WELS Through my Bible in Three Years

Colossians 3:1-17 (EHV)

1 Therefore, because you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your [1] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 So put to death whatever is worldly in you: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. [2] 7 You too once walked in these things, when you were living in them.

8 But now, you too are to rid yourselves of all of these: wrath, anger, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to each other since you have put off the old self with its practices, 10 and put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but rather Christ is all and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s elect, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone else. Forgive, just as Christ [3] forgave you. 14 And, in addition to all these things, put on love, which ties things together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ [4] dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. [5] 17 And everything you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Colossians 2:8-23 (EHV)

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which are in accord with human tradition, namely, the basic principles of the world, but not in accord with Christ. 9 For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ. 10 And you have been brought to fullness in him. Christ is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him, with a circumcision not done by human hands, in the putting off of the body of flesh, [1] in the circumcision of Christ, 12 when you were buried with Christ in baptism. And in baptism you were also raised with him through the faith worked by the God who raised Christ from the dead.

13 Even when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ by forgiving us all our trespasses. 14 God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands. This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 After disarming the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them by triumphing over them in Christ.

16 Therefore, do not let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink, or in regard to a festival or a New Moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were coming, but the body belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who enjoys false humility and the worship of angels tell you that you are disqualified from the prize. This person goes into detail about what he has seen. [2] He is puffed up for no reason by the attitude of his sinful flesh. 19 He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body grows with the growth that comes from God as it is supported and held together by its sinews and ligaments.

20 If you died with Christ to the basic principles of the world, why do you submit to its rules, as if you were still living in the world? 21 “Do not touch!” “Do not taste!” “Do not handle!” 22 All of these rules end in destruction when they are used, because they are in accord with human commands and teachings. 23 While such rules have the appearance of wisdom with self-chosen religion, which consists of humiliation and severe treatment of the body, they have no value at all in checking the self-indulgence of the sinful flesh.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Colossians 1:24 – 2:7 (EHV)

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church. 25 I became a minister of the church for your benefit when God gave me the task of fully proclaiming the word of God, 26 namely, the mystery that was hidden for past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known to them what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles—this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 We proclaim him as we admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we might present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 This is the goal I am laboring to reach, striving with his strength, which is powerfully at work in me.

1 Indeed, I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those in Laodicea, and for all those who have not seen me personally. 2 I am doing this so that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love, and into all the wealth of assurance that understanding brings, into the knowledge of the mystery of God, which is Christ. [1] 3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him.

4 I say this so that no one deceives you with persuasive speech that sounds reasonable. 5 For though I am absent bodily, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderliness and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith [2] with thanksgiving.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Colossians 1:15-23 (EHV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace through the blood of his cross.

21 At one time, you were alienated from God and hostile in your thinking as expressed through your evil deeds. 22 But now Christ reconciled you in his body of flesh through death, in order to present you holy, blameless, and faultless before him— 23 if you continue steadfast and firm in faith, without being moved away from the hope of the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Colossians 1:1-14 (EHV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the holy and faithful brothers [1] in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father. [2]

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about this in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that is present with you now. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing in the entire world, just as it also has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. 7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your [3] behalf. 8 He is the one who told us about your love in the Spirit. [4]

9 For this reason, from the day we heard about your love, we also have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you might live in a way that is worthy of the Lord. Our goal is that you please him by bearing fruit in every kind of good work and by growing in the knowledge of God, 11 as you are being strengthened with all power because of his glorious might working in you. Then you will have complete endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who qualified us [5] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

13 The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, [6] the forgiveness of sins.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ezekiel 47:13 – 48:35 (EHV)

13 This is what the Lord God says.

These are the boundaries you are to use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel.

(Joseph is to have two portions.)

14 You will assign equal portions of the land that I swore with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. This is how the land will be allotted to you as an inheritance.

15 These are to be the boundaries of the land:

On the north side, the boundary goes from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo Hamath to Zedad, [1] 16 Beruthah, and Sibraim, which is on the border between the territories of Damascus and Hamath, as far as Hazer Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the border will be from the sea to Hazar Enon, on the border of Damascus to the north, which also is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

18 On the east side, the border will run from Hazar Enon between Hauran and Damascus. Between Gilead and the land of Israel, the Jordan is the border as far as the Eastern Sea. [2] The border then will run to Tamar. [3] This is the east side.

19 On the south side, in the Negev, the border will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Stream of Egypt to the Great Sea. This is the southern boundary in the Negev.

20 On the west side, the Great Sea is the border until a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This is the west side.

21 In this way you are to divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have fathered children among you. They are to be treated like someone who is native-born among the sons of Israel. With you they are to receive allotments as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe an alien has settled, there you are to give him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.

1 These are the names of the tribes.

The northern border runs east to west along the road between Hethlon, Lebo Hamath, and Hazar Enon, which forms the northern border of the territory of Damascus with the territory of Hamath. [4] South of that line there will be one portion for Dan.

8 South of the boundary of Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the special contribution you are to devote to special use. Its north-to-south width is twenty-five thousand cubits, [6] and its east-to-west length is equal to one of the tribal portions from the eastern side of the land to the western side. [7] The sanctuary will be in the midst of it. [8]

9 The contribution you are to devote to the Lord is to be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide. [9] 10 The holy contribution for the priests will be this: a rectangular area measuring twenty-five thousand cubits long on the north side, ten thousand cubits wide on the west, ten thousand cubits wide on the east, and twenty-five thousand cubits long on the south. The sanctuary of the Lord will be in the middle. 11 It will be for the priests, whoever has been consecrated from the sons of Zadok, who guarded the ministry for me, and who did not go astray when the other sons of Israel went astray, as also the Levites went astray. 12 It will be a special offering for them from the holy contribution of the land, a most holy district, beside the territory of the Levites.

13 The Levites are to have a rectangular allotment parallel to the territory of the priests. Twenty-five thousand cubits is its length, and its width is ten thousand cubits. Its whole length is twenty-five thousand cubits, and its width is ten thousand cubits. 14 They must not sell any part of it nor exchange any of it. No one can transfer these firstfruits of the land, because they are holy, belonging to the Lord.

15 The area five thousand cubits [10] wide that remains along the south edge of the square of twenty-five thousand cubits is common land for the city, for living space and for open land. The city is to be in its center, between the two halves. 16 These are the city’s dimensions: a square measuring four thousand five hundred cubits on the north side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the south side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the east side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the west side. 17 The open land belonging to the city will measure two hundred fifty cubits on the north side, and two hundred fifty cubits on the south, and two hundred fifty cubits on the east, and two hundred fifty cubits on the west.

18 The remaining area that runs lengthwise along the south side of the holy contribution will be ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the east side of the city, and ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the west side of the city. It shall be next to the holy contribution, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 The workers of the city who cultivate it will be from all the tribes of Israel.

20 The entire holy contribution will be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, a square. Set apart this holy contribution, which includes the property of the city.

21 What remains of the holy contribution will belong to the prince. It lies on both sides of the holy contribution and the property of the city, extending from the eastern north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the eastern border of the land, and on the west side, it will extend from the western north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the western border of the land. The two portions belonging to the prince run parallel to the tribal portions. The holy contribution and the temple sanctuary will be between the two halves of the prince’s area. 22 The area consisting of the property of the Levites and the property of the city is between the two tracts that will belong to the prince. The area between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin will belong to the prince.

23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side of the land to the west side is one portion for Benjamin.

29 This is the land that you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

30 These are the outside boundaries of the city.

The north side is four thousand five hundred cubits long. 31 The gates of the city are named after the tribes of Israel. Three gates are located on the north: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, and one gate of Levi.

32 On the east side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, there are three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, and one gate of Dan.

33 On the south side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, there are three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, and one gate of Zebulun.

34 On the west side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, their gates are three: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, and one gate of Naphtali.

35 The perimeter of the city is eighteen thousand cubits, [11] and the name of the city from that day on is “The Lord Is There.”

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ezekiel 47:1-12 (EHV)

1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw that water was flowing out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

2 He brought me out through the north gate that led into the inner courtyard and led me around on the outside of the temple to the outer gateway on the east side, and I saw that water was trickling out from its south side. 3 As the man went out toward the east, he had a measuring line in his hand. He measured off a thousand cubits, [1] and then he led me through the water. The water was ankle-deep. 4 Then he measured off another thousand cubits and led me through the water. The water was knee-deep. He measured a thousand more and led me through water that was now waist-deep. 5 He measured a thousand more, but now it was a river that I was not able to cross, because the water had risen so much that one would have to swim across it. It was a river that could not be forded.

6 Then he asked me, “Have you noticed anything, son of man?” and he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned there, I noticed that on the banks of the river there were a large number of trees, on both sides.

8 Then he said to me, “These waters are flowing out to the eastern part of the land. They go down to the Arabah and go into the sea, [2] into the sea whose waters are unusable, [3] and then the waters of the sea are made fresh. [4] 9 Every living creature that swarms can live wherever the stream flows. There will be a large number of fish because these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea have been made fresh, so every living creature can live everywhere the river goes. 10 There will be fishermen standing beside it from En Gedi to En Eglaim, and there will be places for them to spread their nets to dry. There will be all kinds of fish there, like the fish of the Great Sea [5]—so very many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be made fresh. They will be left to provide salt. 12 Beside the river, on both its banks, every kind of tree will grow for providing food. Their leaves will never wither, and their fruit will never fail. Every month they will bear fruit because their waters flow out from the sanctuary. Its fruit will provide food, and its leaves will be for healing.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ezekiel 45 – 46 (EHV)

1 When you cast lots to divide the land as an inheritance, you are to devote a contribution to the Lord, a holy area of the land. Its length is to be twenty-five thousand cubits and its width twenty thousand cubits. [1] Its entire area will be holy.

2 Within this area, a square five hundred by five hundred cubits [2] is to be set aside for the sanctuary. There is also to be an open area of fifty cubits all around it.

3 From this measured area, you are to measure off a separate area which has a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits. The sanctuary, the most holy place, will be in it. 4 It is to be a holy area of the land. [3] It will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.

5 Also an area twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide will be set aside for the Levites, the servants of the temple, as their possession, to provide them with cities to live in. [4] [5]

6 As the city’s property, you are to assign an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long [6] along one side of the holy contribution. [7] It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

7 For the prince, an area is to be set aside on both sides of the holy contribution and of the area for the city. It will run alongside the holy contribution and alongside the city’s property. On the west side of the city, it will extend west along the tribal boundaries to the western boundary of the land, and on the east side, it will extend eastward in the same way. 8 This land is to be the prince’s property in Israel, so that my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allot the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

9 This is what the Lord God says. You have done enough, you princes of Israel! Remove violence and mayhem, and practice justice and righteousness. Remove the burden from my people that you caused by evicting them from their land, declares the Lord God.

10 You must have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath. [8] 11 The ephah and the bath are to follow one uniform standard. The bath will hold one tenth of a homer, and the ephah will hold one tenth of a homer. The standard is to be based on the homer. 12 The shekel is to be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will be the weight of your mina. [9]

13 This is the special contribution you should dedicate: Take one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and take one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley. [10] 14 The prescribed portion of oil (the bath is the standard measure for the oil) is one tenth of a bath from each kor. [11] Ten baths make a kor, and ten baths are a homer.

15 Furthermore, one sheep shall be given from every flock, that is, from every two hundred sheep that comprise a flock from the well-watered land of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the fellowship offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land are to contribute to this offering for the prince in Israel.

17 The prince then is responsible for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings on the festivals, on the New Moons, and on the Sabbaths, that is, on all the appointed festivals for the house of Israel. He himself will provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 This is what the Lord God says. In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the post of the gate of the inner courtyard. 20 You are to do so also on the seventh day of the month, for the sake of anyone who sins inadvertently or in ignorance, and so you shall make atonement for the temple.

21 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall hold the Passover. During the festival, consisting of a week of seven days, unleavened bread must be eaten. 22 On that day the prince is to provide, on behalf of himself and all the people of the land, a bull for a sin offering. 23 On the seven days of the festival he is to provide a burnt offering for the Lord: seven bulls and seven rams without blemish for each day of the seven days, as well as a male goat for a sin offering for each day. 24 As a grain offering he is to provide an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil for each ephah.

25 In the seventh month, at the festival starting on the fifteenth day of the month, he is to provide for seven days according to these same instructions, in regard to the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.

1 This is what the Lord God says.

The gate into the inner courtyard which faces east must remain closed on the six work days, but on the Sabbath day it is to be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened. 2 The prince is to enter through the vestibule of the gateway at the outer, eastern end of the gatehouse and stand by the gatepost, and the priests are to offer his burnt offering and fellowship offerings. He is to prostrate himself on the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be closed until evening. 3 The people of the land are to prostrate themselves before the Lord at the entrance to that gate on Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 The burnt offering that the prince is to offer to the Lord on the day of the Sabbath is to consist of six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. 5 The grain offering is to be an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs the grain offering is to be as much as he can afford, with a hin of oil per ephah. 6 On the day of the New Moon, he is to offer a young bull without blemish, six lambs, and a ram. They are to be without blemish. 7 He is to provide an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram as a grain offering, and for the lambs as much as he can afford, with a hin of oil per ephah.

8 When the prince enters, he is to come in through the vestibule of the gateway, and he is to go out by the same way. 9 When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, anyone who enters through the north gate in order to prostrate himself must go out through the south gate, and anyone who enters through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one may return through the same gate through which he entered. He definitely must leave by going straight ahead to the opposite gate. 10 The prince is to be in their midst. When they enter, he shall enter, and when they leave, both he and they shall leave.

11 At the pilgrimage festivals and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs it is to be as much as he can afford, with a hin of oil per ephah. 12 When the prince makes a voluntary offering to the Lord, either as a burnt offering or fellowship offering, the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings just as he does on the day of the Sabbath. When he goes out, the gate is to be closed after he leaves. 13 You are to provide a yearling lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord every day. Every morning you are to provide it. 14 You are to provide a grain offering with it every morning: one sixth of an ephah and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour. It is a grain offering for the Lord. These are lasting statutes to be performed daily. 15 In this way they will offer the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a daily burnt offering.

16 This is what the Lord God says.

If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is the son’s inheritance and will also belong to his sons. It is to be their property by inheritance. 17 But if the prince gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to him only until the year of liberty, [12] when it must revert to the prince. It is his inheritance alone and must remain with his sons. 18 The prince may not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. From his own property he is to give an inheritance to his sons, so that my people will not be scattered—not a single man from his property.

19 Then he took me through the entrance into the holy rooms for the priests that were located on the north side of the temple, beside the north gatehouse. Looking toward the west, I saw that there was a special place at the back of the temple area. [13] 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to boil the restitution offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offerings in order not to bring them out to the outer courtyard and transmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out to the outer courtyard and led me past the four corners of the courtyard. I saw there was a court at each corner of the courtyard [14]— a court in each corner of the courtyard. [15] 22 In the four corners of the courtyard were enclosed [16] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide [17]—the same measurement for each of the four of them. [18] 23 A stone structure went all around the inside of all four of the rooms, and hearths for boiling were constructed beneath the structure all the way around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister in the temple are to boil the sacrifices of the people.”

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ezekiel 43:13 – 44:31 (EHV)

13 These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a long cubit is an ordinary cubit plus a handbreadth). The gutter [1] at the base of the altar is one cubit deep and one cubit wide with a rim of one span [2] around its edge. The height of the altar is as follows: 14 From the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge is two cubits, and the width of the ledge is one cubit. From the lower ledge to the upper ledge is four cubits. The upper ledge has a width of one cubit. 15 The hearth is four cubits high, and four horns extend upward from the hearth. [3] 16 The hearth is twelve cubits by twelve cubits, a square with four equal sides. 17 The upper ledge is fourteen cubits by fourteen cubits, with four equal sides. The ridge [4] around it is half a cubit, and it has a gutter of one cubit all around. [5] Its ramp [6] faces east.

18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says. These are the ceremonial requirements for the altar on the day when it is erected, to present burnt offerings on it and to splash blood on it. 19 You are to provide a young bull for a sin offering. Provide it to the levitical priests who are from the descendants of Zadok, who draw near to me to serve me, declares the Lord God. 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the altar’s four horns, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the ridge all around, and so you are to purify [7] it and make atonement for it. 21 Then you are to take the bull that is the sin offering, and the priest is to burn it at the appointed place in the temple area, outside the sanctuary.

22 “On the second day you are to offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish. 24 You are to present them before the Lord, and the priests are to throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 For seven days you are to offer a goat for a sin offering each day, as well as a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must all be without blemish. 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar, cleanse it, and, in this way, consecrate it. 27 When they have fulfilled those days, on the eighth day and thereafter, the priests are to offer on the altar your whole burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”

1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, but it was closed. 2 The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain closed and not be opened. No man may enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore, it is to remain closed. 3 The prince, because he is the prince, may sit in it to eat food in the presence of the Lord. He must enter through the vestibule of the gateway, and he must go out the same way.”

4 Next, he brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and the Glory of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord, and I fell on my face. 5 The Lord said this to me.

Son of man, pay attention. Watch carefully and listen carefully [8] to what I am telling you regarding all the regulations of the temple of the Lord and all the instructions concerning it. Pay attention to the entrance of the temple and to all the exits of the sanctuary.

6 Say this to the rebellion, that is, to the house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. There has been more than enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. 7 You even brought foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, into my sanctuary to desecrate it—into my own house!—even while you were offering my food, namely, the fat and the blood. In this way they broke my covenant in addition to all your abominations.

8 You have not faithfully guarded my holy things. Instead, you appointed others to be guards at my sanctuary in your place. 9 This is what the Lord God says. No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter my sanctuary—no foreigner at all from those who are among the people of Israel.

10 What’s more, the Levites who went far from me when Israel strayed away, those who wandered away from me to follow their filthy idols, they must bear the consequences of their guilt. 11 Nevertheless, the Levites shall be in my sanctuary serving as guards over the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices for the people. They shall stand before the people to serve them. 12 But because they formerly served them in front of their filthy idols and became a stumbling block that made the house of Israel guilty, therefore I have raised my hand in an oath against them, declares the Lord God, and they must bear the consequences of their guilt. 13 They may not approach me to serve as priests for me, nor may they approach any of my holy things or the most holy offerings. They must bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they committed. 14 Yet I will make them guardians of the ministry of the temple, in charge of all the duties of the temple and of everything that has to be done in it.

15 But the levitical priests who are the sons of Zadok, those who faithfully performed the duty of guarding the ministry of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel strayed away from me, they may approach me to serve me, and they may stand before me to offer the fat and the blood to me, declares the Lord God. 16 They alone may enter my sanctuary. They alone may approach my table to minister to me, and they shall perform the duty of guarding the ministry of the temple for me.

17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen clothing. No wool should be on them while they minister in the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. 18 They are to have linen turbans on their heads and linen shorts on their hips. They should wear nothing that causes sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer courtyard [9] to the people, they must take off their vestments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy rooms. Then they must put on other clothing so that they do not transmit holiness to the people by their vestments.

20 They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long and unkempt. They must keep the hair on their heads neatly trimmed. 21 No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. 22 The priests must not take a widow or a divorced woman for themselves as a wife, but only virgins who are seed from the house of Israel. But priests may marry a widow who is a widow of a priest. 23 They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and make them knowledgeable in distinguishing the unclean from the clean.

24 In case of a dispute, they are to officiate as judges, and they must render their judgment concerning that case on the basis of the precedents in my judgments. They must observe my instructions and my regulations regarding all my appointed festivals, and they must keep my Sabbaths holy.

25 They must not go near a dead person and make themselves ceremonially unclean by doing so. Only in the case of father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister may they make themselves unclean. 26 After a priest has been purified, seven days must be counted off for him. 27 On the day he enters into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Lord God.

28 This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You must not give them property in Israel. I am their property. 29 They may eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the restitution offerings, and every devoted thing in Israel will belong to them. 30 The first from all firstfruits of all kinds and every special contribution of any kind from all your contributions will belong to the priests. The first of your ground grain [10] you must give to the priest in order that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 No animal that died naturally or was torn by wild animals, whether a bird or an animal, may be eaten by the priests.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Ezekiel 42:1 – 43:12 (EHV)

1 Then he led me out into the outer courtyard which was north of the temple building, and he brought me to a set of rooms which bordered on the south side of the restricted area and was north of the structure of the temple building. [1] 2 This building north of the temple, which had doors facing north, was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. [2]

3 On each side of the north courtyard, across from the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner courtyard on the south side and across from the pavement that belonged to the outer courtyard on the north side, two sets of balconies faced each other. [3] Each was three stories high. [4] 4 In front of the rooms on the inside of the courtyard was a walkway [5] ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long. [6] The entrances of the rooms faced north. [7]

5 The upper rooms were narrower, because the balconies took more space away from them than from the building’s bottom and middle floors. 6 These rooms were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars in the courtyards, so as you went up from ground level, the upper story had to be set back more than the lower and middle ones. [8]

7 There was a wall in the outer courtyard, which ran parallel to the rooms on the east side. [9] It was fifty cubits long. 8 The length of the set of rooms on the east side of the building facing toward the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, but the length of those on the north side was one hundred cubits long. [10] 9 On the bottom floor of these rooms on the east end of the building, there was an entrance, through which one could enter them from the outer courtyard. [11]

10 At the head of the wall of the courtyard, [12] on the south [13] side of the temple, opposite the restricted area and opposite the building, there were rooms. 11 They also had a passageway in front of them. They looked just like the rooms on the north. They were the same length and also the same width, and they were the same in regard to all their exits, their designs, and their entrances. 12 Also identical were the entrances to the rooms on the south, at the head of the passageway, that is, the passageway opposite the corresponding wall, as one enters them from the east.

13 Then he said to me, “The northern and southern rooms in front of the restricted area are holy rooms where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering, for the place is holy. 14 When the priests go to enter these rooms, they must not go out from the holy place into the outer courtyard until they have put away their vestments in which they have ministered there, because the vestments are holy. They must put on other clothing before they approach the area that is for the people.”

15 In this way the man finished the measurements of the interior of the temple complex. Then he led me out through the gate on the east side of the temple complex and measured the temple area all the way around. 16 He measured the east side using the measuring rod. It measured five hundred cubits, [14] using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 17 Then he turned and measured the north side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 18 Then he turned and measured the south side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 19 He turned to the west side and measured again. It also was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 20 Thus he measured the temple area on all four sides. It had a wall all the way around it. It was five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, in order to separate the holy from the common.

1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate that faces east. 2 Suddenly I saw that the Glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of rushing water, and the earth was shining with his glory. 3 The appearance of the vision that I saw was like the vision I saw when he [15] came to destroy the city—visions like the vision I saw by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. 4 The Glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the Glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me. 7 The voice said to me:

Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and this is the place for the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. Never again will the house of Israel profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, neither by their prostitution nor by the memorials [16] to their dead kings at their high places. 8 Whenever they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorpost beside my doorpost with only a wall between me and them, they would defile my holy name by their abominations that they did, so I exterminated them in my anger. 9 Now let them remove their prostitution and the memorials of their dead kings from my presence, and I will dwell among them forever.

10 But you, son of man, are to describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them measure its perfect pattern. 11 If they are ashamed of everything they have done, teach them the design of the temple and its layout, its exits and its entrances, all its designs and all its ordinances, all its designs and all its regulations. Write them down in their sight so that they may keep its whole plan and all its ordinances and carry them out. 12 This is the law for the temple. On the top of the mountain, the whole territory of the temple and all the area surrounding its perimeter will be most holy. This is indeed the law for the temple.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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