Ezekiel 42–44

Chapter 42

Chambers of the Temple

¹Then he ^abrought me out into the ^bouter court, the way ^ctoward the north; and he brought me to the ^dchamber which was opposite the ^eseparate area and opposite the ^fbuilding toward the north.

²Along the length, which was a ^ahundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits.

³Opposite the ^atwenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the ^bpavement which belonged to the outer court, was ^1cgallery corresponding to gallery in three stories.

⁴Before the ^achambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north.

⁵Now the upper chambers were ¹smaller because the ^2agalleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building.

⁶For they were in ^athree stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were ¹set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones.

⁷As for the ^aouter wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits.

⁸For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was a ^ahundred cubits.

⁹Below these chambers was the ^aentrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰In the ¹thickness of the ^awall of the court toward the east, facing the ^bseparate area and facing the building, there were ^cchambers.

¹¹The ^away in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings.

¹²Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the ^awall toward the east, as one enters them.

¹³Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the ^aseparate area, they are the ^bholy chambers where the priests who are ^cnear to the Lord shall eat the ^dmost holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy.

¹⁴“When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary ¹without ^alaying there their ^bgarments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”

¹⁵Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the ^agate which faced toward the east and measured it all around.

¹⁶He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds by the ^ameasuring reed.

¹⁷He measured on the north side five hundred reeds by the measuring reed.

¹⁸On the south side he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

¹⁹He turned to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

²⁰He measured it ¹on the four sides; it had a ^awall all around, the ^blength five hundred and the width five hundred, to ^cdivide between the holy and the profane.

Chapter 43

Vision of the Glory of God Filling the Temple

¹Then he led me to the ^agate, the gate facing toward the east;

²and 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.

³And 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.

⁴And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the ^aeast.

⁵And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the ^bglory of the Lord filled the house.

⁶Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a ^aman was standing beside me.

⁷He 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,

⁸by 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 design 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 law of the house.

The Altar of Sacrifice

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 altar 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.”

The Offerings

¹⁸And 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.”

Chapter 44

Gate for the Prince

¹Then He brought me back by the way of the ^aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.

²The 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.”

⁴Then 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.

⁵The 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 mark 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,

⁷when 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…