The Glory of Yahweh Returns to the Temple

1And he brought me to the gate—the gate that is facing toward the east. 2And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

3And it was according to the appearance of the vision that I had seen, like the vision that I had seen when He came† to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw at the River Kebar. And I fell on my face. 4And the glory of YHWH came into the temple by the way of the gate that has its face toward the east. 5And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of YHWH filled the temple.

6And I heard one speaking to me from the temple, and the man was standing beside me. 7And He said to me: “Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place for the soles of My feet, in which I will dwell there in the midst of the sons of Israel forever; and the house of Israel will defile no more My holy name, they and their kings with their prostitution, and the corpses† of their kings at their deaths,† 8by their giving their threshold next to My threshold, and their doorpost beside My doorpost, and the wall between Me and between them. And they have defiled My holy name by the abominations that they did, and I finished them off in My anger. 9Now let them remove their prostitution, and the corpses of their kings, away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10You, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, so 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, the design of the temple, and its arrangement, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its design, and all its statutes, and all its forms, and all its laws, make known to them. And write it before their eyes, so that they may keep all its design and all its ordinances, and do them.

12This is the law of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all its border round about, is the holy of holies.† Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar of Sacrifice

13And these are the measurements of the altar in cubits† (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): The base shall be one cubit high and one cubit wide, and its rim to its edge all around a span of one;†

and this is the height of the altar. 14And from the base on the ground up to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit;† and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, and the width a cubit.†

15And the altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and from the hearth and upward are four horns. 16And the altar hearth shall be twelve long by twelve wide,† being square at the four of its corners. 17And the ledge shall be fourteen long,† and fourteen wide, on the four of its sides, with a rim around it half a cubit,† and the base for it a cubit all around; and its steps shall face toward the east.”

18And he said to me: “Son of man, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘These are the ordinances for the altar on the day of its being made to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, and to sprinkle blood on it. 19And you shall give to the priests, the Levites, those who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to Me, a declaration of the Lord YHWH, to minister to Me, a bull, a son of the herd, as a sin offering. 20And you shall take from its blood and put it upon the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; and you will cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21And you shall take the bull of the sin offering and burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside of the sanctuary.

22And on the second day, you shall offer a kid of the goats, unblemished, as a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. 23In your completing cleansing it, you shall offer a bull, a son of the herd, unblemished, and a ram from the flock, unblemished. 24And you shall present them before YHWH, and the priests shall throw on them salt, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to YHWH.

25Seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering, day by day, and a bull, a son of the herd and a ram from the flock, unblemished, they shall prepare. 26Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and they shall fill its hands. 27And are completed these days, and it shall come to pass on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall make upon the altar your⁺ burnt offerings and your⁺ peace offerings, and will I accept you⁺, a declaration of the Lord YHWH.’”

Footnotes:

3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts when I came
7 Or the monuments; also in verse 9
7 Or or their kings on their high places
11 Hebrew; LXX and Vulgate And they will be ashamed
12 Or the most holy
13 The long cubit, about 21 inches or 53.3 centimeters, is the basic unit for linear measurement throughout Ezekiel 40–48.
13 One span is approximately 9 inches or 22.9 centimeters.
14 The space was to be approximately 3.5 feet (1.1 meters), and the ledge was to be approximately 1.75 feet wide (53.3 centimeters wide).
14 The space was to be approximately 7 feet (2.1 meters), and the ledge was to be approximately 1.75 feet wide (53.3 centimeters wide).
16 12 (long) cubits is approximately 21 feet or 6.4 meters.
17 14 (long) cubits is approximately 24.5 feet or 7.5 meters.
17 A half cubit is approximately 10.5 inches or 26.7 centimeters.