Ezekiel 43

1 And he took me to the doorway looking to the east:

Then [in the vision] the man brought me to the entrance on the east side.

2 And there was the glory of the God of Israel coming from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of great waters, and the earth was shining with his glory.

Suddenly I saw the glory/brightness of the God of Israel coming from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of a rushing river, and all that area shone with his glory.

3 And the vision which I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came for the destruction of the town: and like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I went down on my face.

What I saw in this vision was like what I saw in the visions that I had seen [previously, first] by the Kebar River and [later] when God came to destroy Jerusalem. I prostrated myself on the ground.

4 And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the doorway looking to the east.

The glory of Yahweh entered the temple through the east entrance.

5 And the spirit, lifting me up, took me into the inner square; and I saw that the house was full of the glory of the Lord.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of Yahweh filled the temple.

6 And the voice of one talking to me came to my ears from inside the house; and the man was by my side.

[Then] while the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speak to me from inside the temple.

7 And he said to me, Son of man, this is the place where the seat of my power is and the resting-place of my feet, where I will be among the children of Israel for ever: and no longer will the people of Israel make my holy name unclean, they or their kings, by their loose ways and by the dead bodies of their kings;

He said, “You human, this is [my temple], the place [I sit on] my throne and where I rest my feet. This is where I will live with the Israeli people forever. The Israeli people and their kings will never again disgrace me [SYN] by worshiping other gods [MET] at the shrines on their hilltops, or by [building] monuments to honor their kings who have died.

8 By putting their doorstep by my doorstep, and the pillar of their door by the pillar of my door, with only a wall between me and them; and they have made my holy name unclean by the disgusting things which they have done: so in my wrath I sent destruction on them.

They placed their altars near mine, and the doorposts of their [temples] were next to the doorposts of my [temple]. There was only a wall between them. And they disgraced me by the detestable things that they did. So, being very angry with them, I got rid of them.

9 Now let them put their loose ways and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will be among them for ever.

Now they must stop this disgusting worship of idols and these rituals to honor their kings who have died. If they stop doing those things, I will live among them forever.

10 You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image.

You human, describe to the Israeli people what this temple that I have shown you [in a vision] is like, in order that they will be ashamed of the sins that they have committed [which resulted in their temple in Jerusalem being destroyed].

11 And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them.

If they are ashamed of all [the evil things] that they have done, tell them [all] about the temple [that I showed you]: its design/shape, the exits and entrances, [and everything else about it]. And tell them all my laws and regulations about worshiping me there. Write all these things down while they watch you, in order that they will be able to faithfully obey those laws.

12 This is the law of the house: On the top of the mountain all the space round it on every side will be most holy. See, this is the law of the house.

And this is the supreme law about the temple [DOU]: All of the area on top of the hill [where the temple will be built] must be kept sacred and holy.”

13 And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: (the cubit being a cubit and a hand's measure; ) its hollow base is a cubit high and a cubit wide, and it has an overhanging edge as wide as a hand-stretch all round it:

These are the measurements of the altar, using the same kind of measuring stick that was used for the temple area: There is a gutter around the altar that is (21 in./53 cm.) deep and (21 in./53 cm.) wide. There is a rim around it that is (9 in./23 cm.) wide.

14 And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide.

The lower part of the gutter is (3-1/2 feet/1.1 meters) high to the lower ledge/rim that surrounds the altar. The lower ledge is (21 in./53 cm.) wide. The upper part of the altar is (7 feet/2.1 meters) high, up to the upper ledge. That ledge is also (21 in./53 cm.) wide.

15 And the fireplace is four cubits high: and coming up from the fireplace are the horns, a cubit high.

The (hearth/place where the sacrifices are burned) at the top of the altar is another (7 feet/2.2 meters) high, and there is a projection that juts/extends up from each of the four corners.

16 And the fireplace is twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, square on its four sides.

That place at the top of the altar is square, (21 feet/6.4 meters) on each side.

17 And the shelf is fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, on its four sides; the edge round it is half a cubit; the base of it is a cubit all round, and its steps are facing the east.

The upper ledge is also a square, (24-1/2 feet/7.4 meters) on each side. There is a (21 in./53 cm.) gutter [at the bottom of the altar], and a (10.5 in./26.6 cm.) rim all around it. There are steps up to the east side of the altar.”

18 And he said to me, Son of man, the Lord God has said, These are the rules for the altar, when they make it, for the offering of burned offerings on it and the draining out of the blood.

Then the man said to me, “You human, this is what Yahweh the Lord says: These are the regulations for sacrificing offerings that will be completely burned and for sprinkling the blood against the sides of the altar when it is built:

19 You are to give to the priests, the Levites of the seed of Zadok, who come near to me, says the Lord God, to do my work, a young ox for a sin-offering.

You must present to the priests a young bull to be an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. The priests are descendants of Levi, from the clan of Zadok, who come near to the altar to serve me.

20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns and on the four angles of the shelf and on the edge all round: and you are to make it clean and free from sin.

You must take some of the blood [from the bull that is sacrificed], and smear it on the four projections of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge, and all around the rim, to cause the altar to be acceptable to me, and to consecrate it.

21 And you are to take the ox of the sin-offering, and have it burned in the special place ordered for it in the house, outside the holy place.

You must burn that bull outside the temple in the part of the temple area [that I have] designated for that.

22 And on the second day you are to have a he-goat without any mark on it offered for a sin-offering; and they are to make the altar clean as they did with the young ox.

The next day, you must offer a male goat that has no defects, to be an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. Then you must purify the altar again, like you did with the bull that was sacrificed.

23 And after you have made it clean, let a young ox without a mark be offered, and a male sheep from the flock without a mark.

When you have finished doing all that, you must offer a young bull and a ram, both of them without any defects.

24 And you are to take them before the Lord, and the priests will put salt on them, offering them up for a burned offering to the Lord.

You must offer them to [me], Yahweh, and the priests must sprinkle salt on them and completely burn them [on the altar] for a sacrifice to me.

25 Every day for seven days you are to give a goat for a sin-offering: and let them give in addition a young ox and a male sheep from the flock without any mark on them.

[Then], each day for seven days, you must bring [to the priest] a male goat [to be sacrificed] for an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. You must also sacrifice a young bull and a ram, [each] without any defect.

26 For seven days they are to make offerings to take away sin from the altar and to make it clean; so they are to make it holy.

For seven days the priests will consecrate the altar and cause it to be acceptable to me. By doing that they will dedicate it to me.

27 And when these days have come to an end, then on the eighth day and after, the priests will make your burned offerings on the altar and your peace-offerings; and I will take pleasure in you, says the Lord.

At the end of those seven days, starting on the following day, the priests will continue to put on the altar offerings to be completely burned and offerings to maintain fellowship with me. Then I will accept you. [That it what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.”