Return of the Lord’s Glory and Description of Sacrifices and Worship

¹ And he brought me to the gate which was ⌞facing east⌟.¹

1. Literally “which was facing to the way of the east”

² And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters¹ and the land radiated due to his glory!

1. Hebrew “water”

³ And¹ the appearance of the vision which I saw was as² the vision which I saw at his³ coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as⁴ the vision which I saw by the ⌞Kebar River⌟,⁵ and I fell on my face.

1. Or “and as”; as is not needed in translation
2. Or “like”
3. Or “my coming”
4. Or “like”
5. Literally “river of Kebar”

⁴ And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple ⌞by the way of the gate facing east⌟.¹

1. Literally “by the way of the gate which its face was to the way of the east”

⁵ And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple!

⁶ And I heard someone speaking to me from the house,¹ and a man was standing beside me.

1. Or “from inside”

⁷ And he said to me, “Son of man,¹ this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet ⌞where I will dwell⌟² in the midst of the ⌞Israelites⌟³ to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile ⌞my holy name⌟⁴ with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead⁵ of their kings on their high places.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “which I will dwell there”
3. Literally “sons/children of Israel”
4. Literally “the name of my holiness”
5. Or “corpses”

⁸ ⌞When they placed their threshold⌟¹ with² my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the³ wall was between me and between them, then they defiled ⌞my holy name⌟,⁴ with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger.

1. Literally “in/at their placing their threshold”
2. Or “beside/next to”
3. Or “their”
4. Literally “the name of my holiness”

⁹ Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead¹ of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them ⌞forever⌟.²

1. Or “corpses”
2. Literally “to eternity”

¹⁰ You, son of man,¹ describe to the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”

¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans¹ and all of its statutes. And all of its plans² and all of its laws³ make known to them and write them before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them!

1. Or “its entire pattern”
2. Or “purposes”
3. According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS

¹² This is the law¹ of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, ⌞all the way around it⌟,² ⌞will be most holy⌟.³ Look, this is the law of the temple.

1. Literally “torah” or “instruction”
2. Literally “all around, all around”
3. Literally “will be a holiness of holinesses”

¹³ And these are the measurements of the altar in the cubits¹ (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth):² now its gutter³ ⌞is a cubit⁴ in depth by a cubit⁵ in width⌟⁶ and its rim along its edge all around is one span,⁷ and this is also the height of the altar.

1. Or “in long cubits”
2. That is, about 18 inches (regular cubit) + 3 inches = 21 inches (long cubit)
3. Or “trench” (NJPS)
4. That is, 21 inches
5. That is, 21 inches
6. Literally “the cubit and cubit its width”
7. That is, 9 inches

¹⁴ And from the gutter¹ at the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits,² and its width is one cubit,³ and from the small ledge up to the large ledge is four cubits,⁴ and its width is one cubit.

1. Or “trench”
2. That is, 3 feet 6 inches
3. That is, 21 inches
4. That is, 7 feet

¹⁵ And the altar hearth was four cubits,¹ and from the altar hearth and ⌞upwards⌟² were the four horns of the altar.

1. That is, 7 feet
2. Literally “and to above”

¹⁶ And the altar hearth was ⌞twelve⌟¹ cubits in length and ⌞twelve⌟² cubits in width³; it was ⌞squared on its four sides⌟.⁴

1. Literally “two ten”
2. Literally “two ten”
3. That is, 21 feet square
4. Literally “squared to the four of its sides”

¹⁷ And the ledge was ⌞fourteen⌟¹ cubits in length with ⌞fourteen⌟² cubits its width³ to all four of its sides, and a rim was all around it of one-half cubit.⁴ And the gutter⁵ for it was a cubit⁶ all around, and its steps were facing east.”

1. Literally “four ten”
2. Literally “four ten”
3. That is, 24.5 feet on all four sides, a square
4. That is, 10.5 inches
5. Or “trench”
6. That is, 21 inches

¹⁸ And he said to me, “Son of man,¹ thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘These are the statutes of the altar on the day ⌞when it is made⌟,² to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “to be made it”

¹⁹ And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” ⌞declares⌟¹ the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, ⌞a calf⌟² as a sin offering.

1. Literally “declaration of”
2. Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”

²⁰ You must take some of its blood and put it on ⌞the four horns of the altar⌟,¹ and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it.

1. Literally “on its four horns”

²¹ And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place.

²² And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as a sin offering, and they must purify the altar ⌞like⌟¹ they purified with the bull.

1. Literally “as that”

²³ ⌞When you are finished⌟¹ from purifying, you must offer a bull, ⌞a calf⌟,² without defect, and a ram from the flock without defect.

1. Literally “at your finishing”
2. Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”

²⁴ And you must bring them near ⌞before⌟¹ Yahweh, and the priests must throw salt on them, and they must offer them as a burnt offering to Yahweh.

1. Literally “to the face of”

²⁵ For seven days you must provide a goat of sin offering for the day and a bull, ⌞a calf⌟,¹ and a ram from the flock without defect; you must provide them.

1. Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”

²⁶ Seven days they must purify the altar and they must cleanse it and so ⌞they will consecrate it⌟.¹

1. Literally “they must fill its hand”

²⁷ And they will finish the days, ⌞and then⌟¹ on the eighth day and beyond that the priests will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and then I will be pleased with you,” ⌞declares⌟² the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “and it will happen”
2. Literally “declaration of”