Restoration of the Temple
Chapter 43
The Lord’s Return.1 [a]Then the man brought me to the gate that faces the east, 2 and there I beheld the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. The sound of his coming was like the sound of a mighty torrent of waters, and the earth shone with his glory.
3 The vision I beheld was like the man I had seen when he had come to destroy the city, and like the vision I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell prostrate.
4 As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the east gate, 5 the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and I beheld the glory of the Lord fill the temple.
6 While the man stood beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple. 7 He said to me: Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will dwell forever among the Israelites. Never again will the house of Israel defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their whoring and by the corpses of their kings.
8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall separating me and them, they were defiling my holy name by the loathsome practices in which they engaged. Therefore, I will destroy them in my anger.[b] 9 From now on, they must cease their harlotry and remove the corpses of their kings from my presence. Then I will dwell among them forever.
10 The Temple Law. As for you, son of man, describe this temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be truly ashamed of their iniquities. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design and arrangement of the temple, its exits and entrances, its shape, and all its ordinances. 12 This is the law of the temple: all the surrounding area on the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.
13 Measurements of the Altar.[c]These were the dimensions of the altar in cubits of one cubit and a handbreadth. Its base was one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. This was the height of the altar. 14 From its base on the ground up to the lower ledge, it was two cubits high and one cubit wide, and from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, it was four cubits high and again one cubit wide.
15 The altar hearth was four cubits high, and from the hearth, four horns projected upward. 16 The hearth was a square, twelve cubits long by twelve cubits wide. 17 The upper ledge was also a square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen cubits wide, with a rim around it a half cubit wide and a surrounding base of one cubit. The steps of the altar face the east.
18 Then he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the regulations for the altar when it has been erected for the offering of holocausts upon it and for the sprinkling of blood upon it. 19 You are to present a young bull as a sin offering to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok who are authorized to draw near me in order to minister to me, says the Lord God.
20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the surrounding rim. Thus, you will purify it and make atonement for it. 21 Then take the bull designated for the sin offering and immolate it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.
22 On the second day, you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar must be purified again, as was done with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, choose an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. 24 After you present them before the Lord, the priests will throw salt on them and offer them to the Lord as burnt offerings.
25 For seven days you are to offer a male goat for a sin offering, as well as a young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. 26 In this way, they will make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and thereby consecrate it.
27 Once these days have been completed, from the eighth day onward the priests will offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 43:1 The departure of the glory of God (Ezek 10:18-22; 11:22-25) had signified a break between God and his people, because idolatry was rife among them. Now God returns, because he has purified and renewed his people. A new worship begins. The Lord dwells among his own. This is the mystery of God’s dwelling among human beings, the God who becomes present in a sanctuary, even though he has no need of any place or any sign, and even though nothing can contain him, since heaven is his throne and the earth his footstool (see Isa 66:1; Acts 7:49). The whole universe is too little for God, but he nonetheless wills that there be a sign manifesting his presence.
- Ezekiel 43:8 Before the Exile, the royal palace abutted the temple.
- Ezekiel 43:13 This second part of chapters 40–48 is more complicated than the first. Into the continuation of the vision or, perhaps, into the description of a new episode in this vision of Ezekiel, the prophet and his successors have inserted texts that differ greatly from each other: prophetic predictions, documents on the status of persons (priests, Levites, the prince), and liturgical details or rubrics.
This last part of the Book of Ezekiel pays a great deal of attention to the office of priesthood. But alongside such passages are others containing quite contrary ideas; these doubtless reflect the discussions and conflicts which arose, beginning with the Exile, concerning the role of the priests.
Two series of passages reflecting opposed tendencies can also be seen in what is said about the office and place of the prince. Note that the text no longer speaks of a king but only of a prince.