Ezekiel 43:1-27

  • Jehovah’s glory fills the temple (1-12)

  • The altar (13-27)

43  Then he led me to the gate that is facing east.+ 2  There I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east,+ and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters;+ and the earth was illuminated by his glory.+ 3  What I saw was like the vision I had seen when I* came to bring the city to ruin, and it appeared to be like what I had seen near the river Cheʹbar;+ and I fell with my face to the ground. 4  Then the glory of Jehovah entered the temple* through the gate facing the east.+ 5  A spirit then raised me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and I saw that the temple had become full of the glory of Jehovah.+ 6  Then I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple, and the man came and stood beside me.+ 7  He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne+ and the place for the soles of my feet,+ where I will dwell among the people of Israel forever.+ The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name,+ they and their kings, by their spiritual prostitution and by the carcasses of their kings at their death. 8  By putting their threshold next to my threshold and their doorpost beside my doorpost, with only a wall between me and them,+ they defiled my holy name by the detestable things they did, so I exterminated them in my anger.+ 9  Now let them put their spiritual prostitution and the carcasses of their kings far away from me, and I will dwell among them forever.+ 10  “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel,+ so that they will feel ashamed because of their errors,+ and they should study its plan.* 11  If they feel ashamed of all they have done, you should make known to them the ground plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits, and its entrances.+ Show them all its ground plans and its statutes, its ground plans and its laws, and write them down before their eyes, so that they may observe all its ground plan and carry out its statutes.+ 12  This is the law of the temple. The entire territory all around the top of the mountain is most holy.+ Look! This is the law of the temple. 13  “These are the measurements of the altar in cubits+ (to each cubit a handbreadth was added).* Its base is a cubit, and it is a cubit wide. It has a border all around the edge that is one span* in width. This is the base of the altar. 14  From the base on the floor to the lower surrounding ledge is two cubits, and its width is one cubit. From the small surrounding ledge to the big surrounding ledge is four cubits, and its width is a cubit. 15  The altar hearth is four cubits high, and projecting up from the altar hearth are the four horns.+ 16  The altar hearth is square, 12 cubits long and 12 cubits wide.+ 17  The four sides of the surrounding ledge are 14 cubits long and 14 cubits wide; and the surrounding border is half a cubit, and its base is a cubit on all sides. “And its steps are facing east.” 18  He then said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘These are the directions to follow when the altar is made, so that whole burnt offerings may be offered and blood may be sprinkled on it.’+ 19  “‘You are to give a young bull of the herd as a sin offering+ to the Levitical priests of the offspring of Zaʹdok,+ who approach me to minister to me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. 20  ‘You should take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the surrounding ledge, and on the border all around, in order to purify it from sin and to make atonement for it.+ 21  Then take the young bull, the sin offering, in order to burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.+ 22  On the second day you will offer a sound male goat as a sin offering; and they will purify the altar from sin just as they purified it from sin with the young bull.’ 23  “‘When you finish purifying it from sin, you will offer a sound young bull of the herd and a sound ram from the flock. 24  You are to present them to Jehovah, and the priests must throw salt on them+ and offer them up as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. 25  For seven days you will offer a male goat as a daily sin offering,+ as well as a young bull of the herd and a ram of the flock; you will offer unblemished* animals. 26  For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar, and they must cleanse it and install it. 27  When the days are completed, on the eighth day+ and thereafter, the priests will offer your* whole burnt offerings and communion sacrifices on the altar; and I will find pleasure in you,’+ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”

Footnotes

Or possibly, “he.”
Lit., “house.”
Lit., “measure the pattern.”
This refers to long cubits. See App. B14.
That is, the span of the hand, about 22.2 cm (8.75 in.). See App. B14.
Or “perfect.”
That is, those of the people.