Ezekiel 43

¹ Then he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces east.

² And the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. Its sound was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory.

³ The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when I came to destroy the city; the visions were like the vision I had seen by the Chebar River. Then I fell facedown.

⁴ And the glory of the LORD entered the house by way of the gate facing east.

⁵ A spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

⁶ Then I heard someone speaking to me from inside the house, while a man stood beside me.

⁷ He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where my feet rest. Here I will live among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—with their prostitution or with the corpses of their kings at their high places.

⁸ When they set their threshold beside my threshold and their doorposts beside mine, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name with the detestable things they did. So I consumed them in my anger.

⁹ Now they will put their prostitution and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ You, son of man, describe the house to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their guilt; and let them measure its design.

¹¹ If they are ashamed of everything they have done, make known to them the design of the house and its arrangement, its exits and entrances—all its forms, all its statutes, and all its laws. Write them down before their eyes, so that they may keep its full design and all its statutes and carry them out.

¹² This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain, all its surrounding territory is most holy. This is the law of the house.”

¹³ These are the altar’s measurements in cubits—the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: the base is one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. This is the altar’s back.

¹⁴ From the base on the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits, and it is one cubit wide. From the smaller ledge up to the larger ledge is four cubits, and it is one cubit wide.

¹⁵ The altar hearth is four cubits high, and four horns rise up from the hearth.

¹⁶ The altar hearth is twelve cubits long by twelve cubits wide, square on all four sides.

¹⁷ The ledge is fourteen cubits long by fourteen cubits wide on all four sides. Its rim is half a cubit wide all around, and its base is one cubit all around. Its steps face east.

¹⁸ Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is made, for offering burnt offerings on it and sprinkling blood on it.

¹⁹ You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests descended from Zadok, who come near to serve me—declares the Lord GOD.

²⁰ You are to take some of its blood and put it on the altar’s four horns, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around. In this way you will purify it and make atonement for it.

²¹ You are to take the bull for the sin offering, and it is to be burned in the designated place of the house, outside the sanctuary.

²² On the second day, you are to offer a flawless male goat as a sin offering, and they are to purify the altar as they purified it with the bull.

²³ When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a flawless young bull from the herd and a flawless ram from the flock.

²⁴ You are to present them before the LORD, and the priests are to throw salt on them and offer them as burnt offerings to the LORD.

²⁵ For seven days you are to prepare a male goat as a sin offering each day. They are also to prepare a young bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, all without defect.

²⁶ For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and purify it; in this way they will consecrate it.

²⁷ When those days are over, from the eighth day onward, the priests are to prepare your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings on the altar, and I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app