Et duxit me ad portam quæ respiciebat ad viam orientalem.

Then he took me to the eastern gate;

And he brought me to the gate that looked towards the east.

Et ecce gloria Dei Israël ingrediebatur per viam orientalem: et vox erat ei quasi vox aquarum multarum, et terra splendebat a majestate ejus.

and all at once, from the sun’s rising, the bright presence of the God of Israel made entry there. Like the sound of waters in deep flood his voice was, and earth was lit up with the splendour all around.

And behold the glory of the God of Israel came in by the way of the east: and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty.

Et vidi visionem secundum speciem quam videram quando venit ut disperderet civitatem, et species secundum aspectum quem videram juxta fluvium Chobar: et cecidi super faciem meam.

Such was the appearance I had seen of him, when he came bent on the city’s destruction, when I saw my vision by the banks of Chobar; down fell I, face to earth.

And I saw the vision according to the appearance which I had seen when he came to destroy the city: and the appearance was according to the vision which I had seen by the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face.

Et majestas Domini ingressa est templum per viam portæ quæ respiciebat ad orientem.

In it came through the eastern gateway, the splendour of the Lord himself;

And the majesty of the Lord went into the temple by the way of the gate that looked to the east.

Et elevavit me spiritus, et introduxit me in atrium interius: et ecce repleta erat gloria Domini domus.

and with that, a transport seized me, carrying me off into the inner court, where already the brightness of the Lord’s presence filled the temple.

And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court: and behold the house was filled with the glory of the Lord.

Et audivi loquentem ad me de domo: et vir qui stabat juxta me

Thence it was I heard his voice speaking to me; and the man who stood at my side passed on the message.

And I heard one speaking to me out of the house, and the man that stood by me,

dixit ad me: Fili hominis, locus solii mei, et locus vestigiorum pedum meorum, ubi habito in medio filiorum Israël in æternum: et non polluent ultra domus Israël nomen sanctum meum, ipsi et reges eorum, in fornicationibus suis, et in ruinis regum suorum, et in excelsis.

Son of man, he told me, here is my throne; here eternally, in the heart of Israel, is my resting-place. No more shall Israel’s folk, Israel’s kings, drag my name in the dust with their infidelities, with the dead gods they served, with their hill-sanctuaries.

Said to me: Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever: and the house of Israel shall no more profane my holy name, they and their kings by their fornications, and by the carcasses of their kings, and by the high places.

Qui fabricati sunt limen suum juxta limen meum, et postes suos juxta postes meos, et murus erat inter me et eos: et polluerunt nomen sanctum meum in abominationibus quas fecerunt: propter quod consumpsi eos in ira mea.

Door next to door of mine, pillar to pillar, only a wall between us; and for the foul doings that dragged my name in the dust, my vengeance took full toll of them.

They who have set their threshold by my threshold, and their posts by my posts: and there was but a wall between me and them: and they profaned my holy name by the abominations which they committed: for which reason I consumed them in my wrath.

Nunc ergo repellant procul fornicationem suam et ruinas regum suorum a me, et habitabo in medio eorum semper.

Bid they those infidelities, those dead gods farewell, I will make my eternal home here in the midst of them.

Now therefore let them put away their fornications, and the carcasses of their kings far from me: and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

Tu autem, fili hominis, ostende domui Israël templum, et confundantur ab iniquitatibus suis, et metiantur fabricam,

Thine, son of man, to shame the men of Israel by the sight of yonder temple; who measures the fabric of it,

But thou, son of man, shew to the house of Israel the temple, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the building:

et erubescant ex omnibus quæ fecerunt. Figuram domus, et fabricæ ejus, exitus et introitus, et omnem descriptionem ejus, et universa præcepta ejus, cunctumque ordinem ejus, et omnes leges ejus ostende eis, et scribes in oculis eorum, ut custodiant omnes descriptiones ejus, et præcepta illius, et faciant ea.

shall learn to blush for his misdeeds. Form and fashion of the temple, gates that lead in and out, all the plot of it do thou make known to them; and what observances they are that govern the ordering of it. All this they must see in writing, and so learn to keep its pattern ever unaltered, its laws ever to fulfil.

And be ashamed of all that they have done. Shew them the form of the house, and of the fashion thereof, the goings out and the comings in, and the whole plan thereof, and all its ordinances, and all its order, and all its laws, and thou shalt write it in their sight: that they may keep the whole form thereof, and its ordinances, and do them.

Ista est lex domus in summitate montis: omnis finis ejus in circuitu, Sanctum sanctorum est. Hæc est ergo lex domus.

Wouldst thou know what the temple’s charter is? No part of the mountain top that lies within its bounds but is my inmost sanctuary; that, nothing less, is the charter of the temple.

This is the law of the house upon the top of the mountain: All its border round about is most holy: this then is the law of the house.

Istæ autem mensuræ altaris in cubito verissimo, qui habebat cubitum et palmum: in sinu ejus erat cubitus, et cubitus in latitudine: et definitio ejus usque ad labium ejus, et in circuitu palmus unus: hæc quoque erat fossa altaris.

These measurements the altar had, measured by the true cubit, that is the width of a fore-arm and a palm; first came a gutter, of a cubit’s depth and a cubit’s width, ending in a lip a span broad all round; thus the altar was drained.

And these are the measures of the altar by the truest cubit, which is a cubit and a handbreadth: the bottom thereof was a cubit, and the breadth a cubit: and the border thereof unto its edge, and round about, one handbreadth: and this was the trench of the altar.

Et de sinu terræ usque ad crepidinem novissimam duo cubiti, et latitudo cubiti unius: et a crepidine minore usque ad crepidinem majorem quatuor cubiti, et latitudo cubiti unius.

Above this gutter, which was at ground level, came the lower base, two cubits high and a cubit across; the upper base rose four cubits above it, and was again a cubit wide.

And from the bottom of the ground to the lowest brim two cubits, and the breadth of one cubit: and from the lesser brim to the greater brim four cubits, and the breadth of one cubit.

Ipse autem ariel quatuor cubitorum, et ab ariel usque ad sursum cornua quatuor.

The altar proper was four cubits high, with four horns projecting above it,

And the Ariel itself was four cubits: and from the Ariel upward were four horns.

Et ariel duodecim cubitorum in longitudine per duodecim cubitos latitudinis, quadrangulatum æquis lateribus.

and the sides of it were square, twelve cubits by twelve.

And the Ariel was twelve cubits long, and twelve cubits broad, foursquare, with equal sides.

Et crepido quatuordecim cubitorum longitudinis per quatuordecim cubitos latitudinis in quatuor angulis ejus: et corona in circuitu ejus dimidii cubiti, et sinus ejus unius cubiti per circuitum: gradus autem ejus versi ad orientem.

The base was also square, fourteen cubits by fourteen, and had a projecting rim half a cubit across; the groove under this was a cubit in height. The steps of the altar faced eastwards …

And the brim was fourteen cubits long, and fourteen cubits broad in the four corners thereof: and the crown round about it was half a cubit, and the bottom of it one cubit round about: and its steps turned toward the east.

Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Hi sunt ritus altaris, in quacumque die fuerit fabricatum, ut offeratur super illud holocaustum, et effundatur sanguis.

Son of man, he told me, when the altar is set up, ready for burnt-sacrifice and for blood-sprinkling, these ceremonies the Lord God would have thee observe.

And he said to me: Son of man, thus saith the Lord God: These are the ceremonies of the altar, in what day soever it shall be made: that holocausts may be offered upon it, and blood poured out.

Et dabis sacerdotibus et Levitis qui sunt de semine Sadoc, qui accedunt ad me, ait Dominus Deus, ut offerant mihi vitulum de armento pro peccato.

A young bullock the priests must have, those priests of Sadoc’s line that are my true ministers, for a transgression-victim.

And thou shalt give to the priests, and the Levites, that are of the race of Sadoc, who approach to me, saith the Lord God, to offer to me a calf of the herd for sin.

Et assumens de sanguine ejus, pones super quatuor cornua ejus, et super quatuor angulos crepidinis, et super coronam in circuitu: et mundabis illud et expiabis.

Horns of the altar, and the four corners of its base, and the rim round about it, thou shalt smear with the victim’s blood, to cleanse them and purge them of fault,

And thou shalt take of his blood, and shalt put it upon the four horns thereof, and upon the four corners of the brim, and upon the crown round about: and thou shalt cleanse, and expiate it.

Et tolles vitulum qui oblatus fuerit pro peccato, et combures eum in separato loco domus, extra sanctuarium.

then take the victim itself to a place apart, beyond the temple precincts, and there burn it.

And thou shalt take the calf, that is offered for sin: and thou shalt burn him in a separate place of the house without the sanctuary.

Et in die secunda offeres hircum caprarum immaculatum pro peccato: et expiabunt altare sicut expiaverunt in vitulo.

Next day, the transgression-victim shall be a male kid, without blemish; with this, as with the calf, the altar must be purged;

And in the second day thou shalt offer a he goat without blemish for sin: and they shall expiate the altar, as they expiated it with the calf.

Cumque compleveris expians illud, offeres vitulum de armento immaculatum, et arietem de grege immaculatum.

and when the purging is over, bullock and ram must be offered, these too without blemish;

And when thou shalt have made an end of the expiation thereof, thou shalt offer a calf of the herd without blemish, and a ram of the flock without blemish.

Et offeres eos in conspectu Domini: et mittent sacerdotes super eos sal, et offerent eos holocaustum Domino.

when they have been brought into the Lord’s presence, and the priests have sprinkled them with salt, they must be given to the Lord in burnt-sacrifice.

And thou shalt offer them in the sight of the Lord: and the priests shall put salt upon them, and shall offer them a holocaust to the Lord.

Septem diebus facies hircum pro peccato quotidie: et vitulum de armento, et arietem de pecoribus immaculatos offerent.

Each day, for seven days, goat and bullock and ram must be offered, all unblemished;

Seven days shalt thou offer a he goat for sin daily: they shall offer also a calf of the herd, and a ram of the flock without blemish.

Septem diebus expiabunt altare et mundabunt illud, et implebunt manum ejus.

purged and cleansed and hallowed the altar must be for seven days,

Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and shall cleanse it: and they shall consecrate it.

Expletis autem diebus, in die octava et ultra, facient sacerdotes super altare holocausta vestra, et quæ pro pace offerunt: et placatus ero vobis, ait Dominus Deus.

and when these are over, on the eighth day and ever afterwards, the priests may use it for burnt-sacrifice and welcome-offering of yours, and I will look favourably on you, the Lord God says.

And the days being expired, on the eighth day and thenceforward, the priests shall offer your holocausts upon the altar, and the peace offerings: and I will be pacified towards you, saith the Lord God.