Ezekiel 43:1–44:31
Vision of the Glory of God Filling the Temple
1 Then he led me to the agate, the gate facing toward the east;
2 and behold, the aglory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the beast. And His cvoice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth dshone with His glory.
3 And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the avision which I saw when 1He came to bdestroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the criver Chebar; and I dfell on my face.
4 And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the aeast.
5 And the aSpirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the bglory of the Lord filled the house.
6 Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a aman was standing beside me.
7 He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My athrone and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will bdwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the 1ccorpses of their kings 2when they die,
8 by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have adefiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.
9 “Now let them aput away their harlotry and the 1corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will bdwell among them forever.
10 “As for you, son of man, 1adescribe the 2temple to the house of Israel, that they may be bashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the 3cplan.
11 “If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the 1design of the house, its structure, its aexits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes2, and all its laws. And write it bin their sight, so that they may observe its whole 1design and all its statutes and cdo them.
12 “This is the 1law of the house: its entire 2area on the top of the amountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the 1law of the house.
13 “And these are the measurements of the aaltar by cubits (the bcubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): the 1base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge round about one span; and this shall be the height of the 2base of the altar.
14 “From the base on the ground to the lower aledge shall be two cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width 1one cubit.
15 “The 1altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the 1altar hearth shall extend upwards four ahorns.
16 “Now the 1altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, asquare in its four sides.
17 “The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit and its base shall be a cubit round about; and its asteps shall 1bface the east.”
18 And He said to me, “aSon of man, thus says the Lord 1God, ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer bburnt offerings on it and to csprinkle blood on it.
19 ‘You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of aZadok, who draw bnear to Me to minister to Me,’ declares the Lord God, ‘a cyoung bull for a dsin offering.
20 ‘You shall take some of its blood and put it on its four ahorns and on the four corners of the bledge and on the border round about; thus you shall ccleanse it and make atonement for it.
21 ‘You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be aburned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
22 ‘On the second day you shall offer a amale goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall bcleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull.
23 ‘When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a ayoung bull without blemish and a bram without blemish from the flock.
24 ‘You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw asalt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 ‘aFor seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.
26 ‘For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they 1consecrate it.
27 ‘When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the aeighth day and onward, the priests shall 1offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your bpeace offerings; and I will caccept you,’ declares the Lord God.”
1 Then He brought me back by the way of the aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.
2 The Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the aLord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.
3 “As for the aprince, he shall sit in it as prince to beat bread before the Lord; he shall center by way of the dporch of the gate and shall go out 1by the same way.”
4 Then He brought me by way of the anorth gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the bglory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I cfell on my face.
5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, 1amark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the bstatutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and 1mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary.
6 “You shall say to the 1arebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord 2God, “bEnough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,
7 when you brought in aforeigners, buncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you coffered My food, the fat and the blood; for they dmade My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations.
8 “And you have not akept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners 1to keep charge of My sanctuary.”
9 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “aNo foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
10 “But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who awent astray from Me after their idols, shall bbear the punishment for their iniquity.
11 “Yet they shall be aministers in My sanctuary, having boversight at the gates of the house and cministering in the house; they shall dslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall estand before them to minister to them.
12 “Because they ministered to them abefore their idols and became a bstumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have 1csworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall dbear the punishment for their iniquity.
13 “And they shall anot come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bbear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.
14 “Yet I will 1appoint them 2to akeep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.
15 “But the aLevitical priests, the sons of bZadok, who ckept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel dwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall estand before Me to offer Me the ffat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.
16 “They shall aenter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My btable to minister to Me and keep My charge.
17 “It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with alinen garments; and wool shall not 1be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house.
18 “Linen aturbans shall be on their heads and blinen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.
19 “When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall aput off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will bnot transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
20 “Also they shall anot shave their heads, yet they shall not blet their locks 1grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
21 “aNor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.
22 “And they shall not 1marry a widow or a adivorced woman but shall btake virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
23 “Moreover, they shall teach My people the adifference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24 “In a dispute athey shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My bappointed feasts and csanctify My sabbaths.
25 “1aThey shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.
26 “After he is acleansed, seven days shall 1elapse for him.
27 “On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ainner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his bsin offering,” declares the Lord God.
28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that aI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession.
29 “They shall aeat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every 1bdevoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 “The first of all the afirst fruits of every kind and every 1contribution of every kind, from all your 1contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the bfirst of your 2dough to cause a cblessing to rest on your house.