Ezekiel 43

Return of the Lord’s Glory

1 He led me to the gate,  * 43:1 Ezk 10:19; 40:6; 42:15; 44:1 the one that faces east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel  * 43:2 Is 6:3; Ezk 1:28; 3:23; 10:18–19 coming from the east.  * 43:2 Ezk 11:22–23 His voice sounded like the roar of a huge torrent,  * 43:2 Ezk 1:24; Rv 1:15 and the earth shone with his glory.  * 43:2 Ezk 1:28; 10:4; Rv 18:13 The vision I saw  * 43:3 Ezk 1:4–28 was like the one I had seen when he  * 43:3 Some Hb mss, Theod, Vg; other Hb mss, LXX, Syr read I came to destroy the city,  * 43:3 Jr 1:10; Ezk 9:1 and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal.  * 43:3 Ezk 1:3 I fell facedown.  * 43:3 Ezk 1:28; 3:234 The glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate that faced east.  * 43:4 Ezk 10:195 Then the Spirit lifted me up  * 43:5 Ezk 3:14; 2Co 12:2–4 and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  * 43:5 Ezk 10:4

6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple.  * 43:6 Ezk 1:267 He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet,  * 43:7 Ps 47:8 where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.  * 43:7 Ezk 37:26–28 The house of Israel and their kings will no longer defile my holy name by their religious prostitution and by the corpses  * 43:7 Or monuments, also in v. 9,* 43:7 Lv 26:30; Ezk 6:5,13 of their kings at their high places.  * 43:7 Some Hb mss, Theod, Tg read their death,* 43:7 Ezk 6:3–58 Whenever they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by the detestable acts they committed.  * 43:8 Ezk 8:3 So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them remove their prostitution and the corpses  * 43:9 Ezk 18:30 of their kings far from me, and I will dwell among them forever.  * 43:9 Ezk 37:26–28

10 "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel,  * 43:10 Ezk 40:4 so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities.  * 43:10 Ezk 16:61–63 Let them measure its pattern,  * 43:10 Ezk 28:1211 and they will be ashamed of all that they have done. Reveal  * 43:10–11 LXX, Vg; MT reads pattern. 11And if they are ashamed . . . done, reveal the design of the temple to them — its layout with its exits and entrances  * 43:11 Ezk 44:5  — its complete design along with all its statutes, design specifications, and laws. Write it down in their sight  * 43:11 Ezk 12:3 so that they may observe its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.  * 43:11 Ezk 11:2012 This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain  * 43:12 Ezk 40:2 will be especially holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 "These are the measurements of the altar  * 43:13 Ex 27:1–8; 2Ch 4:1 in units of length (each unit being the standard length plus three inches):  * 43:13 Lit in cubits (a cubit being a cubit plus a handbreadth),* 43:13 Ezk 40:5 The gutter is 21 inches  * 43:13 Lit one cubit, also in vv. 14,17 deep and 21 inches wide, with a rim of nine inches  * 43:13 Lit one span around its edge. This is the base  * 43:13 LXX reads height of the altar. 14 The distance from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge is 3 1/2 feet,  * 43:14 Lit two cubits and the width of the ledge is 21 inches. There are 7 feet  * 43:14 Lit four cubits, also in v. 15 from the small ledge to the large ledge, whose width is also 21 inches. 15 The altar hearth  * 43:15 Hb obscure is 7 feet high, and four horns  * 43:15 Ex 27:2; Lv 9:9; 1Kg 1:50; Ps 118:27 project upward from the hearth. 16 The hearth is square, 21 feet  * 43:16 Lit 12 cubits long by 21 feet wide.  * 43:16 Ex 27:117 The ledge is 24 1/2 feet  * 43:17 Lit 14 cubits long by 24 1/2 feet wide, with four equal sides.  * 43:17 Ex 20:26 The rim all around it is 10 1/2 inches,  * 43:17 Lit one-half cubit and its gutter is 21 inches all around it. The altar’s steps face east."  * 43:17 Ezk 40:6

18 Then he said to me, "Son of man,  * 43:18 Ezk 2:1 this is what the Lord God says: These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings  * 43:18 Ex 40:29 may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splattered on it:  * 43:18 Lv 1:5,11; Heb 9:21–2219 You are to give a bull from the herd  * 43:19 Lv 4:3 as a sin offering  * 43:19 Ezk 45:19; Heb 7:27 to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok,  * 43:19 1Kg 2:35; Ezk 40:46 who approach me in order to serve me."  * 43:19 Nm 16:5 This is the declaration of the Lord God. 20 "You are to take some of its blood and apply it to the four horns  * 43:20 Lv 8:15; 9:9 of the altar, the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. In this way you will purify the altar and make atonement for it.  * 43:20 Lv 16:1921 Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in the place appointed for the temple.  * 43:21 Ex 29:14; Lv 4:12; Heb 13:11

22 "On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering. They will purify the altar just as they did with the bull. 23 When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull  * 43:23 Ex 29:1,10; Ezk 45:18 and an unblemished ram from the flock.  * 43:23 Ex 29:124 You are to present them before the Lord; the priests will throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.  * 43:24 Lv 2:13; Nm 18:19; Mk 9:49–50; Col 4:625 You will offer a goat for a sin offering each day for seven days.  * 43:25 Ex 29:35–37; Lv 8:33 A young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished, are also to be offered. 26 For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. In this way they will consecrate it  * 43:26 Lit will fill its hands27 and complete the days of purification. Then on the eighth day  * 43:27 Lv 9:1 and afterward, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar, and I will accept you."  * 43:27 Ezk 20:40 This is the declaration of the Lord God.