Day 359 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Ezekiel 43

1 Moreover he brought me to the gate looking eastward, and led me forth. 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came by the eastern way; and [there was] a voice of an army, as the sound of many redoubling [their shouts], and the earth shone like light from the glory round about. 3 And the vision which I saw was like the vision which I saw when I went in to anoint the city: and the vision of the chariot which I saw was like the vision which I saw at the river Chobar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the Lord came into the house, by the way of the gate looking eastward. 5 And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the house of the Lord was full of glory. 6 And I stood, and behold [there was] a voice out of the house of one speaking to me, and a man stood near me, 7 and he said to me, Son of man, thou hast seen the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, in which my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel for ever; and the house of Israel shall no more profane my holy name, they and their princes, by their fornication, or by the murders of [their] princes in the midst of them; 8 when they set my door-way by their door-way, and my thresholds near to their thresholds: and they made my wall as it were joining myself and them, and they profaned my holy name with their iniquities which they wrought: and I destroyed them in my wrath and with slaughter. 9 And now let them put away from me their fornication, and the murders of their princes, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. 10 And thou, son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may cease from their sins; and [shew] its aspect and the arrangement of it. 11 And they shall bear their punishment for all the things that they have done: and thou shalt describe the house, and its entrances, and the plan thereof, and all its ordinances, and thou shalt make known to them all the regulations of it, and describe [them] before them: and they shall keep all my commandments, and all my ordinances, and do them. 12 And thou shalt shew the plan of the house on the top of the mountain: all its limits round about [shall be] most holy. 13 And these are the measures of the altar by the cubit of a cubit and a span, the cavity [shall be] a cubit deep, and a cubit shall be the breadth, and the border on the rim of it round about shall be a span: and this [shall be] the height of the altar 14 from the bottom at the commencement of the hollow part to this great mercy-seat, from beneath was two cubits, and the breadth was a cubit; and from the little mercy-seat to the great mercy-seat, four cubits, and the breadth was a cubit. 15 And the altar [shall be] four cubits; and from the altar and above the horns a cubit. 16 And the altar [shall be] of the length of twelve cubits, by twelve cubits [in breadth], square upon its four sides. 17 And the mercy-seat [shall be] fourteen cubits in length, by fourteen cubits in breadth on its four sides; and [there shall be] a border to it carried round about it of half a cubit; and the rim of it [shall be] a cubit round about; and the steps thereof looking eastward. 18 And he said to me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord God of Israel; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day of its being made, to offer upon it whole-burnt-offerings, and to pour blood upon it. 19 And thou shalt appoint to the priests the Levites of the seed of Sadduc, that draw nigh to me, saith the Lord God, to minister to me, a calf of the herd for a sin-offering. 20 And they shall take of its blood, and shall put [it] on the four horns of the altar, and upon the four corners of the propitiatory, and upon the base round about, and they shall make atonement for it. 21 And they shall take the calf of the sin-offering, and it shall be consumed by fire in the separate place of the house, outside the sanctuary. 22 And on the second day they shall take two kids of the goats without blemish for a sin-offering; and they shall make atonement for the altar, as they made atonement with the calf. 23 And after they have finished the atonement, they shall bring an unblemished calf of the herd, and an unblemished ram of the flock. 24 And ye shall offer [them] before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them, and shall offer them up [as] whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord. 25 Seven days shalt thou offer a kid daily for a sin-offering, and a calf of the herd, and a ram out of the flock: they shall sacrifice them unblemished for seven days: 26 and they shall make atonement for the altar, and shall purge it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 27 And it shall come to pass from the eighth day and onward, [that] the priests shall offer your whole-burnt-offerings on the altar, and your peace-offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord.

Ezekiel 44

1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary that looks eastward; and it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no one shall pass through it; for the Lord God of Israel shall enter by it, and it shall be shut. 3 For the prince, he shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go forth by the way of the same. 4 And he brought me in by the way of the gate that looks northward, in front of the house: and I looked, and, behold, the house was full of the glory of the Lord: and I fell upon my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, Son of man, attend with thine heart, and see with [thine] eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say to thee, according to all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the regulations thereof; and thou shalt attend well to the entrance of the house, according to all its outlets, in all the holy things. 6 And thou shalt say to the provoking house, [even] to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you [to have committed] all your iniquities, O house of Israel! 7 that ye have brought in aliens, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, and to profane it, when ye offered bread, flesh, and blood; and ye transgressed my covenant by all your iniquities; 8 and ye appointed [others] to keep the charges in my sanctuary. 9 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; No alien, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of all the children of strangers that are in the midst of the house of Israel. 10 But as for the Levites who departed far from me when Israel went astray from me after their imaginations, they shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall minister in my sanctuary, [being] porters at the gates of the house, and serving the house: they shall slay the victims and the whole-burnt-offerings for the people, and they shall stand before the people to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and it became to the house of Israel a punishment of iniquity; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord God. 13 And they shall not draw nigh to me to minister to me in the priests' office, nor to approach the holy things of the children of Israel, nor [to approach] my holy of holies: but they shall bear their reproach for the error wherein they erred. 14 They shall bring them to keep the charges of the house, for all the service of it, and for all that they shall do. 15 The priests the Levites, the sons of Sadduc, who kept the charges of my sanctuary when the house of Israel went astray from me, these shall draw nigh to me to minister to me, and shall stand before my face, to offer sacrifice to me, the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. 16 These shall enter into my sanctuary, and these shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charges. 17 And it shall come to pass when they enter the gates of the inner court, [that] they shall put on linen robes; and they shall not put on woollen garments when they minister at the gate of the inner court. 18 And they shall have linen mitres upon their heads, and shall have linen drawers upon their loins; and they shall not tightly gird themselves. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their robes, in which they minister; and they shall lay them up in the chambers of the sanctuary, and shall put on other robes, and they shall not sanctify the people with their robes. 20 And they shall not shave their heads, nor shall they pluck off their hair; they shall carefully cover their heads. 21 And no priest shall drink any wine, when they go into the inner court. 22 Neither shall they take to themselves to wife a widow, or one that is put away, but a virgin of the seed of Israel: but if there should happen to be a priest's widow, they shall take [her]. 23 And they shall teach my people [to distinguish] between holy and profane, and they shall make known to them [the difference] between unclean and clean. 24 And these shall attend at a judgment of blood to decide it: they shall rightly observe my ordinances, and judge my judgments, and keep my statutes and my commandments in all my feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 25 And they shall not go in to the dead body of a man to defile themselves: only [a priest] may defile himself for a father, or for a mother, or for a son, or for a daughter, or for a brother, or for his sister, who has not been married. 26 And after he has been cleansed, let him number to himself seven days. 27 And on whatsoever day they shall enter into the inner court to minister in the holy place, they shall bring a propitiation, saith the Lord God. 28 And it shall be to them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and no possession shall be given them among the children of Israel; for I am their possession. 29 And these shall eat the meat-offerings, and the sin-offerings, and the trespass-offerings; and every special offering in Israel shall be theirs. 30 [And] the first-fruits of all things, and the first-born of all [animals] and all offerings, of all your first-fruits there shall be [a share] for the priests; and ye shall give your earliest produce to the priest, to bring your blessings upon your houses. 31 And the priests shall eat no bird or beast that dies of itself, or is taken of wild beasts.

Ezekiel 45

1 And when ye measure the land for inheritance, ye shall set apart first-fruits to the Lord, a holy space of the land, in length twenty and five thousand [reeds], and in breadth twenty thousand; it shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. 2 And there shall be a sanctuary out of this, five hundred [reeds in length] by five hundred in breadth, a square round about; and [there shall be] a vacant space [beyond] this of fifty cubits round about. 3 And out of this measurement shalt thou measure the length five and twenty thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand: and in it shall be the holy of holies. 4 Of the land shall be [a portion] for the priests that minister in the holy place, and it shall be for them that draw nigh to minister to the Lord: and it shall be to them a place for houses set apart for their sacred office; 5 the length [shall be] twenty-five thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand: and the Levites that attend the house, they shall have cities to dwell in for a possession. 6 And ye shall appoint [for] the possession of the city five thousand in breadth, and in length twenty-five thousand: after the manner of the first-fruits of the holy portion, they shall be for all the house of Israel. 7 And the prince [shall have a portion] out of this, and out of this [there shall be a portion] for the first-fruits of the sanctuary, [and] for the possession of the city, in front of the first-fruits of the sanctuary, and in front of the possession of the city westward, and from the western parts eastward: and the length [shall be] equal to one of the parts of the western borders, and the length [shall be] to the eastern borders of the land. 8 And he shall have it for a possession in Israel: and the princes of Israel shall no more oppress my people; but the house of Israel shall inherit the land according to their tribes. 9 Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, ye princes of Israel: remove injustice and misery, execute judgment and justice; take away oppression from my people, saith the Lord God. 10 Ye shall have a just balance, and a just measure, and a just chœnix for measure. 11 And in like manner there shall be one chœnix as a measure of capacity; the tenth of the gomor [shall be] the chœnix, and the tenth of the gomor shall be in fair proportion to the gomor. 12 And the weights [shall be] twenty oboli, your pound shall be five shekels, fifteen shekels and fifty shekels. 13 And these are the first-fruits which ye shall offer; a sixth part of a gomor of wheat, and the sixth part of it [shall consist] of an ephah of a cor of barley. 14 And [ye shall give as] the appointed measure of oil one bath of oil out of ten baths; for ten baths are a gomor. 15 And one sheep from the flock out of ten, as an oblation from all the tribes of Israel, for sacrifices, and for whole-burnt-offerings, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for you, saith the Lord God. 16 And all the people shall give these first-fruits to the prince of Israel. 17 And through the prince shall be [offered] the whole-burnt-offerings and the meat-offerings, and the drink-offerings in the feasts, and at the new moons, and on the sabbaths; and in all the feasts of the house of Israel: he shall offer the sin-offerings, and the meat-offering, and the whole-burnt-offerings, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel. 18 Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, on the first [day] of the month, ye shall take a calf without blemish out of the herd, to make atonement for the holy place. 19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the atonement, and put it on the thresholds of the house, and upon the four corners of the temple, and upon the altar, and upon the thresholds of the gate of the inner court. 20 And thus shalt thou do in the seventh month; on the first [day] of the month thou shalt take a rate from each one; and ye shall make atonement for the house. 21 And in the first [month], on the fourteenth [day] of the month, ye shall have the feast of the passover; seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread. 22 And the prince shall offer in that day a calf for a sin-offering for himself, and the house, and for all the people of the land. 23 And for the seven days of the feast he shall offer as whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord seven calves and seven rams without blemish daily for the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin-offering, and a meat-offering. 24 And thou shalt prepare a cake for the calf, and cakes for the ram, and a hin of oil for the cake. 25 And in the seventh month, on the fifteenth [day] of the month, thou shalt sacrifice in the feast in the same way seven days, as [they sacrificed] the sin-offerings, and the whole-burnt-offerings, and the freewill-offering, and the oil.