Ezekiel 42-44 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Ezekiel 42-44

The Chambers

Then he ^abrought me out into the ^bouter court, the way ^ctoward the north; and he brought me to the ^dchamber which was opposite the ^eseparate area and opposite the ^fbuilding toward the north. 2 Along the length, which was ¹one ^ahundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits. 3 Opposite the ¹^atwenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the ^bpavement which belonged to the outer court, was ²^cgallery corresponding to ²gallery in three stories. 4 Before the ^achambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of ¹one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north. 5 Now the upper chambers were ¹smaller because the ²^agalleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building. 6 For they were in ^athree stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were ¹set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones. 7 As for the ^aouter wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits. 8 For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was one ^ahundred cubits. 9 Below these chambers was the ^aentrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.
10 In the ¹thickness of the ^awall of the court toward the east, facing the ^bseparate area and facing the building, there were ^cchambers. 11 The ^away in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their ¹arrangements and openings. 12 Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the ^awall toward the east, as one enters them.
13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the ^aseparate area, they are the ^bholy chambers where the priests who are ^cnear to Yahweh shall eat the ^dmost holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; for the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary ¹without ^alaying there their ^bgarments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall come near to that which is for the people.”
15 Then he had finished measuring the inner house; he brought me out by the way of the ^agate which faced toward the east and measured it all around. 16 He measured on the east ¹side with the measuring reed 500 reeds by the ^ameasuring reed. 17 He measured on the north side 500 reeds by the measuring reed. 18 On the south side he measured 500 reeds with the measuring reed. 19 He turned to the west side and measured 500 reeds with the measuring reed. 20 He measured it ¹on the four sides; it had a ^awall all around, the ^blength 500 and the ^bwidth 500, to ^cdivide between the holy and the profane.

Yahweh’s Glory Returns to the Temple

Then he led me to the ^agate, the gate facing toward the east; 2 and behold, the ^aglory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the ^beast. And His ^cvoice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth ^dshone with His glory. 3 And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the ^avision which I saw when ¹He came to ^bbring the city to ruin. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the ^criver Chebar; and I ^dfell on my face. 4 And the glory of Yahweh came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the ^aeast. 5 And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the ^bglory of Yahweh filled the house.
6 Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a ^aman was standing beside me. 7 He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My ^athrone and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will ^bdwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the ¹^ccorpses of their kings ²when they die, 8 by putting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have ^adefiled My holy name by their abominations which they have done. So I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them ^aput away their harlotry and the ¹corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will ^bdwell among them forever.
10 “As for you, son of man, ¹^adescribe the house of Yahweh to the house of Israel, that they may feel ^bdishonor for their iniquities; and let them measure the ²^cplan. 11 If they feel dishonor for all that they have done, make known to them the ¹design of the house, its structure, its ^aexits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes², and all its laws. And write it ^bin their sight so that they may keep its whole ¹design and all its statutes and ^cdo them. 12 This is the ¹law of the house: within its entire boundary, on the top of the ^amountain all around, shall be most holy. Behold, this is the ¹law of the house.

The Altar and Offerings

13 “And these are the measurements of the ^aaltar by cubits (the ^bcubit being a ¹cubit and a ²handbreadth): the ³base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge round about one ⁴span; and this shall be the height of the ⁵base of the altar. 14 And from the base on the ground to the lower ^aledge shall be two ¹cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width ²one cubit. 15 And the ¹altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the ¹altar hearth shall extend upwards four ^ahorns. 16 Now the ¹altar hearth shall be ²twelve cubits long by twelve wide, ^asquare in its four sides. 17 The ledge shall be ¹fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides; the border around it shall be half a cubit, and its base shall be a cubit round about; and its ^asteps shall ²^bface the east.”
18 And He said to me, “^aSon of man, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is made, to offer ^bburnt offerings on it and to ^csplash blood on it. 19 And you shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the seed of ^aZadok, who draw ^bnear to Me to minister to Me,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘a ^cbull from the herd for a ^dsin offering. 20 You shall also take some of its blood and put it on its four ^ahorns and on the four corners of the ^bledge and on the border round about; thus you shall ^cpurify it and make atonement for it. 21 And you shall take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be ^aburned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
22 ‘Now on the second day you shall bring near a ^amale goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall ^bpurify the altar as they purified it with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall present a ^abull from the herd without blemish and a ^bram without blemish from the flock. 24 And you shall bring them near before Yahweh, and the priests shall throw ^asalt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 25 ^aFor seven days you shall offer daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be offered. 26 For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they ¹ordain it. 27 So they will complete the days. And it shall be that on the ^aeighth day and onward, the priests shall ¹offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ^bpeace offerings; and I will ^caccept you,’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

The Gate of the Prince

Then He brought me back by the way of the ^aouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^aYahweh, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the ^aprince, he shall sit in it as prince to ^beat bread before Yahweh; he shall ^center by way of the ^dporch of the gate and shall go out ¹by the same way.”
4 Then He brought me by way of the ^anorth gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the ^bglory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I ^cfell on my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, ^aset your heart on and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ^bstatutes of the house of Yahweh and concerning all its laws; and set your heart on the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6 And you shall say to the ¹^arebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^bEnough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7 when you brought in ^aforeigners, ^buncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you ^cbrought near My food, the fat and the blood. So they ^dmade My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not ^akept the responsibility of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners as keepers of the responsibility given by Me for My sanctuary.”
9 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^aNo foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who ^awent astray from Me after their idols, shall ^bbear the punishment for their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ^aministers in My sanctuary, having ^boversight at the gates of the house and ^cministering in the house; they shall ^dslaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^estand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them ^abefore their idols and became a ^bstumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ¹^csworn against them,” declares Lord Yahweh, “that they shall ^dbear the punishment for their iniquity. 13 And they shall ^anot approach Me to minister as a priest to Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will ^bbear their dishonor and their abominations which they have done. 14 Yet I will ¹appoint them as ^akeepers of the responsibility for the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

The Levitical Responsibilities

15 “But the ^aLevitical priests, the sons of ^bZadok, who ^ckept the responsibility of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel ^dwent astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall ^estand before Me to bring near to Me the ^ffat and the blood,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall ^aenter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My ^btable to minister to Me and keep the responsibility given by Me. 17 And it will be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with ^alinen garments; and wool shall not ¹be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 Linen ^aheaddresses shall be on their heads, and ^blinen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall ^aput off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will ^bnot transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall ^anot shave their heads, yet they shall not ^blet their locks ¹grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 ^aNor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22 And they shall not ¹take a widow or a ^adivorced woman as a wife but shall ^btake virgins from the seed of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 Moreover, they shall instruct My people about the ^adifference between the holy and the profane, and make them know the difference between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in a dispute, ^athey shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My judgments. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My ^bappointed times and ^ckeep My sabbaths holy. 25 But ¹^athey shall not go to a dead person to make themselves unclean; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may make themselves unclean. 26 And after he is ^acleansed, seven days shall be counted for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the ^ainner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring near his ^bsin offering,” declares Lord Yahweh.
28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that ^aI am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession. 29 They shall ^aeat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every ¹^bdevoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the ^afirst fruits of every kind and every ¹contribution of every kind, from all your ¹contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the ^bfirst of your ²dough to cause a ^cblessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has ^adied of itself or has been torn to pieces.