.

²⁰You must take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar,^c and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it. ²¹And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place. ²²And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as a sin offering, and they must purify the altar like^d they purified with the bull. ²³When you are finished^e from purifying, you must offer a bull, a calf,^f without defect, and a ram from the flock without defect. ²⁴And you must bring them near before^g Yahweh, and the priests must throw salt on them, and they must offer them as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ²⁵For seven days you must provide a goat of sin offering for the day and a bull, a calf,^h and a ram from the flock without defect; you must provide them. ²⁶Seven days they must purify the altar and they must cleanse it and so they will consecrate it.^{i 27}And they will finish the days, and then^j on the eighth day and beyond that the priests will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and then I will be pleased with you,” declares^k the Lord Yahweh.

The Prince, the Levites, and the Priests Described

44And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that is facing east, and it was shut. ²And Yahweh said to me, “This gate will be shut. It shall not be opened, and no one^a will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered it, and it will be shut. ³The prince, he may sit in it to eat food before^b Yahweh; he will come from the way^c of the portico of the gate and by means of its way he will also go out.”

⁴Then he brought me by the way of the gate of the north to the front of the temple,^d and I looked,^e and look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple^f of Yahweh, and I fell on my face. ⁵And Yahweh said, “Son of man,^g set your heart^h and look with your eyes and with your ears hear everythingⁱ I am saying to you concerning all the statutes of the temple^j of Yahweh and concerning all its laws,^k and you must listen with your heart concerning the entrance of the temple^l with all of the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶And you must say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Enough for you, house of Israel, of^m all of your detestable things! ⁷Atⁿ your bringing foreigners^o who are uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh to be in my sanctuary to profane it, my temple,^p as you offered my food, fat, and blood,^q so^r you broke my covenant by all of your detestable things. ⁸And you did not observe the responsibility of my sanctuary, but^s you appointed them^t as the keepers of my responsibility in my sanctuary for you.”

⁹Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every foreigner^u uncircumcised of…