Return of the Lord’s Glory and Description of Sacrifices and Worship

And he brought me to the gate which was facing east.^{[a] 2} And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters^[b] and the land radiated due to his glory! ³ And^[c] the appearance of the vision which I saw was as^[d] the vision which I saw at his^[e] coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as^[f] the vision which I saw by the Kebar River,^[g] and I fell on my face.

⁴ And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple by the way of the gate facing east.^{[h] 5} And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple! ⁶ And I heard someone speaking to me from the house,^[i] and a man was standing beside me. ⁷ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[j] this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell^[k] in the midst of the Israelites^[l] to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile my holy name^[m] with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead^[n] of their kings on their high places. ⁸ When they placed their threshold^[o] with^[p] my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the^[q] wall was between me and between them, then they defiled my holy name,^[r] with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead^[s] of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.^[t]

¹⁰ You, son of man,^[u] describe to the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans^[v] and all of its statutes. And all of its plans^[w] and all of its laws^[x] make known to them and write them before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them! ¹² This is the law^[y] of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, all the way around it,^[z] will be most holy.^[aa] Look, this is the law of the temple.

¹³ And these are the measurements of the altar in the cubits^[ab] (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth):^[ac] now its gutter^[ad] is a cubit^[ae] in depth by a cubit^[af] in width^[ag] and its rim along its edge all around is one span,^[ah] and this is also the height of the altar. ¹⁴ And from the gutter^[ai] at the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits,^[aj] and its width is one cubit,^[ak] and from the small ledge up to the large ledge is four cubits,^[al] and its width is one cubit. ¹⁵ And the altar hearth was four cubits,^[am] and from the altar hearth and upwards^[an] were the four horns of the altar. ¹⁶ And the altar hearth was twelve^[ao] cubits in length and twelve^[ap] cubits in width^[aq]; it was squared on its four sides.^{[ar] 17} And the ledge was fourteen^[as] cubits in length with fourteen^[at] cubits its width^[au] to all four of its sides, and a rim was all around it of one-half cubit.^[av] And the gutter^[aw] for it was a cubit^[ax] all around, and its steps were facing east.”

¹⁸ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[ay] thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘These are the statutes of the altar on the day when it is made,^[az] to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” declares^[ba] the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, a calf^[bb] as a sin offering.

²⁰ You must take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar,^[bc] and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it. ²¹ And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place. ²² And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as a sin offering, and they must purify the altar like^[bd] they purified with the bull. ²³ When you are finished^[be] from purifying, you must offer a bull, a calf,^[bf] without defect, and a ram from the flock without defect. ²⁴ And you must bring them near before^[bg] Yahweh, and the priests must throw salt on them, and they must offer them as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ²⁵ For seven days you must provide a goat of sin offering for the day and a bull, a calf,^[bh] and a ram from the flock without defect; you must provide them. ²⁶ Seven days they must purify the altar and they must cleanse it and so they will consecrate it.^{[bi] 27} And they will finish the days, and then^[bj] on the eighth day and beyond that the priests will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and then I will be pleased with you,” declares^[bk] the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 43:1 Literally “which was facing to the way of the east”
2. Ezekiel 43:2 Hebrew “water”
3. Ezekiel 43:3 Or “and as”; as is not needed in translation
4. Ezekiel 43:3 Or “like”
5. Ezekiel 43:3 Or “my coming”
6. Ezekiel 43:3 Or “like”
7. Ezekiel 43:3 Literally “river of Kebar”
8. Ezekiel 43:4 Literally “by the way of the gate which its face was to the way of the east”
9. Ezekiel 43:6 Or “from inside”
10. Ezekiel 43:7 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
11. Ezekiel 43:7 Literally “which I will dwell there”
12. Ezekiel 43:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
13. Ezekiel 43:7 Literally “the name of my holiness”
14. Ezekiel 43:7 Or “corpses”
15. Ezekiel 43:8 Literally “in/at their placing their threshold”
16. Ezekiel 43:8 Or “beside/next to”
17. Ezekiel 43:8 Or “their”
18. Ezekiel 43:8 Literally “the name of my holiness”
19. Ezekiel 43:9 Or “corpses”
20. Ezekiel 43:9 Literally “to eternity”
21. Ezekiel 43:10 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
22. Ezekiel 43:11 Or “its entire pattern”
23. Ezekiel 43:11 Or “purposes”
24. Ezekiel 43:11 According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS
25. Ezekiel 43:12 Literally “torah” or “instruction”
26. Ezekiel 43:12 Literally “all around, all around”
27. Ezekiel 43:12 Literally “will be a holiness of holinesses”
28. Ezekiel 43:13 Or “in long cubits”
29. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, about 18 inches (regular cubit) + 3 inches = 21 inches (long cubit)
30. Ezekiel 43:13 Or “trench” (NJPS)
31. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, 21 inches
32. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, 21 inches
33. Ezekiel 43:13 Literally “the cubit and cubit its width”
34. Ezekiel 43:13 That is, 9 inches
35. Ezekiel 43:14 Or “trench”
36. Ezekiel 43:14 That is, 3 feet 6 inches
37. Ezekiel 43:14 That is, 21 inches
38. Ezekiel 43:14 That is, 7 feet
39. Ezekiel 43:15 That is, 7 feet
40. Ezekiel 43:15 Literally “and to above”
41. Ezekiel 43:16 Literally “two ten”
42. Ezekiel 43:16 Literally “two ten”
43. Ezekiel 43:16 That is, 21 feet square
44. Ezekiel 43:16 Literally “squared to the four of its sides”
45. Ezekiel 43:17 Literally “four ten”
46. Ezekiel 43:17 Literally “four ten”
47. Ezekiel 43:17 That is, 24.5 feet on all four sides, a square
48. Ezekiel 43:17 That is, 10.5 inches
49. Ezekiel 43:17 Or “trench”
50. Ezekiel 43:17 That is, 21 inches
51. Ezekiel 43:18 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
52. Ezekiel 43:18 Literally “to be made it”
53. Ezekiel 43:19 Literally “declaration of”
54. Ezekiel 43:19 Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”
55. Ezekiel 43:20 Literally “on its four horns”
56. Ezekiel 43:22 Literally “as that”
57. Ezekiel 43:23 Literally “at your finishing”
58. Ezekiel 43:23 Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”
59. Ezekiel 43:24 Literally “to the face of”
60. Ezekiel 43:25 Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”
61. Ezekiel 43:26 Literally “they must fill its hand”
62. Ezekiel 43:27 Literally “and it will happen”
63. Ezekiel 43:27 Literally “declaration of”