Ezekiel 43
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Glory of the Lord Fills the New Temple
43 Then the man took me to the east gate. 2 I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of rushing water, and the earth was shining because of his glory. 3 This vision was like the one I saw when he came [a] to destroy Jerusalem and like the one I saw by the Chebar River. I immediately bowed down. 4 The Lord’s glory came into the temple through the east gate.
5 The Spirit lifted me and brought me into the inner courtyard. I saw the Lord’s glory fill the temple. 6 I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple while the man was standing beside me. 7 The voice said to me, “Son of man, this is the place where my throne is and the place where my feet rest. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. Then the people of Israel and their kings will no longer dishonor my holy name by acting like prostitutes, nor will they dishonor it with the dead bodies of their kings. 8 They put their doorway by my doorway and their doorposts by my doorposts. Only a wall separated me from them. They dishonored my holy name because of the disgusting things that they have done. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now they must stop acting like prostitutes and take the dead bodies of their kings far away from me. Then I will live among them forever.
10 “Son of man, describe this temple to the people of Israel. Then they will be ashamed because of their sins. Let them study the plans. 11 Suppose they are ashamed of everything that they have done. Then show them the design of the temple, its arrangements, its exits and entrances—its entire design. Tell them about all its rules and regulations. Then write these things down for them so that they can remember its design and follow all its rules.
12 “This is a regulation of the temple: The whole area all the way around the top of the mountain is most holy. Yes, this is a regulation of the temple.”
The Altar in the New Temple
13 These are the measurements of the altar, using royal measurements. (The royal measuring stick was 21 inches long.) The base of the altar was 21 inches high and 21 inches wide. All around the edge of the altar was a rim measuring 9 inches wide. This was the height of the altar: 14 From the base on the ground to the lower ledge it was 3½ feet high, and from the lower ledge to the upper ledge it was 7 feet high and 21 inches wide. 15 The place where the sacrifices were burned was 7 feet high. There were four horns above it. 16 It was square, 21 feet wide and 21 feet long. 17 The upper ledge was also square. It was 24½ feet long and 24½ feet wide. It had a rim all the way around that was 10½ inches wide. Its base was 21 inches. The steps to the altar faced east.
18 Then the man said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Almighty Lord says: These are the rules for sacrificing burnt offerings and for sprinkling blood on the altar after the altar is built. 19 Give a young bull to the priests as an offering for sin. These priests are Zadok’s descendants, men from the tribe of Levi, who can come near me and serve me. 20 Take some of the bull’s blood, and put it on the altar’s four horns, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all the way around the altar. When you do this, you will remove sin from the altar and make peace with the Lord. 21 Then take a young bull as an offering for sin, and burn it in the place appointed near the temple, outside the holy place.
22 “On the second day bring a male goat that has no defects as an offering for sin. Remove sin from the altar as you did with the young bull. 23 When you finish removing sin, offer a young bull and a ram that have no defects. 24 Offer them to the Lord. The priests must throw salt on them and offer them as burnt offerings to the Lord. 25 Every day for seven days you must sacrifice a goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock as an offering for sin. They must be animals that have no defects. 26 For seven days the priests should make peace with the Lord at the altar, purify it, and consecrate it. 27 When those days are over, on the eighth day, the priests must sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept them, declares the Almighty Lord.”
Footnotes
- 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Greek, Latin; other Hebrew manuscripts “When I came.”
Ezekiel 43
New King James Version
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.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 43:3 Some Heb. mss., Vg. He
- Ezekiel 43:4 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:5 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:7 Unfaithful idolatry
- Ezekiel 43:10 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:11 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:12 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:13 A royal cubit of about 21 inches
- Ezekiel 43:15 Heb. ariel
- Ezekiel 43:21 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 43:26 Lit. fill its hands
- Ezekiel 43:26 LXX, Syr. themselves
Ezekiel 43
English Standard Version
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.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 43:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts when I
- Ezekiel 43:7 Or the monuments; also verse 9
- Ezekiel 43:7 Or at their deaths
- Ezekiel 43:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters
- Ezekiel 43:13 Or its gutter shall be one cubit deep
- Ezekiel 43:13 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters
- Ezekiel 43:26 Hebrew fill its hand
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
