Ezekiel 43

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Divine Glory Returns to the Temple

43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. ² And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. ³ And^[a] the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and^[b] like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. ⁴ As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, ⁵ the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶ While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; ⁷ and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their harlotry, and by the dead bodies^[c] of their kings, ⁸ by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies^[d] of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst for ever.

¹⁰ “And you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple and its appearance and plan,^[e] that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, portray^[f] the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form; and make known to them all its ordinances and all its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform all its laws^[g] and all its ordinances. ¹² This is the law of the temple: the whole territory round about upon the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high,^[h] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be the height^[i] of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; ¹⁵ and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns, one cubit high.^{[j] 16} The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷ The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit round about. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

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 erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, says the Lord God, a bull for a sin offering. ²⁰ And you shall take some of its blood, and put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the rim round about; thus you shall cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a he-goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be cleansed, as it was cleansed with the bull. ²³ When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ For seven days you shall provide daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. ²⁷ And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord God.”