Ezekiel 43–46

The Glory of the Lord Returns to the Temple

43Then the man brought me to the east gate. ²There I saw the glory of the God of Israel. He was coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters. His glory made the land shine brightly.

³The vision I saw was like the one I had when he came to destroy the city. It was also like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River. I fell with my face toward the ground. ⁴The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the east gate. ⁵Then the Spirit lifted me up. He brought me into the inner courtyard. The glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶The man was standing beside me. I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. ⁷He said, “Son of man, this is the place where my throne is. The stool for my feet is also here. I will live here among the people of Israel forever. They will never again treat my name as if it were not holy. They and their kings will not serve other gods anymore. The people will no longer worship the lifeless gods of their kings at their high places.

⁸“The people of Israel placed their own doorway next to my holy doorway. They put their doorposts right beside mine. Nothing but a thin wall separated us. They treated my name as if it were not holy. I hated it when they did that. So I became angry with them and destroyed them. ⁹Now let them stop serving other gods. Let them quit worshiping the lifeless gods of their kings. If they obey me, I will live among them forever.

¹⁰“Son of man, tell the people of Israel about the temple. Then they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them think carefully about the plan of the temple. ¹¹What if they are ashamed of everything they have done? Then show them all of the plans of the temple. Explain to them how it is laid out. Tell them about its exits and entrances. Show them exactly what it will look like. Give them all of its rules and laws. Write everything down so they can see it. Then they will be faithful to its plan. And they will obey all of its rules.

¹²“Here is the law of the temple. The whole area on top of Mount Zion will be very holy. That is the law of the temple.”

The Altar

¹³The man said, “Here is the size of the altar. The standard measurement I am using is 21 inches. The base of the altar is 21 inches high. The base has a ledge that is 21 inches wide. It also has a rim that is nine inches wide around the edge. Here is how high the altar is. ¹⁴The lower part is three and a half feet high. It has a ledge that is 21 inches wide. The middle part is seven feet high. It has a ledge that is 21 inches wide.

¹⁵“The top part is where the sacrifices are burned. It is seven feet high. A horn sticks out from each of its upper four corners. ¹⁶The top part of the altar is square. It is 21 feet long and 21 feet wide. ¹⁷The middle part is also square. It is 24 and a half feet long. It is 24 and a half feet wide. Its rim is ten and a half inches wide. The base of the altar is 21 inches high all the way around. The steps leading up to the top of the altar face east.”

¹⁸Then the man said to me, “Son of man, the Lord and King speaks. He says, ‘Here are the rules for the altar when it is built. Follow them when you sacrifice burnt offerings and sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹Give a young bull to the priests as a sin offering. They are Levites from the family of Zadok. They approach me to serve me,’ announces the Lord and King. ²⁰‘Get some of the bull’s blood. Put it on the four horns. Also put it on the four corners of the middle part of the altar and all around the rim. That will make the altar pure and clean. ²¹Use the bull for the sin offering. Burn it in the proper place outside the temple.

²²“ ‘On the second day offer a male goat. It must not have any flaws. It is a sin offering to make the altar pure and clean. So do as you did with the bull. ²³When you finish making the altar pure, offer a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must not have any flaws. ²⁴Offer them to me. The priests must sprinkle salt on them. Then they must sacrifice them as a burnt offering to me.

²⁵“ ‘Provide a male goat each day for seven days. It is a sin offering. Also provide a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must not have any flaws. ²⁶For seven days the priests must make the altar pure and clean. That is how they will set it apart to me.

²⁷“ ‘From the eighth day on, the priests must bring your burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They must sacrifice them on the altar. Then I will accept you,’ announces the Lord and King.”

The Prince, the Levites and the Priests

44Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the temple. It was the one that faced east. It was shut. ²The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain shut. It must not be opened. No one can enter through it. It must remain shut because I have entered through it. I am the God of Israel. ³The prince is the only one who can sit in the gateway. There he can eat in front of me. He must enter through the porch of the gateway. And he must go out the same way.”

⁴Then the man brought me through the north gate. He took me to the front of the temple. I looked up and saw the glory of the Lord. It filled his temple. I fell with my face toward the ground.

⁵The Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention. Look carefully. Listen closely to everything I tell you about all of the rules concerning my temple. Pay attention to the entrance to the temple and to all of its exits.

⁶“Speak to the people of Israel. They refuse to obey me. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “People of Israel, I have had enough of your evil practices. I hate them. ⁷You brought strangers into my temple. They were not circumcised. Their hearts were stubborn. You polluted my temple. But you offered me food, fat and blood anyway. When you did all of those things, you broke the covenant I made with you. I hated all of the evil things you did.

⁸“ ‘ “You did not do what I told you to. You did not take care of my holy things. Instead, you put other people in charge of my temple.” ’ ” ⁹The Lord and King says, “No stranger whose heart is stubborn can enter my temple. They have not been circumcised. Even if they live among the people of Israel they can’t enter it.

¹⁰“Some Levites wandered far away from me when Israel went down the wrong path. They worshiped the statues of their gods. So they will be punished because they have sinned. ¹¹They might serve in my temple. They might be in charge of its gates. They might kill the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people. And they might stand in front of the people and serve them in other ways.

¹²“But they served the people of Israel while they were worshiping their gods. They made the people fall into sin. So I raised my hand and took an oath. I warned them that I would punish them because of their sin,” announces the Lord and King. ¹³“They must not approach me to serve me as priests. They must not come near any of my holy things. They must stay away from my very holy offerings. They did many things they should have been ashamed of. I hated those things.

¹⁴“But I will still put them in charge of the temple duties. They can do all of the work that has to be done there.

¹⁵“But the priests must approach me to serve me. They are Levites from Zadok’s family line. They faithfully carried out their duties in my temple. They obeyed me when the people of Israel turned away from me. Those priests must serve me by offering sacrifices of fat and blood,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁶“They are the only ones who can enter my temple. Only they can come near to serve me and do my work.

¹⁷“They will enter the gates of the inner courtyard. When they do, they must wear linen clothes. They will serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. When they do, they must not wear any clothes that are made out of wool. ¹⁸They must have linen turbans on their heads. They must wear linen underwear around their waists. They must not put anything on that makes them sweat.

¹⁹“They will go into the outer courtyard where the people are. When they do, they must take off the clothes they have been serving in. They must leave them in the sacred rooms. And they must put other clothes on. Then they will not make the people holy if the people happen to touch their clothes.

²⁰“The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short. ²¹No priest can drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. ²²They must not get married to widows or divorced women. They can only marry Israelite virgins or the widows of priests.

²³“The priests must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not. They must show them how to tell the difference between what is ‘clean’ and what is not.

²⁴“When people do not agree, the priests must serve as judges between them. They must make their decisions based on my laws. They must obey my laws and rules for all of my appointed feasts. And they must keep my Sabbath days holy.

²⁵“A priest must not make himself ‘unclean’ by going near a dead person. But suppose the dead person was his father or mother. Or suppose it was his son or daughter or brother or unmarried sister. Then the priest can make himself ‘unclean.’ ²⁶After he is pure and clean again, he must wait seven days. ²⁷Then he can go to the inner courtyard to serve in the temple. But when he does, he must sacrifice a sin offering for himself,” announces the Lord and King.

²⁸“The priests will not receive any part of the land of Israel. I myself will be their only share. ²⁹They will eat the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is set apart to me in a special way will belong to them. ³⁰The best of every first share of the people’s crops will belong to the priests. So will all of their special gifts. The people must give the priests the first share of their ground meal. Then I will bless my people’s families.

³¹“The priests must not eat any bird or animal that is found dead. They must not eat anything…