Ezekiel 43

The Temple, the Lord’s Dwelling Place

43Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate ^athat faces toward the east. ^2bAnd 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. ³It 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. ^4hAnd the glory of the Lord came into the ²temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. ⁵ⁱThe Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, ^jthe glory of the Lord filled the ³temple.

⁶Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while ^ka man stood beside me. ⁷And 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. ^8qWhen 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. ⁹Now 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. ¹¹And 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. ¹²This 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: ¹⁴from 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. ¹⁵The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four ^xhorns extending upward from the ⁹hearth. ¹⁶The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, ^ysquare at its four corners; ¹⁷the 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

¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹You 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. ²⁰You 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. ²¹Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^fburn it in the appointed place of the ¹temple, ^goutside the sanctuary. ²²On 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. ²³When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴When 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. ²⁵Every 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. ²⁶Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so ²consecrate ³it. ^27jWhen 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.”