The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the roomsj opposite the temple courtyardk and opposite the outer wall on the north side.l 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.a 3 Both in the section twenty cubitsb from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallerym faced gallery at the three levels.n 4 In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubitsc long.d Their doors were on the north.o 5 Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. 6 The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. 7 There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8 While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9 The lower rooms had an entrancep on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

10 On the south sidee along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyardq and opposite the outer wall, were roomsr 11 with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north 12 were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

13 Then he said to me, “The norths and south roomst facing the temple courtyardu are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings,v the sin offeringsf w and the guilt offeringsx—for the place is holy.y 14 Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garmentsz in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.a”

15 When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gateb and measured the area all around: 16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.g,h 17 He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubitsi by the measuring rod. 18 He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 20 So he measuredc the aread on all four sides. It had a wall around it,e five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide,f to separate the holy from the common.g

God’s Glory Returns to the Temple

43 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east,h 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters,i and the land was radiant with his glory.j 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when hea came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The gloryk of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.l 5 Then the Spiritm lifted me upn and brought me into the inner court, and the gloryo of the Lord filled the temple.p

6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throneq and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defiler my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offeringsb for their kings at their death.c s 8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever.t

10 “Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamedu of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulationsd and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.v

12 “This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding areaw on top of the mountain will be most holy.x Such is the law of the temple.

The Great Altar Restored

13 “These are the measurements of the altary in long cubits,e that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: Its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one spanf around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: 14 From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes around the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide.g From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes around the altar it is four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide.h 15 Above that, the altar hearthz is four cubits high, and four hornsa project upward from the hearth. 16 The altar hearth is square, twelve cubitsi long and twelve cubits wide.b 17 The upper ledgec also is square, fourteen cubitsj long and fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a rim of half a cubit.k The stepsd of the altar face east.e”

18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offeringsf and splashing bloodg against the altar when it is built: 19 You are to give a young bullh as a sin offeringl to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok,i who come nearj to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altark and on the four corners of the upper ledgel and all around the rim, and so purify the altarm and make atonement for it. 21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.n

22 “On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect.o 24 You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle saltp on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

25 “For seven daysq you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect.r 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. 27 At the end of these days, from the eighth days on, the priests are to present your burnt offeringst and fellowship offeringsu on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

The Priesthood Restored

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east,v and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it.w It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. 3 The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presencex of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.y”

4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gatez to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the templea of the Lord, and I fell facedown.b

5 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the entrancec to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.d 6 Say to rebellious Israel,e ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your detestable practices, people of Israel! 7 In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heartf and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.g 8 Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.h 9 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.i

10 “ ‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astrayj and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.k 11 They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offeringsl and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them.m 12 But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel falln into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hando that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.p 13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shameq of their detestable practices.r 14 And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.s

15 “ ‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadokt and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer …