1Then 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 River Kebar. I fell with my face towards 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 for ever. 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 make funeral offerings for their kings.8The 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 stop making funeral offerings for their kings. If they obey me, I will live among them for ever.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 how perfect it is.11What if they are ashamed of everything they have done? Then show them all 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 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 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 great altar is rebuilt
13The man said, ‘Here is the size of the altar. The standard measurement I am using is 60 centimetres. The altar has a drain on the ground. The drain is 60 centimetres deep and 60 centimetres wide. It has a rim that is 25 centimetres wide round the edge. Here is how high the altar is.14From the drain to the lower ledge is 1.2 metres. The lower ledge goes around the altar and is 60 centimetres wide. From the lower ledge to the upper ledge is 2.4 metres. The upper ledge also goes around the altar and is 60 centimetres wide.15The top part of the altar is where the sacrifices are burned. It is 2.4 metres high. A horn sticks out from each of its four corners.16The top part of the altar is square. It is 7.2 metres long and 7.2 metres wide.17The upper ledge is also square. It is 8.4 metres long and 8.4 metres wide. The drain goes all the way around the altar. The rim of the drain is 30 centimetres wide. 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 splash blood against 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 of the altar. Also put it on the four corners of the upper ledge 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 the same thing with the goat that 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.27From 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.’
Ezekiel 43
English Standard Version
The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple
1Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. (Eze 10:19; Eze 11:1; Eze 40:6; Eze 42:15; Eze 43:4; Eze 44:1)2And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. (Eze 1:24; Eze 10:4; Eze 10:18; Eze 11:23; Re 1:15; Re 18:1; Re 21:11)3And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he[1] came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. (Eze 1:1; Eze 1:4; Eze 1:28; Eze 9:1; Eze 9:5)4As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, (Eze 43:2; Eze 44:2)5the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. (1Ki 8:10; Isa 6:1; Eze 3:12; Eze 8:16; Eze 10:4; Eze 44:4)6While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, (Ex 25:22; Eze 40:3)7and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies[2] of their kings at their high places,[3] (1Ch 28:2; Ps 99:1; Isa 60:13; Eze 2:1; Eze 20:39; Eze 37:26; Eze 37:28; Eze 43:8)8by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. (Eze 42:20; Eze 43:7)9Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. (Eze 43:7)10“As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. (Eze 40:4; Eze 43:7)11And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. (Eze 12:3; Eze 43:10; Eze 44:5)12This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. (Eze 40:2; Eze 42:15)
The Altar
13“These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth):[4] its base shall be one cubit high[5] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span[6] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: (Ex 27:1; Eze 40:5; Eze 40:47; Eze 41:8; Eze 47:1)14from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit;15and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. (Ex 27:2)16The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. (Ex 27:1; Eze 40:47)17The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east.” (Ex 20:26)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 erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, (Le 1:5; Eze 2:1)19you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. (Ex 29:1; Ex 29:10; De 17:9; De 18:1; De 24:8; De 27:9; Eze 40:46; Eze 44:15; Eze 45:18)20And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. (Ex 29:12; Ex 29:36; Le 8:15; Eze 43:13; Eze 43:15; Eze 43:17; Eze 45:18; Eze 45:19)21You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. (Ex 29:14)22And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull.23When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. (Ex 29:1; Eze 43:20)24You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. (Le 2:13)25For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. (Ex 29:35; Le 8:33; Le 8:35)26Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.[7]27And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.” (Le 3:1; Le 9:1; Eze 20:40)