Ezekiel 43:1–44:31

The Temple, the Lord’s Dwelling Place

43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate athat faces toward the east. 2 bAnd behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. cHis voice was like the sound of many waters; dand the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was elike the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when 1I came fto destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw gby the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 hAnd the glory of the Lord came into the 2temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 iThe Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, jthe glory of the Lord filled the 3temple.

6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while ka man stood beside me. 7 And He said to me, “Son of man, this is lthe place of My throne and mthe place of the soles of My feet, nwhere I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. oNo more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their 4harlotry or with pthe carcasses of their kings on their high places. 8 qWhen they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 “Son of man, rdescribe the 5temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the 6temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its sordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and tperform them. 12 This is the law of the 7temple: The whole area surrounding uthe mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

Dimensions of the Altar

13 “These are the measurements of the valtar in cubits w(the 8cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit. 15 The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four xhorns extending upward from the 9hearth. 16 The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, ysquare at its four corners; 17 the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and zits steps face toward the east.”

Consecrating the Altar

18 And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing aburnt offerings on it, and for bsprinkling blood on it. 19 You shall give ca young bull for a sin offering to dthe priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of eZadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God. 20 You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and fburn it in the appointed place of the 1temple, goutside the sanctuary. 22 On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 When you offer them before the Lord, hthe priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 Every day for iseven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. 26 Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so 2consecrate 3it. 27 jWhen these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will kaccept you,’ says the Lord God.”

The East Gate and the Prince

44 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary awhich faces toward the east, but it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, bbecause the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the cprince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to deat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”

Those Admitted to the Temple

4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the 1temple; so I looked, and ebehold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; fand I fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, g“Son of man, 2mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the hordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.

6 “Now say to the irebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “O house of Israel, jlet Us have no more of all your abominations. 7 kWhen you brought in lforeigners, muncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered nMy food, othe fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And you have not pkept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” 9 Thus says the Lord God: q“No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

Laws Governing Priests

10 r“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, sas gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; tthey shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and uthey shall stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and vcaused 3the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have wraised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. 13 xAnd they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall ybear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I will make them zkeep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

15 a“But the priests, the Levites, bthe sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary cwhen the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they dshall stand before Me to offer to Me the efat and the blood,” says the Lord God. 16 “They shall fenter My sanctuary, and they shall come near gMy table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. 17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that hthey shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. 18 iThey shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, jthey shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall knot sanctify the people.

20 l“They shall neither shave their heads, nor let their hair grow mlong, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. 21 nNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They shall not take as wife a owidow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

23 “And pthey shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to qdiscern between the unclean and the clean. 24 rIn controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, sand they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

25 “They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. 26 tAfter he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, uhe must offer his sin offering vin the inner court,” says the Lord God.

28 “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I wam their inheritance. You shall give them no xpossession in Israel, for I am their possession. 29 yThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; zevery dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The abest 4of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you bshall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, cto cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that ddied naturally or was torn by wild beasts.