The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple
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Then he led me to 1the gate, the gate facing east.
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And behold, 2the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And 3the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and 4the earth shone with his glory.
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And 5the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen 6when hea came to destroy the city, and just like 7the vision that I had seen 8by the Chebar canal. And 9I fell on my face.
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12the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into 13the inner court; and behold, 14the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
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and he said to me, 17"Son of man, this is 18the place of my throne and 19the place of the soles of my feet, 20where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more 21defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodiesb of their kings at their high places,c
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by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with 22only a wall between me and them. They have 23defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger.
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Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, 24and I will dwell in their midst forever.
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"As for you, 25son of man, 26describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan.
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And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, 27make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, 28its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down 29in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out.
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This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of 30the mountain 31all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.
The Altar
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"These are the measurements of 32the altar by cubits (the cubit being 33a cubit and a handbreadth):d its base shall be one cubit highe and one cubit broad, with a rim of one spanf around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar:
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from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit;
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and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, 34four horns.
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The altar hearth shall be 35square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad.
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The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. 36The steps of the altar shall face east."
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And he said to me, 37"Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and 38for throwing blood against it,
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you shall give to 39the Levitical priests 40of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, 41a bull from the herd for a sin offering.
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And 42you shall take some of its blood and put it on 43the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon 44the rim all around. 45Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.
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You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and 46it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.
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And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull.
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When you have finished 47purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and 48a ram from the flock without blemish.
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You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests 49shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.
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50For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.
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Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.g
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)