The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

43 Then he led me to ^(A)the gate, the gate facing east. ² And behold, ^(B)the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And ^(C)the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and ^(D)the earth shone with his glory. ³ And ^(E)the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen ^(F)when he^[a] came to destroy the city, and just like ^(G)the vision that I had seen ^(H)by the Chebar canal. And ^(I)I fell on my face. ⁴ As ^(J)the glory of the Lord ^(K)entered the temple by the gate facing east, ^5 (L)the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into ^(M)the inner court; and behold, ^(N)the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

^6 (O)While the man was standing beside me, ^(P)I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, ⁷ and he said to me, ^(Q)“Son of man, this is ^(R)the place of my throne and ^(S)the place of the soles of my feet, ^(T)where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more ^(U)defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies^[b] of their kings at their high places,^{[c] 8} by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with ^(V)only a wall between me and them. They have ^(W)defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, ^(X)and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰ “As for you, ^(Y)son of man, ^(Z)describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, ^(AA)make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, ^(AB)its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down ^(AC)in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. ¹² This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of ^(AD)the mountain ^(AE)all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of ^(AF)the altar by cubits (the cubit being ^(AG)a cubit and a handbreadth):^[d] its base shall be one cubit high^[e] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[f] around its edge. And this shall be the height 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, ^(AH)four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be ^(AI)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 all around. ^(AJ)The steps of the altar shall face east.”

¹⁸ And he said to me, ^(AK)“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 ^(AL)for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to ^(AM)the Levitical priests ^(AN)of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, ^(AO)a bull from the herd for a sin offering. ²⁰ And ^(AP)you shall take some of its blood and put it on ^(AQ)the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon ^(AR)the rim all around. ^(AS)Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^(AT)it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished ^(AU)purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ^(AV)a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests ^(AW)shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^25 (AX)For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.^{[g] 27} And when they have completed these days, then ^(AY)from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ^(AZ)peace offerings, and ^(BA)I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me ^(BB)back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^(BC)which faces east. And it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^(BD)the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³ Only ^(BE)the prince may sit in it ^(BF)to eat bread before the Lord. He ^(BG)shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴ Then he brought me by way of ^(BH)the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^(BI)the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ^(BJ)I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, ^(BK)“Son of man, mark well, ^(BL)see with your eyes, ^(BM)and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ^(BN)all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well ^(BO)the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶ And say to ^(BP)the rebellious house,^[h] to the ^(BQ)house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^(BR)enough of all your abominations, ⁷ in ^(BS)admitting foreigners, ^(BT)uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ^(BU)profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You^[i] have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And ^(BV)you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(BW)No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰ But ^(BX)the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols ^(BY)when Israel went astray, ^(BZ)shall bear their punishment.^{[j] 11} They shall be ^(CA)ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight ^(CB)at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^(CC)they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^(CD)a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^(CE)sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They ^(CF)shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^(CG)they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep ^(CH)charge of the temple, ^(CI)to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(CJ)the Levitical priests, ^(CK)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(CL)the charge of my sanctuary ^(CM)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(CN)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(CO)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(CP)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(CQ)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(CR)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(CS)they shall put on other garments, ^(CT)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (CU)They shall not shave their heads or ^(CV)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (CW)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (CX)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (CY)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(CZ)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (DA)In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^(DB)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ^25 (DC)They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ^26 (DD)After he^[k] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^(DE)into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^(DF)he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

^28 (DG)“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^(DH)you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29 (DI)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^(DJ)every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30 (DK)And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^(DL)You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^(DM)that a blessing may rest on your house. ^31 (DN)The priests shall not eat of ^(DO)anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

False Prophets and Teachers

2 But ^(A)false prophets also arose among the people, ^(B)just as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^(C)secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ^(D)who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth ^(E)will be blasphemed. ³ And ^(F)in their greed they will exploit you ^(G)with false words. ^(H)Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For if God did not spare ^(I)angels when they sinned, but ^(J)cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness ^(K)to be kept until the judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world, but ^(L)preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ^(M)a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ if by ^(N)turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ^(O)making them an example of ^(P)what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{[c] 7} and ^(Q)if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ^(R)he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); ⁹ then ^(S)the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,^[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially ^(T)those who indulge^[e] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(U)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(V)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ^11 (W)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. ^12 (X)But these, like irrational animals, ^(Y)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(Z)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(AA)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[f] while ^(AB)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[g] (AC)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(AD)trained in greed. ^(AE)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(AF)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(AG)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(AH)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(AI)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (AJ)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(AK)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(AL)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(AM)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(AN)freedom, ^(AO)but they themselves are slaves^[h] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(AP)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(AQ)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(AR)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(AS)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(AT)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(AU)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”