World English Bible · Babylon and the exile
Ezekiel 43
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Afterward he brought me to the , even the that looks toward the east. Behold, the of the of Israel came from of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth was illuminated with his . It was like the appearance of the which I saw, even according to the that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the were like the that I saw by the river ; and I fell on . came into the house by of the which faces toward the east. took me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, filled the house. I heard one speaking to me out of the house, and a man stood by me. He said to me, ", this is the place of my and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will among the . The will no more defile my name, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution and by bodies of their kings in their ; in their setting of their threshold by my threshold and their door post beside my door post. There was a wall between me and them; and they have defiled my name by their which they have committed. Therefore I have consumed them in my . Now let them their prostitution, and bodies of their kings far from me. Then I will among them . "You, , show the house to the , that they may be of their ; and let them measure the pattern. If they are of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, its fashion, its exits, its entrances, its structure, all its ordinances, all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them. "This is of the house. On the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most . Behold, this is of the house. "These are the measurements of the by (the is a and a hand width): the bottom shall be a , and the width a , and its border around its edge a ; and this shall be the base of the . 14From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two , and the width one ; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four , and the width a . The upper shall be four ; and from the hearth and upward there shall be four . The hearth shall be twelve long by twelve wide, square in its four sides. The ledge shall be fourteen long by fourteen wide in its four sides; and the border about it shall be half a ; and its bottom shall be a around; and its steps shall look toward the east." He said to me, ", says: 'These are the ordinances of the in the day when they make it, to offer burnt offerings on it, and to sprinkle on it. You shall give to the priests who are of the of , who are near to me, to minister to me,' , 'a young bull for a . You shall take of its and put it on its four , and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around. You shall cleanse it and make atonement for it that way. You shall also take the bull of the , and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside of . "On the second day you shall offer a male goat for a ; and they shall cleanse the , as they cleansed it with the bull. When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull and a ram out of the flock . You shall bring them near to , and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to . "Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a . They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram out of the flock, . Seven days shall they make atonement for the and purify it. So shall they it. When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the and your . Then I will accept you,' ."
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Babylon and the exile, 612 BC to 539 BC ›
Babylon replaces Assyria, Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in 586 BC, and the leadership of Judah lives in Mesopotamia without a king, a temple, or a country.
- Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city on a scale meant to be seen from a distance: the Ishtar Gate in glazed blue brick, the processional way, the ziggurat, and gardens later counted among the wonders of the world. Babylonian tablets record rations issued to the captive king Jehoiachin of Judah by name, which is one of the tidier points of contact between the Bible and the archives.
- Egypt
- Briefly resurgent. Pharaoh Neco marches north, kills King Josiah at Megiddo, and installs and deposes kings in Jerusalem, until Babylon beats him decisively at Carchemish in 605 BC. Jeremiah spends his career saying that betting on Egypt is suicide, and is proved right.
- Judah
- Deported in stages, then destroyed. The temple is burned, the walls broken, and the leadership marched to Mesopotamia. What happens next is one of the strangest survivals in history: a people keeps its identity without land, king, or sanctuary, and comes out of it with its scriptures more central than before.
- Further afield
- An extraordinary century for ideas everywhere at once. Thales and the first Greek philosophers, Solon's reforms at Athens, the Buddha in India, Confucius and Lao Tzu in China, and Zoroaster in Persia all fall within a few generations of the exile.
All of Ezekiel