Ezekiel 43

God’s Glory Returns to the Temple

43Then 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 he^a came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. ⁴The glory^k of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.^{l 5}Then the Spirit^m lifted me upⁿ and brought me into the inner court, and the glory^o of the Lord filled the temple.^p

⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. ⁷He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne^q 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 defile^r my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings^b for their kings at their death.^{cs 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. ⁹Now 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 ashamed^u of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, ¹¹and 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 regulations^d 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 area^w 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 altar^y 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 span^f around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: ¹⁴From 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 hearth^z is four cubits high, and four horns^a project upward from the hearth. ¹⁶The altar hearth is square, twelve cubitsⁱ long and twelve cubits wide.^{b 17}The upper ledge^c also is square, fourteen cubits^j long and fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a rim of half a cubit.^k The steps^d of the altar face east.^e”

¹⁸Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings^f and splashing blood^g against the altar when it is built: ¹⁹You are to give a young bull^h as a sin offering^l to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok,ⁱ who come near^j to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. ²⁰You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar^k and on the four corners of the upper ledge^l and all around the rim, and so purify the altar^m and make atonement for it. ²¹You 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. ²³When 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 salt^p on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

²⁵“For seven days^q 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. ²⁷At the end of these days, from the eighth day^s on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings^t and fellowship offerings^u on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.”