Ezekiel 43

¹⁵Now when the man had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and he measured the area all around:

¹The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.

¹“This is what the Lord God says: ‘The gate of the inner court that faces east must be kept shut during the six days of work, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.

⁶Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.

¹⁹As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

⁴and the glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.

¹After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory.

³And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

²³And the glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.

¹⁹As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

¹⁵His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and the loud rumbling of thunder. And the sound I heard was like harpists strumming their harps.

¹Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”

⁵And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

¹⁸“Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:

³the word of the Lord came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the Lord’s hand was upon him.

⁴I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber,

²³So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

²And the Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.

¹⁹As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

²and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.

³And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows—

²⁴And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,

¹⁰And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord

¹¹so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

³He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord in His dwelling place!”

¹³It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

⁴Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

³So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

⁶Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the Lord, repaying His enemies what they deserve!

¹Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God’s wrath.”

¹Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

⁹Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

⁸God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.

³⁰I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.

²⁶Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man.

¹The Lord reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!

²Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,

¹¹Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord God, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

³⁹On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”

⁷Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.

³He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

⁴And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.

⁷In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.

⁷and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.

³⁰Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.

³¹Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

²⁶And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.

²⁷My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people.

²³They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

¹⁶What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

⁴“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”

⁶¹Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

¹¹and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

⁶³so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord God.”

⁴⁰See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

¹⁹“All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the Lord has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”

²⁰so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

²⁰and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

¹In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He took me there.

²In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

¹⁷If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

⁵The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the Lord. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

⁶Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.

²In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

⁵Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, for all the days to come.

²⁰So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

¹⁷Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.

²⁰On that day, HOLY TO THE Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the house of the Lord will be like the sprinkling bowls before the altar.

²¹Indeed, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take some pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts.

¹“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.

²Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.

⁸I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits.

⁵And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.

¹He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

²Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.

⁹The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

²⁷The Lord is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

¹Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur.

²And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me.

²⁸When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar.

⁷All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night,

¹“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.

¹Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.

²He made a horn at each of its four corners, so that the horns and altar were of one piece, and he overlaid the altar with bronze.

³They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord—both the morning and evening burnt offerings—even though they feared the people of the land.

¹He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

²⁶And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

⁶Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.

¹⁶So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

⁴And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the Lord their God.

³Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.

⁸The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.

²⁹He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁸Then Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

¹⁹Moses slaughtered the ram and splattered the blood on all sides of the altar.

²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

⁵And he shall slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁶Next, he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.

¹“Son of man,” He said to me, “stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.”

⁴⁶and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the Lord to minister before Him.”

¹⁵But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord God.

¹⁸This is what the Lord God says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary.

¹⁹And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.

⁴⁰just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his followers.

²⁷Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

⁵Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself.

¹⁵Moses slaughtered the bull, took some of the blood, and applied it with his finger to all four horns of the altar, purifying the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement could be made on it.

¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

⁹The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

¹²Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

²²On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull.

³⁶Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

¹⁴But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹²all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place where the ashes are poured out, and there he must burn it on a wood fire on the ash heap.

¹¹Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp.

¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood.

¹⁷But the bull with its hide, flesh, and dung he burned outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded him.

²⁰You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.

²⁵For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished.

²⁶For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it.

¹⁰Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

¹⁵Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

¹⁶You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar.

⁶We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

¹“Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,

¹³And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

⁴⁹For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

¹⁹All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord for you and your offspring.”

⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

⁵Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

¹³You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

³³You must not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are complete; for it will take seven days to ordain you.

³⁵This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

³⁶Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

³⁵You must remain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days and keep the Lord’s charge so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.”

²⁴Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.

²⁹Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the Lord has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”

³⁴What has been done today has been commanded by the Lord in order to make atonement on your behalf.

¹On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

⁶to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the Lord does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.

⁸So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”

⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.