Ezekiel 41-44

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 41

¹ Then he brought me to the nave and measured the posts; each was six cubits wide.^{(A) 2} The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the walls on either side measured five cubits. He measured the nave, forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.

³ Then he went inside and measured the posts at the other entrance, two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, with walls seven cubits long on each side. ⁴ Next he measured the length and width of the room beyond the nave, twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He said to me, “This is the holy of holies.”^[a](B)

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits wide, and the width of the side chambers stretching all around the temple, four cubits each. ^6 [b]There were thirty side chambers, chamber upon chamber in three stories; terraces on the outside wall of the temple enclosing the side chambers provided support, but there were no supports for the temple wall itself. ⁷ A broad passageway led up the side chambers, for the house was enclosed all the way up and all the way around. Thus the temple was widened by the ascent that went from the lowest story through the middle one to the highest story.^{(C) 8} I saw a raised platform all around the temple, the foundation for the side chambers; the width of this terrace was a full rod, six cubits. ⁹ The width of the outside wall enclosing the side chambers was five cubits. There was an open space between the side chambers of the temple ¹⁰ and the other chambers that measured twenty cubits around the temple on all sides. ¹¹ The side chambers had entrances to the open space, one entrance on the north and the other on the south. The width of the wall surrounding the open space was five cubits. ¹² The building^[c] opposite the restricted area on the west side was seventy cubits long and ninety cubits wide, with walls five cubits thick all around it. ¹³ Thus he measured the temple, one hundred cubits long. The restricted area, its building and walls, measured a hundred cubits in length. ¹⁴ The temple facade, along with the restricted area to the east, was also one hundred cubits wide. ¹⁵ He then measured the building opposite the restricted area which was behind it, together with its terraces on both sides, one hundred cubits.

Interior of the Temple. The inner nave and the outer vestibule ¹⁶ were paneled; the windows had recesses and precious wood trim around all three sides except the sill. Paneling covered the walls from the floor up to the windows and even the window sections.^{(D) 17} Even above the doorway and in the inner part of the temple and outside as well, around all the walls inside and out, ¹⁸ were figures of cherubim and palm trees: a palm tree between each pair of cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:^{(E) 19} the face of a human being looked toward one palm tree and the face of a lion looked toward the other palm tree. Thus the figures covered all the walls around the temple. ²⁰ From the floor to the lintel of the door, cherubim and palm trees decorated the walls. ²¹ The nave had a square door frame, and inside facing the holy place was something that looked like ²² a wooden altar,^[d] three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits wide. It had corners and a wooden base and sides. He said to me, “This is the table that stands before the Lord.”^{(F) 23} The nave had a double door,^(G) and the holy place ²⁴ also had a double door; each door had two sections that could move; two sections on one door, and two on the other.^{(H) 25} Cherubim and palm trees decorated the doors of the nave like the decoration on the walls. Outside a wooden lattice faced the vestibule. ²⁶ There were recessed windows and palm trees on the side walls of the vestibule. The side chambers of the temple also had latticework.

Chapter 42

Other Structures. ¹ Then he led me north to the outer court, bringing me to some chambers on the north side opposite the restricted area and the north building.^{(I) 2} They were a hundred cubits long on the north side and fifty cubits wide. ³ Built in rows at three different levels, they stood between the twenty cubits of the inner court and the pavement of the outer court. ⁴ In front of the chambers was a walkway ten cubits wide on the inside of a wall one cubit wide. The doorways faced north. ^5 [e]The upper chambers were shorter because they lost space to the lower and middle tiers of the building. ⁶ Because they were in three tiers, they did not have foundations like the court, but were set back from the lower and middle levels from the ground up. ⁷ The outside walls ran parallel to the chambers along the outer court, a length of fifty cubits. ⁸ The chambers facing the outer court were fifty cubits long; thus the wall along the nave was a hundred cubits. ⁹ At the base of these chambers, there was an entryway from the east so that one could enter from the outer court ¹⁰ where the wall of the court began.

To the south along the side of the restricted area and the building there were also chambers ¹¹ with a walkway in front of them. They looked like the chambers on the north side in length and width, in their exits, their design, and their doorways. ¹² At the base of the chambers on the south side there was an entry at the end of a walkway in front of the protective wall by which one could enter from the east. ¹³ He said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the restricted area are the chambers of the holy place where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy meals. Here they shall place the most holy offerings: the grain offerings, the purification offerings, and the reparation offerings; for the place is holy.^{[f](J) 14} When the priests have entered, they must not go out again from the holy place into the outer court without leaving the garments in which they ministered because they are holy. They shall put on other garments before approaching the area for the people.”^(K)

Measuring the Outer Court. ¹⁵ When he finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he brought me out by way of the gate facing east and measured all around it. ¹⁶ He measured the east side, five hundred cubits by his measuring rod. Then he turned ¹⁷ and measured the north side: five hundred cubits by his measuring rod. He turned ¹⁸ and measured the south side, five hundred cubits by his measuring rod. ¹⁹ He turned and measured the west side, also five hundred cubits by his measuring rod. ²⁰ Thus he measured it on the four sides. It was surrounded by a wall five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the sacred from the profane.

Restoration of the Temple

Chapter 43

The Glory of the Lord Returns. ¹ Then he led me to the gate facing east,^{(L) 2} and there was the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east! His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. ³ The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the vision I had seen by the river Chebar—I fell on my face. ⁴ The glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate facing east.^{(M) 5} Then the spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court. And there the glory of the Lord filled the temple!^{(N) 6} I heard someone speaking to me from the temple, but the man was standing beside me. ⁷ The voice said to me: Son of man, do you see the place for my throne, and the place for the soles of my feet? Here I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel, neither they nor their kings, will never again defile my holy name, with their prostitutions and the corpses of their kings at their death.^{(O) 8} When they placed their threshold against my threshold^[g] and their doorpost next to mine, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by the abominations they committed, and I devoured them in my wrath.^{(P) 9} From now on, let them put their prostitution and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.^(Q)

The Law of the Temple. ¹⁰ As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel so they are ashamed for their sins. Let them measure its layout. ¹¹ If they are ashamed for all they have done, tell them about the layout and design of the temple, its exits and entrances, with all its regulations and instructions; write it down for them to see, that they may carefully observe all its laws and statutes. ¹² This is the law for the temple: the entire area on top of the mountain all around will be a most holy place. This is the law for the temple.

The Altar. ¹³ These were the dimensions of the altar^[h] in cubits, a cubit being one cubit plus a handbreadth. The channel was one cubit deep by one cubit wide, and its rim had a lip one span wide all around it.^(R) The height of the altar itself was as follows: ¹⁴ from the channel at floor level up to the lower ledge was two cubits, with the ledge one cubit wide; from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, four cubits, with the ledge one cubit wide. ¹⁵ The altar hearth was four cubits high, and extending up from the top of the hearth were four horns. ¹⁶ The hearth was twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, a square with four equal sides. ¹⁷ The upper ledge was fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide on all four sides. The rim around it was half a cubit, with a channel one cubit all around. The steps faced east.^(S)

¹⁸ Then he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the statutes for the altar when it is set up for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing blood on it.^{(T) 19} A young bull must be brought as a purification offering to the priests, the Levites descended from Zadok, who come near to serve me—oracle of the Lord God.^{(U) 20} You shall take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and all around its rim. Thus you shall purify and purge it.^{(V) 21} Then take the bull as purification offering and burn it in the appointed place outside the sanctuary.^{(W) 22} On the second day present an unblemished male goat as a purification offering, to purify the altar as you did with the bull. ²³ When you have completed the purification,^(X) you must bring an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock ²⁴ and present them before the Lord. The priests shall throw salt on them and sacrifice them as burnt offerings to the Lord. ²⁵ Daily for seven days you shall give a male goat as a purification offering; and a young bull and a ram from the flock, all unblemished,^(Y) shall be offered ²⁶ for seven days. Thus they shall purge the altar, in order to cleanse and dedicate it. ²⁷ And when these days are over, from the eighth day on, the priests shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and communion offerings on the altar. Then I will be pleased with you—oracle of the Lord God.

Chapter 44

The Closed Gate. ¹ Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary facing east, but it was closed. ² The Lord said to me: This gate must remain closed; it must not be opened, and no one should come through it. Because the Lord, the God of Israel, came through it, it must remain closed. ³ Only the prince may sit in it to eat a meal in the presence of the Lord; he must enter through the vestibule of the gate and leave the same way.^[i](Z)

The New Law

Admission to the Temple. ⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the facade of the temple. I looked—and the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house! I fell on my face.^{(AA) 5} The Lord said to me: Son of man, pay close attention, look carefully, and listen intently to everything I tell you about all the statutes and laws of the Lord’s house. Pay close attention to the entrance into the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ Say to that rebellious house, the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel! ⁷ You have admitted foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, into my sanctuary to profane it when you offered me food, the fat and blood.^[j] Thus you have broken my covenant by all your abominations.^{(AB) 8} Instead of caring for the service of my sanctuary, you appointed these foreigners to care for the service of my sanctuary. ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: No foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, shall ever enter my sanctuary: not even any of the foreigners who live among the Israelites.^(AC)

Levites. ¹⁰ As for the Levites who went far away from me when Israel strayed from me after their idols, they will bear the consequences of their sin. ¹¹ They will serve in my sanctuary only as gatekeepers and temple servants; they will slaughter burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people. They will stand before the people to serve them.^{(AD) 12} Because they used to serve them before their idols, thus becoming a stumbling block to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn an oath against them, says the Lord God, and they will bear the consequences of their sin. ¹³ They shall no longer come near to serve as my priests, nor shall they touch any of my sacred things or my most sacred offerings, for they must bear their shame, the abominations they committed. ¹⁴ Instead I will make them responsible for the service of the temple and all its work, for everything that must be done in it.^(AE)

Priests. ¹⁵ As for the levitical priests, sons of Zadok, who took charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites strayed from me, they may approach me to serve me and stand before me to offer the fat and the blood—oracle of the Lord God.^{(AF) 16} They may enter my sanctuary; they may approach my table to serve me and carry out my service.^{(AG) 17} Whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments; they shall not put on anything woolen when they serve at the gates of the inner court or within the temple. ^18 (AH)They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. ^19 (AI)And when they go out to the people in the outer court, they shall take off the garments in which they served and leave them in the rooms of the sanctuary, and put on other garments so they do not transmit holiness to the people^[k] by their garments.

^20 (AJ)They shall not shave their heads nor let their hair hang loose, but they shall keep their hair carefully trimmed. ²¹ No priest shall drink wine before he enters the inner court. ^22 (AK)They shall not take as wives either widows or divorced women, but only unmarried women from the line of Israel; however, they may take as wives widows who are widows of priests. ^23 (AL)They shall teach my people to distinguish between sacred and profane and make known to them the difference between clean and unclean. ^24 (AM)In legal cases they shall stand as judges, judging according to my ordinances. They shall observe all my laws and statutes regarding all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy.

^25 (AN)They shall not make themselves unclean by going near a dead body; only for their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister may they make themselves unclean. ²⁶ After he is again clean, he must wait an additional seven days; ²⁷ on the day he enters the inner court to serve in the sanctuary, he shall present a purification offering for himself—oracle of the Lord God. ^28 (AO)I will be their heritage: I am their heritage! You shall not give them any property in Israel, for I am their property! ^29 (AP)They shall eat grain offerings, purification offerings, and reparation offerings; anything under the ban^[l] in Israel belongs to them; ^30 (AQ)all the choicest first fruits of every kind and all the best of your offerings of every kind shall belong to the priests; the best of your dough you shall also give to the priests to bring a blessing upon your house. ^31 (AR)The priests shall not eat anything, whether bird or animal, that died naturally or was killed by wild beasts.