1    2   He led me to the gate, the gate facing eastwards, and I beheld the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of a mighty torrent, and the earth shone with his glory. 3   The form that I saw was the same as that which I had seen when he ^note came to destroy the city, and as that which I had seen by the river Kebar, ^note and I fell on my face. 4   The glory of the Lord came up to the temple towards the gate which faced eastwards. 5   A spirit ^note lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 6   Then I heard one speaking to me from the temple, and the ^note man was standing at my side. 7   He said, Man, do you see ^note the place of my throne, the place where I set my feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites for ever? Neither they nor their kings shall ever defile my holy name again with their wanton disloyalty, and with the corpses ^note of their kings when they die. 8   They set their threshold by mine and their door-post beside mine, with a wall between me and them, and they defiled my holy name with the abominations they committed, and I destroyed them in my anger. 9   But now they shall abandon their wanton disloyalty and remove the corpses ^note of their kings far from me, and I will dwell among them for ever. 10   So tell the Israelites, man, about this temple, its appearance and proportions, ^note that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. 11   If they are ashamed of all they have done, you shall describe ^note to them the temple and its fittings, its exits and entrances, all the details and particulars of its elevation and plan; explain them and draw them before their eyes, so that they may keep them in mind and carry them out. 12   This is the plan of the temple to be built on the top of the mountain; all its precincts on every side shall be most holy. ^note

13   These were the dimensions of the altar in cubits (the cubit that is a cubit and a hand's breadth). This was the height ^note of the altar: the base was a cubit high ^note and projected a cubit; on its edge was a rim one span deep. 14   From the base to the cubit-wide ridge of the lower pedestal-block was two cubits, and from this shorter ^note pedestal-block to the

The restored theocracy cubit-wide ridge of the taller ^note pedestal-block was four cubits. 15   The altar-hearth was four cubits high and was surmounted by four horns a cubit high. ^note 16   The hearth was twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, being a perfect square. 17   The upper pedestal-block was fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide along its four sides, and the rim round it was half a cubit deep. The base of the altar projected a cubit, and there were steps facing eastwards.

18   He said to me, Man, these are the words of the Lord God: These are the regulations for the altar when it has been made, for sacrificing whole-offerings on it and flinging the blood against it. 19   The levitical priests of the family of Zadok, and they alone, may come near to me to serve me, says the Lord God. You shall assign them a young bull for a sin-offering; 20   you shall take some of the blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the upper pedestal and all round the rim, and so purify it and make expiation for it. 21   Then take the bull assigned as the sin-offering, and they shall destroy it by fire in the proper place within the precincts but outside the Holy Place. 22   On the second day you shall present a he-goat without blemish as a sin-offering, and with it they shall purify the altar as they did with the bull. 23   When you have completely purified the altar, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. 24   You shall present them before the Lord; the priests shall throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a whole-offering to the Lord. 25   For seven days you shall provide as a daily sin-offering a goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock; all of them shall be provided free from blemish. 26   For seven days they shall make expiation for the altar, and pronounce it ritually clean, and consecrate it. 27   At the end of that time, on the eighth day and onwards, the priests shall sacrifice on the altar your whole-offerings and your shared-offerings, and I will accept you. This is the very word of the Lord God.

Previous section

Next section