The Temple, the Lord’s Dwelling Place

43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate ^(A)that faces toward the east. ^2 (B)And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. ^(C)His voice was like the sound of many waters; ^(D)and the earth shone with His glory. ³ It was ^(E)like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when ^[a]I came ^(F)to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw ^(G)by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. ^4 (H)And the glory of the Lord came into the ^[b]temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. ^5 (I)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, ^(J)the glory of the Lord filled the ^[c]temple.

⁶ Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while ^(K)a man stood beside me. ⁷ And He said to me, “Son of man, this is ^(L)the place of My throne and ^(M)the place of the soles of My feet, ^(N)where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. ^(O)No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their ^[d]harlotry or with ^(P)the carcasses of their kings on their high places. ^8 (Q)When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰ “Son of man, ^(R)describe the ^[e]temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the ^[f]temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ^(S)ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and ^(T)perform them. ¹² This is the law of the ^[g]temple: The whole area surrounding ^(U)the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

Dimensions of the Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of the ^(V)altar in cubits ^(W)(the ^[h]cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit. ¹⁵ The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four ^(X)horns extending upward from the ^[i]hearth. ¹⁶ The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, ^(Y)square at its four corners; ¹⁷ the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and ^(Z)its steps face toward the east.”

Consecrating the Altar

¹⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing ^(AA)burnt offerings on it, and for ^(AB)sprinkling blood on it. ¹⁹ You shall give ^(AC)a young bull for a sin offering to ^(AD)the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of ^(AE)Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God. ²⁰ ‘You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. ²¹ Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^(AF)burn it in the appointed place of the ^[j]temple, ^(AG)outside the sanctuary. ²² On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. ²³ When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ When you offer them before the Lord, ^(AH)the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Every day for ^(AI)seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. ²⁶ Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so ^[k]consecrate ^[l]it. ^27 (AJ)When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will ^(AK)accept you,’ says the Lord God.”