1Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces east.
2And look, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory.
3What I saw looked like the vision I had seen before, like the vision I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.
4The glory of the LORD came into the house by the gate that faces east.
5Then the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. And look, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6I heard someone speaking to me out of the house, and the man stood beside me.
7He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will live among the children of Israel for ever. The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their whoredom, or by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places."
8"They set their threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my doorpost, with only a wall between me and them. So they defiled my holy name by the disgusting things they did. That is why I destroyed them in my anger."
9"Now let them put their whoredom and the dead bodies of their kings far away from me, and I will live among them for ever."
10"You, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their sins. And let them measure the plan."
11"If they are ashamed of all they have done, show them the shape of the house and its design, its exits and its entrances, all its shapes and all its rules, all its shapes and all its laws. Write it down where they can see it, so that they may keep all its shape and all its rules, and do them."
12"This is the law of the house. On the top of the mountain, the whole area around it shall be most holy. Look, this is the law of the house."
13These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit here is a cubit and a hand's breadth). Its base shall be a cubit high and a cubit wide, and its rim all round the edge shall be a span. This shall be the higher part of the altar.
14From the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit. From the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit.
15So the altar shall be four cubits, and from the altar upward there shall be four horns.
16The altar shall be twelve cubits long and twelve wide, square on all four sides.
17The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on all four sides. The rim around it shall be half a cubit, and its base a cubit all round. Its steps shall face east.
18And he said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says. These are the rules for the altar on the day when they make it, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it."
19"You shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites who are from the family of Zadok, who come near to me to serve me, says the Lord GOD."
20"You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all round. So you shall cleanse it and make it pure."
21"You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary."
22"On the second day you shall offer a young goat without any fault as a sin offering. They shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull."
23"When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without any fault, and a ram from the flock without any fault."
24"You shall offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD."
25"For seven days you shall prepare a goat each day as a sin offering. They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without any fault."
26"For seven days they shall make the altar pure and cleanse it. So they shall set it apart."
27"When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings. And I will accept you, says the Lord GOD."