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v1
And he brought me to the gate which was facing east. ^[Literally “which was facing to the way of the east”]
v2
And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters ^[Hebrew “water”] and the land radiated due to his glory!
v3
And ^[Or “and as”; as is not needed in translation] the appearance of the vision which I saw was as ^[Or “like”] the vision which I saw at his ^[Or “my coming”] coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as ^[Or “like”] the vision which I saw by the Kebar River, ^[Literally “river of Kebar”] and I fell on my face.
v4
And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple by the way of the gate facing east. ^[Literally “by the way of the gate which its face was to the way of the east”]
v5
And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple!
v6
And I heard someone speaking to me from the house, ^[Or “from inside”] and a man was standing beside me.
v7
And he said to me, “Son of man, ^[Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”] this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell ^[Literally “which I will dwell there”] in the midst of the Israelites ^[Literally “sons/children of Israel”] to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile my holy name ^[Literally “the name of my holiness”] with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead ^[Or “corpses”] of their kings on their high places.
v8
When they placed their threshold ^[Literally “in/at their placing their threshold”] with ^[Or “beside/next to”] my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the ^[Or “their”] wall was between me and between them, then they defiled my holy name, ^[Literally “the name of my holiness”] with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger.
v9
Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead ^[Or “corpses”] of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever. ^[Literally “to eternity”]
v10
You, son of man, ^[Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”] describe to the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern.
v11
And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans ^[Or “its entire pattern”] and all of its statutes. And all of its plans ^[Or “purposes”] and all of its laws ^[According to the reading tradition (Qere); cf. BHS] make known to them and write them before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them!
v12
This is the law ^[Literally “torah” or “instruction”] of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, all the way around it, ^[Literally “all around, all around”] will be most holy. ^[Literally “will be a holiness of holinesses”] Look, this is the law of the temple.
v13
And these are the measurements of the altar in the cubits ^[Or “in long cubits”] (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): ^[That is, about 18 inches (regular cubit) + 3 inches = 21 inches (long cubit)] now its gutter ^[Or “trench” (NJPS)] is a cubit ^[That is, 21 inches] in depth by a cubit ^[That is, 21 inches] in width ^[Literally “the cubit and cubit its width”] and its rim along its edge all around is one span, ^[That is, 9 inches] and this is also the height of the altar.
v14
And from the gutter ^[Or “trench”] at the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits, ^[That is, 3 feet 6 inches] and its width is one cubit, ^[That is, 21 inches] and from the small ledge up to the large ledge is four cubits, ^[That is, 7 feet] and its width is one cubit.
v15
And the altar hearth was four cubits, ^[That is, 7 feet] and from the altar hearth and upwards ^[Literally “and to above”] were the four horns of the altar.
v16
And the altar hearth was twelve ^[Literally “two ten”] cubits in length and twelve ^[Literally “two ten”] cubits in width ^[That is, 21 feet square]; it was squared on its four sides. ^[Literally “squared to the four of its sides”]
v17
And the ledge was fourteen ^[Literally “four ten”] cubits in length with fourteen ^[Literally “four ten”] cubits its width ^[That is, 24.5 feet on all four sides, a square] to all four of its sides, and a rim was all around it of one-half cubit. ^[That is, 10.5 inches] And the gutter ^[Or “trench”] for it was a cubit ^[That is, 21 inches] all around, and its steps were facing east.”
v18
And he said to me, “Son of man, ^[Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”] thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘These are the statutes of the altar on the day when it is made, ^[Literally “to be made it”] to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it.
v19
And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” declares ^[Literally “declaration of”] the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, a calf ^[Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”] as a sin offering.
v20
You must take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, ^[Literally “on its four horns”] and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it.
v21
And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place.
v22
And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as a sin offering, and they must purify the altar like ^[Literally “as that”] they purified with the bull.
v23
When you are finished ^[Literally “at your finishing”] from purifying, you must offer a bull, a calf, ^[Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”] without defect, and a ram from the flock without defect.
v24
And you must bring them near before ^[Literally “to the face of”] Yahweh, and the priests must throw salt on them, and they must offer them as a burnt offering to Yahweh.
v25
For seven days you must provide a goat of sin offering for the day and a bull, a calf, ^[Literally “son of cattle,” or “son of the herd”] and a ram from the flock without defect; you must provide them.
v26
Seven days they must purify the altar and they must cleanse it and so they will consecrate it. ^[Literally “they must fill its hand”]
v27
And they will finish the days, and then ^[Literally “and it will happen”] on the eighth day and beyond that the priests will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and then I will be pleased with you,” declares ^[Literally “declaration of”] the Lord Yahweh.