Chronological

Two buildings near the temple

42 Then the man took me out through the north gate of the inside yard of the temple. We went into the outside yard. We arrived at a building that was in the north wall of the inside yard. ² This building was 50 metres long and 25 metres wide. Its entrance was towards the north. ³ There was a 10 metre space between one side of this building and the temple in the inside yard. The building's other side was opposite the path in the outside yard. It had three levels of rooms in two rows that were opposite each other. ⁴ A path went between the two rows of rooms. It was 50 metres long and 5 metres wide. The entrances to the rooms were on the north side. ⁵ The rooms at the top level were not as wide as the rooms below them. And the rooms at the middle level were not as wide as the rooms at the lowest level. This was because the higher rooms needed more space in front of them. ⁶ They did not have pillars to hold them up as other rooms in the temple yards did. Instead, the walls of the lower rooms held up the rooms above them. So the rooms of each level were smaller than the rooms below them. ⁷ There was a wall that went across the outside yard in front of the lowest rooms. The wall was 25 metres long. ⁸ The row of rooms in the outside yard was also 25 metres long. But the other row of rooms in the inside yard, opposite the temple, was 50 metres long. ⁹ The lowest level of rooms had an entrance from the outside yard at the east end of the building. ¹⁰ This entrance was at the end of the wall in the outside yard.

There was another building like this one on the south side of the temple. It was opposite the other building and it also had two rows of rooms. ¹¹ There was path between the two rows. They looked the same as the rooms on the north side. The size of the rooms and the entrances were the same as those of the other building. ¹² There was an entrance in the wall opposite the doors of the inside row of rooms. There was also an entrance at the east end of the path between the rows of rooms.

¹³ Then the man said to me, ‘These rooms that are on the north and south sides of the temple's inside yard are holy. They are for the priests who serve the Lord in his temple. In these rooms, the priests will eat the most holy sacrifices that they offer to the Lord. They will put the most holy offerings there. It is where they will put the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings. The priests will do that because the rooms are holy.

¹⁴ When the priests go into the holy place of the temple, they must not leave until they change their clothes. Before they go into the outside yard, they must take off the special clothes that they wear to serve the Lord. Those clothes are holy, so they must put on other clothes. Then they can go out to the places where the people meet.’

¹⁵ The man finished measuring everything inside the place where the temple was. Then he took me out through the east gate. He measured all around the outside of the temple yards. ¹⁶ He used his stick to measure the wall on the east side. It was 250 metres. ^17-19 Then he measured the north side and the south side and the west side. Each side measured the same as the east side. ²⁰ So the wall made a square around the place where the temple was. Each side was 250 metres. The wall made the holy place separate from the ordinary places around it.

The Lord returns to the temple

43 Then the man brought me to the east gate. ² There I suddenly saw the bright glory of the God of Israel as it came from the east. His voice was like the noise of lots of water that pours along a river. The land around shone with the bright light of his glory. ³ I had seen a vision like this when I was beside the Kebar River.^[a] I had also seen a vision like this when God came to destroy Jerusalem. I bent down low with my face on the ground. ⁴ The Lord's bright glory went through the east gate into the temple. ⁵ Then a spirit lifted me up and took me into the temple's inside yard.^[b] As I watched, the Lord's glory filled the temple.

⁶ While the man stood beside me, I heard a voice come from inside the temple.

⁷ The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place where I sit on my throne. It is my home where I will live among Israel's people. Israel's people and their kings will never again spoil the honour of my holy name. They will not turn away from me and worship other gods. They will not put the graves of their kings in this place. ⁸ Their kings built their palaces too near to my holy temple. There was only a wall between me and them. They did many disgusting things that spoiled the honour of my holy name. As a result, I became very angry with them and I destroyed them. ⁹ Now they must be faithful to me. They must no longer worship other gods. The must not give honour to the graves of their kings. If they stop doing these things, I will live among them for ever.

¹⁰ Son of man, you must describe the temple to Israel's people. It should make them ashamed of their sins. They must study the plan of the temple. ¹¹ Then they will be ashamed of everything that they have done. Explain the temple's plan to them. Describe its shape, its entrances, and everything about it. Explain its rules and its laws. You must write all this down while they watch you. Then they can study the temple's plan and they can obey its rules.

¹² This is the most important law about the temple: All the top of the mountain around the temple will be most holy.

The great altar

¹³ This is the size of the altar.^[c] There is a hole, 50 centimetres deep and 50 centimetres wide, all around the altar. There is a border around its outside edge, 25 centimetres high. ¹⁴ The lowest part of the altar, from its base up, is 1 metre high. The part above that is 2 metres high. It is 50 centimetres smaller than the part below it, all around. The top part of the altar is also 50 centimetres smaller than the middle part. ¹⁵ This top part is 2 metres high. They burn the sacrifices on this top part. Its four corners have points like horns that go up. ¹⁶ The top of the altar is square, with each side 6 metres long. ¹⁷ The middle part is also square, with each side 7 metres long. It has a border around its edge that is 25 centimetres high. There is a hole all around that is 50 centimetres wide. There are steps up to the top of the altar on the east side.’

They must make the altar holy

¹⁸ Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, this is what the Almighty Lord says: These are the rules about the altar. On the day that it is ready to use, the priests will offer burnt offerings on it. They will alsosplash blood from the sacrifices on it. ¹⁹ You must give a young bull to the priests to offer as a sacrifice to me. The priests must belong to Zadok's family in the tribe of Levi. They are the only men who can come near to me to serve me. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say. ²⁰ You will take some of the bull's blood and put it on the four horns on the top of the altar. Also put some blood on the corners of the middle part of the altar. And put some on the border around the edge of the altar. Do that to make the altar clean and pure for me. ²¹ You must take the bull to burn as a sin offering. Burn it in the proper place in the temple yard, outside the temple building.

²² The next day, choose a male goat that has nothing wrong with it. Offer it as a sin offering. Use its blood to make the altar clean and pure, as you did with the bull's blood. ²³ After you have done that, choose a young bull and a male sheep that have nothing wrong with them. ²⁴ Bring them to me, the Lord. The priests will throw salt on them. Then they will offer them to me as a burnt offering.

²⁵ Each day for seven days, you must offer a male goat as a sin offering. You must also choose a young bull and a male sheep each day as sacrifices. They must all have nothing wrong with them. ²⁶ The priests will make the altar clean and pure on each of those seven days. That will make it ready for holy use.

²⁷ When the seven days have finished, the priests can begin to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. They can do this for you on the eighth day and after that. Then I will accept you as my own people. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say.’