Ezekiel 43
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Glory Returns
43 After this, the man brought me back around to the east gateway. 2 Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory. 3 This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came[a] to destroy Jerusalem. I fell face down on the ground. 4 And the glory of the Lord came into the Temple through the east gateway.
5 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. 6 And I heard someone speaking to me from within the Temple, while the man who had been measuring stood beside me. 7 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer by their adulterous worship of other gods or by honoring the relics of their kings who have died.[b] 8 They put their idol altars right next to mine with only a wall between them and me. They defiled my holy name by such detestable sin, so I consumed them in my anger. 9 Now let them stop worshiping other gods and honoring the relics of their kings, and I will live among them forever.
10 “Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, 11 and they will be ashamed[c] of what they have done. Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple—including its entrances and exits—and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them. 12 And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.
The Altar
13 “These are the measurements of the altar[d]: There is a gutter all around the altar 21 inches deep and 21 inches wide,[e] with a curb 9 inches[f] wide around its edge. And this is the height[g] of the altar: 14 From the gutter the altar rises 3 1⁄2 feet[h] to a lower ledge that surrounds the altar and is 21 inches[i] wide. From the lower ledge the altar rises 7 feet[j] to the upper ledge that is also 21 inches wide. 15 The top of the altar, the hearth, rises another 7 feet higher, with a horn rising up from each of the four corners. 16 The top of the altar is square, measuring 21 feet by 21 feet.[k] 17 The upper ledge also forms a square, measuring 24 1⁄2 feet by 24 1⁄2 feet,[l] with a 21-inch gutter and a 10 1⁄2-inch curb[m] all around the edge. There are steps going up the east side of the altar.”
18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for the burning of offerings and the sprinkling of blood when the altar is built. 19 At that time, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who minister before me, are to be given a young bull for a sin offering, says the Sovereign Lord. 20 You will take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the upper ledge, and the curb that runs around that ledge. This will cleanse and make atonement for the altar. 21 Then take the young bull for the sin offering and burn it at the appointed place outside the Temple area.
22 “On the second day, sacrifice as a sin offering a young male goat that has no physical defects. Then cleanse and make atonement for the altar again, just as you did with the young bull. 23 When you have finished the cleansing ceremony, offer another young bull that has no defects and a perfect ram from the flock. 24 You are to present them to the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 “Every day for seven days a male goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock will be sacrificed as a sin offering. None of these animals may have physical defects of any kind. 26 Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus setting it apart for holy use. 27 On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the people. Then I will accept you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Footnotes
- 43:3 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads I came.
- 43:7 Or kings on their high places.
- 43:11 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads if they are ashamed.
- 43:13a Hebrew measurements of the altar in long cubits, each being a cubit [18 inches or 45 centimeters] and a handbreadth [3 inches or 8 centimeters] in length.
- 43:13b Hebrew a cubit [53 centimeters] deep and a cubit wide.
- 43:13c Hebrew 1 span [23 centimeters].
- 43:13d As in Greek version; Hebrew reads base.
- 43:14a Hebrew 2 cubits [1.1 meters].
- 43:14b Hebrew 1 cubit [53 centimeters]; also in 43:14d.
- 43:14c Hebrew 4 cubits [2.1 meters]; also in 43:15.
- 43:16 Hebrew 12 [cubits] [6.4 meters] long and 12 [cubits] wide.
- 43:17a Hebrew 14 [cubits] [7.4 meters] long and 14 [cubits] wide.
- 43:17b Hebrew a gutter of 1 cubit [53 centimeters] and a curb of 1⁄2 a cubit [27 centimeters].
Ezekiel 43
New English Translation
The Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Then he brought me to the gate that faced toward the east. 2 I saw[a] the glory of the God of Israel[b] coming from the east;[c] the sound was like that of rushing water,[d] and the earth radiated[e] his glory. 3 It was like the vision I saw when he[f] came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the Kebar River. I threw myself face down. 4 The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate that faces east. 5 Then a wind[g] lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; I watched[h] the glory of the Lord filling the temple.[i]
6 I heard someone speaking to me from the temple, while the man was standing beside me. 7 He said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne[j] and the place for the soles of my feet,[k] where I will live among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their spiritual prostitution or by the pillars of their kings set up when they die.[l] 8 When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my doorpost, with only the wall between me and them, they profaned my holy name by the abominable deeds they committed. So I consumed them in my anger. 9 Now they must put away their spiritual prostitution and the pillars of their kings far from me, and then I will live among them forever.
10 “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern. 11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design—all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire design and all its statutes and do them.
12 “This is the law of the temple: The entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. Indeed, this is the law of the temple.
The Altar
13 “And these are the measurements of the altar:[m] Its base[n] is 1¾ feet[o] high[p] and 1¾ feet[q] wide, and its border nine inches[r] on its edge. This is to be the height[s] of the altar. 14 From the base of the ground to the lower ledge is 3½ feet,[t] and the width 1¾ feet;[u] and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, 7 feet,[v] and the width 1¾ feet; 15 and the altar hearth, 7 feet, and from the altar hearth four horns projecting upward. 16 Now the altar hearth[w] is a perfect square, 21 feet[x] long and 21 feet wide. 17 The ledge is 24½ feet[y] long and 24½ feet wide on four sides; the border around it is 10½ inches,[z] and its surrounding base 1¾ feet.[aa] Its steps face east.”
18 Then he said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it,[ab] 19 you will give a young bull for a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are descended from Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 20 You will take some of its blood and place it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around; you will purify it and make atonement for it.[ac] 21 You will also take the bull for the sin offering, and it will be burned in the appointed place in the temple, outside the sanctuary.
22 “On the second day, you will offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. They will purify the altar just as they purified it with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you will offer an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. 24 You will present them before the Lord, and the priests will scatter salt on them[ad] and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 “For seven days you will provide every day a goat for a sin offering; a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish, will be provided. 26 For seven days they will make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, so they will consecrate it.[ae] 27 When the prescribed period is over,[af] on the eighth day and thereafter the priests will offer up on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings;[ag] I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 43:2 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 43:2 sn This same title appears in 8:4; 9:3; 10:19; 11:22.
- Ezekiel 43:2 sn Earlier Ezekiel had observed God leaving the temple to the east (11:23).
- Ezekiel 43:2 sn See Ezek 1:24; Rev 1:15; 14:2; 19:6.
- Ezekiel 43:2 tn Heb “shone from.”
- Ezekiel 43:3 tc Heb “I.” The reading is due to the confusion of yod (י, indicating a first person pronoun) and vav (ו, indicating a third person pronoun). A few medieval Hebrew mss, Theodotion’s Greek version, and the Latin Vulgate support a third person pronoun here.
- Ezekiel 43:5 tn See note on “wind” in 2:2.
- Ezekiel 43:5 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 43:5 sn In 1 Kgs 8:10-11 we find a similar event with regard to Solomon’s temple. See also Exod 40:34-35 and Isa 6:4.
- Ezekiel 43:7 sn God’s throne is mentioned in Isa 6:1 and Jer 3:17.
- Ezekiel 43:7 sn See 1 Chr 28:2; Pss 99:5; 132:7; Isa 60:13; Lam 2:1.
- Ezekiel 43:7 tn Heb “by their corpses in their death.” But the term normally translated “corpses” is better understood here as a reference to funeral pillars or funerary offerings. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:583-85, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:257.
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn Heb “the measurements of the altar by cubits, the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth.” The measuring units here and in the remainder of this section are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard feet and inches, with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes. On the altar see Ezek 40:47.
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn The Hebrew term normally means “bosom.” Here it refers to a hollow in the ground.
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn The word “high” is not in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
- Ezekiel 43:13 tn Heb “one span.” A span was three handbreadths, or about nine inches (i.e., 22.5 cm).
- Ezekiel 43:13 tc Heb “bulge, protuberance, mound.” The translation follows the LXX.
- Ezekiel 43:14 tn Heb “2 cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).
- Ezekiel 43:14 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm; the phrase occurs again later in this verse).
- Ezekiel 43:14 tn Heb “4 cubits” (i.e., 2.1 meters; the phrase also occurs in the next verse).
- Ezekiel 43:16 tn The precise Hebrew word used here to refer to an “altar hearth” occurs only here in the OT.
- Ezekiel 43:16 tn Heb “12 cubits” (i.e., 6.3 meters; the phrase occurs twice in this verse).
- Ezekiel 43:17 tn Heb “fourteen”; the word “cubits” is not in the Hebrew text but is understood from the context; the phrase occurs again later in this verse. Fourteen cubits is about 7.35 meters.
- Ezekiel 43:17 tn Heb “half a cubit” (i.e., 26.25 cm).
- Ezekiel 43:17 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).
- Ezekiel 43:18 sn For the “sprinkling of blood,” see Lev 1:5, 11; 8:19; 9:12.
- Ezekiel 43:20 sn Note the similar language in Lev 16:18.
- Ezekiel 43:24 sn It is likely that salt was used with sacrificial meals (Num 18:19; 2 Chr 13:5).
- Ezekiel 43:26 tn Heb “fill its hands.”
- Ezekiel 43:27 tn Heb “and they will complete the days.”
- Ezekiel 43:27 sn The people also could partake of the food of the peace offering (Lev 3).
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.