EzekielChapter 43
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1Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east. 2I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters. The earth shone with his glory. 3This vision was like the one I had seen when he came to destroy the city. It was also like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River. I fell with my face to the ground. 4The glory of the LORD came into the temple through the gate facing east. 5Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. The glory of the LORD filled the temple. 6The man was standing beside me. Then I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. 7He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne. This is the place for the soles of my feet. I will live here among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again make my holy name unclean. Neither they nor their kings will do it by their prostitution. They will not do it by the funeral offerings for their kings when they die.a 8They put their doorway next to my doorway. They put their doorposts beside my doorposts. Only a wall stood between me and them. They made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things they did. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9Now let them put their prostitution far away from me. Let them put away the funeral offerings for their kings. Then I will live among them forever. 10Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them measure the plan. 11If they are ashamed of all they have done, show them the design of the temple. Show them how it is laid out, with its exits and entrances. Show them its whole design and all its rules, forms, and laws. Write it down while they watch. Then they can keep its whole design and all its rules and do them. 12This is the law of the temple: All the land around it on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple. 13These are the measurements of the altar, using the long cubit. (A long cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth.) Its gutter must be one cubit deep and one cubit wide. It must have a rim one span wide around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:b 14From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge must be two cubits. That ledge must be one cubit wide. From the smaller ledge up to the larger ledge must be four cubits. That ledge must be one cubit wide. 15The altar hearth must be four cubits high. Four horns must stick up from the hearth.c 16The altar hearth must be square, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide. 17The ledge must also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide. It must have a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of one cubit all around it. The steps of the altar must face east." 18Then he said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'These are the rules for the altar on the day it is built, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splashed on it. 19You must give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests. They are from the family of Zadok. They come near me to serve me, declares the Lord GOD. 20Take some of its blood. Put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. In this way you will make the altar clean and make atonement for it. 21Then you must take away the bull for the sin offering. Burn it in the chosen place in the temple area, outside the sanctuary. 22On the second day you must bring a male goat with no defects as a sin offering. The altar must be made clean as it was with the bull. 23When you have finished making it clean, you must bring a young bull with no defects. You must also bring a ram from the flock with no defects. 24You must bring them before the LORD. The priests must sprinkle salt on them. They must sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD. 25For seven days you must bring a male goat each day for a sin offering. You must also bring a young bull and a ram from the flock. Both must have no defects. 26For seven days the priests must make atonement for the altar and make it clean. In this way they will set it apart for God. 27When these days are over, from the eighth day on, the priests must offer your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.'"