EZEKIEL CHAPTER 42 - 48

EZEKIEL 42

1 He brought me to the outer court,
The way toward the north’s resort,
He brought me to the chamber that
Was opposite divided vat,
Opposite the northern house flat.
2 Facing the length of hundred store
Of arm lengths was the northern door,
And the width fifty arm lengths more.
3 Opposite the inner court of
Twenty, and opposite above
The pavement of the outer court,
There was a gallery in sort
Joined to galleries there in three.
4 In front of the chambers inside
Was a walk of ten arm lengths wide,
A path of one arm length and their
Doors faced toward the northern share.
5 The upper rooms were shorter, for
The galleries had higher store
Than these, than the lower and more
Than the temple’s middlemost floor.
6 For they were in three levels and
Did not have pillars there to stand
As the pillars in the courts’ hand.
That’s why they stuck out from band
Of lowest and middlemost floor.
7 The outside wall against the rooms
Toward the outer court in glooms
Of the front part of chambered rooms
Was fifty arm lengths long in store.

When Moses built the tabernacle tent
In the desert where all of Israel went,
He did all by the pattern that was sent
Down on him from the sky upon the mount.
The heavenly pattern was a gloried fount,
Despite the fact the colours that he used
Were those still to be found by those who cruised
The temple furnishings of Egypt’s rused.
The earth is just reflection of divine,
And even idol-worship and with wine
Has some remaining echo of the true,
The heavenly, the beautiful in view,
The good against the evil in its rate,
The free against apostasy and State.

8 The chambers toward the outer court
Were fifty arm lengths in report,
While the temple held hundred’s score.
9 From under these rooms was the way
To go in from the eastern ray,
As one enters outer court’s sway.
10 The rooms were in the wall thickness
Of the court toward eastern address,
Opposite the divided place,
Opposite the building in trace.
11 The path in front of them was like
That of the chambers toward the strike
Of the north, just as long as those,
And just as wide, and all that goes
From both were of a kind, and they
Were according to their doors’ sway.
12 It was the same for chamber doors
Toward the south, for all their chores
There was a door to start the path,
The way in front of aftermath
Toward the east in entrance stores.
13 Then he said to me “The north rooms
And the south rooms around which blooms
The place divided, they are rooms
Of holiness, where the priests that
Approach YHWH shall eat of the fat
Of holy things, there they shall lay
The most holy of things in sway,
The meal offering, and sin offering,
The trespass offering, all to bring
To the place every holy thing.
14 “When the priests go in there, then they
Shall not go out of holy way
Into the outer court, but there
They shall lay their clothing just where
They serve, for they are holy too,
And shall put on others in due,
And shall approach the people’s crew.”

Though I am not a priest except in hope
Of what John said against bishop and pope,
That every one believing has a rope
Of priesthood and a kingly sort of cope,
I enter in the heavenly chamber where
You lay for me a table and not bare.
I taste the succulence of manna there
And sip the nectars of the blossoms where
Celestial breezes tint the spreading scope.
Beloved, as I eat of the priestly share
Of meat and treat I take off what I wear
Of profane garments not to interlope,
And clad me in the linen white and fair
And join in the moving kaleidoscope.

15And when he’d finished measuring
The inner house, he brought my wing
Out toward the gate that faced the east
And measured it around increased.
16 He measured the east side with that
Reed of measure, five hundred flat
Reeds, with the measure reed in slat.
17 He measured the north side again,
Five hundred reeds, with reed of men
For measuring around the bat.
18 He measured the south side again,
Fine hundred reed for living men,
With the reed of measure from den.
19 He turned about to the west side,
Measured five hundred reeds to bide
With the reed of measure untied.
20 He measured it by the four sides,
It had a wall around that hides,
Five hundred long, five hundred wide,
To separate between and hide
The sanctuary from profane,
And keep the holy from the vain.

I am accustomed, my Beloved, to go
A-whirling round the temple lots as slow
As evening touches morning with the glow.
But here Ezekiel bends first to the east,
No problem with the starting in the least,
Nor with his stepping lightly on the ground
Toward the northern summits to be found.
But when he takes the south before the west,
I wonder at his dance-step at its best,
And stumble where I had already made
The western haunt my next in escapade.
The zigzag course the prophet comes to make
Is something new, I think, and yet I take
The wine and raisin with the rising cake.

EZEKIEL 43

1 And then he brought me to the gate,
The gate facing the eastern wait.
2 See how Israel’s Ælohim’s glory
Came from the way commendatory
Of the east, and His voice was like
The sound of many waters’ strike,
And all the earth shone with His glory.

The dance Ezekiel made across the floor
Of temple court to reach the western shore
Was zigzag, true enough, but now I find
That he is brought back without thought or mind
Into the eastern gate. And yet the path
Of the return is not described in math.
Did he return upon the zigzag trail,
Or did he take a course and not to fail
Around the southern rim, or yet indeed
Around the northern rim to meet his need.
Two more alternative enter to say
He might have gone straight through the temple way,
Or flown above it straight upon a ray
To find the better part of fading day.

3 It was just like the vision I
Saw when He came up to destroy
The city, like the vision I
Had seen by the river Chebar;
And I fell on my face a-mar.
4 The glory of YHWH came into
The temple by the way and view
Of the gate facing toward the east.
5 The spirit caught me up released
And brought me to the inner court;
And see YHWH’s glory in resort
To fill the temple and increased.
6 I hear Him speaking then to me
Out of the great sanctuary;
And the man stayed standing by me.

What did I say? The wind came up and took
The prophet from his solitary nook
And carried him aloft and set him down
Upon the inner court above the town.
Beloved, let me too fly upon the wind
Above the solitary bagged and binned,
And let me find the inner temple filled
After my day and night work at last thrilled
By all the glory of the heavenly place,
The shining of Shekinah on the face
Of gold and marbled walls within the trace
Of inner chamber marked by divine grace.
Beloved, let fly and lie beneath the cloud
Of pigeons rising from the burst allowed.

7 And He said to me, “Son of man,
The place of My throne and the span
Of the soles of my feet, where I
Will stay among the children nigh
Of Israel for ever, and
My holy name shall Israel’s band
No more defile, neither shall they,
Nor their kings, by their whoredom’s sway,
Nor by the kings’ corpses that lie
Upon their sanctuaries high.
8 “By setting their threshold by Mine,
And their post by My posts divine,
And the wall between Me and them,
They have defiled My holy name
By their abominations’ claim
That they’ve committed; therefore I
Consume them in My wrath hereby.
9 “Now let them put their whoredom off,
The carcases of kings to scoff,
Far from Me, and I’ll come to dwell
With them for ever and a spell.
10 “You son of man, let Israel see
The temple, for iniquity
Let them be shamed and let them take
The measure of the pattern’s wake.
11 “And if they are ashamed of all
That they have done in house and stall,
Show them the form of temple wall,
Its fashion and entrance and all,
And all the forms of it and all
The ordinances, every form,
All the laws, and write in sights worn,
That they may keep the whole of it,
All the ordinances and kit.
12 “This is the temple law to hear:
Upon the mountain top in gear
And all the region round about
Shall be most holy without doubt.
See this is the temple law near.

The inner temple’s made of words alone
And of neither the flesh and blood and bone
Of human being, no, nor yet of stone
And gold and cedar set before a throne.
The inner temple’s made of those words met
On Sinai’s throbbing pulse, and those words set
Within the golden ark and on the heart
In burning letters never to depart.
The high places and royal seed there spilled
Have no part in the righteousness fulfilled
In ordinance Ezekiel came to sound
After the Chebar river made its round.
Beloved, I lift my sight above the wall
That separates the divine from the small.

13 ”And these are altar measures here
In arm lengths; The cubit is just
A cubit and a hand span’s trust,
Even the bottom shall be made
An arm length, and the width’s parade
An arm length, and the border laid
By the edge of it round a span,
This is the higher altar’s plan.
14 “And from the bottom on the ground
Up to the lower settle’s sound
Be two arm lengths, for width be set
One arm length, from the lesser met
Settle to the greater one yet
Shall be four arm lengths and be wide
One arm length only to abide.
15 “The altar shall be four arm lengths,
And from the altar up full-strength
Shall be four horns and not to hide.
16 “The altar may be twelve in length,
Twelve wide, square in four squares of strength.
17 ”The settle shall be fourteen long
And fourteen broad in four squares’ song,
The border round it shall be half
An arm length, and the bottom gaff
An arm length all about; its stairs
Shall face the east in shining chairs.

If I should face the altar and its stairs,
I’d have my back to the east and the glares
Of those who face the east to pray aloud.
I’d be turned opposite the Christian crowd,
Conflicting with Rabbinicals in shroud.
I turn toward the altar’s sacrifice,
And let go of my own soul in a trice,
And see it flicker like a spark to go
Up before You, Beloved, and lose its glow
In darkness everlasting in a row.
Although my tiny spark of life and wit
Extinguish at the throne where You still sit,
My self has thus become its Self at last
While circumambulating crowds go past.

18 And He said to me, “Son of man,
‘So says the Lord YHWH, “These in plan
Are altar ordinances’ scan
For the day they shall make the drawn,
To offer their burnt offerings on,
To sprinkle blood there as they can.
19 “And you shall give the priests Levites,
Descendants of Zadok and wights
Who come before Me to serve Me,’
Says the Lord YHWH, ‘a young bull’s fee
For offering for iniquity.’
20 “And you shall take the blood and put
It on the four horns and the foot
In the four corners of the set,
Upon the border round and yet
You shall so cleanse and purge it met.
21 “You’ll also take the bullock for
The sin offering and burn in store
At the appointed temple place
Outside the sanctuary’s face.
22 “And on the second day you’ll make
An offering of a kid in stake
Of the goats without blemish for
A sin offering, and they’ll restore
The altar cleansed as they before
Did clean it with the bullock’s gore.
23 “When you have finished cleansing it
You’ll offer a young bullock fit,
And a ram from the flock as fit.
24 “You’ll offer them there before YHWH,
And the priest will throw on salt too,
And offer them up for a burnt
Offering to YHWH as you have learnt.
25 “Seven days you’ll prepare every day
A goat for the sin offering’s way,
They’ll prepare a young bullock too,
And a ram out of the flock due
Without blemish in any way.
26 “Seven days they’ll cleanse the altar and
Purify it, and keep command
To consecrate themselves in hand.
27 “At the end of these days let be
On the eighth day and so in fee
The priests shall make your offerings burnt
Upon the altar, your peace earnt;
And I’ll accept you,” says Lord YHWH.’”

My round of seven days is hardly spent
In offering up goats, if that’s what You meant.
The blood of goats may cleanse, I’ll not say no,
But I decry the heathen sort of show
That claims the blood of man may purify
The altar and the temple in the sky.
In Mecca once upon the stairs I saw
That human blood had dropped from foot or claw,
And the man there beside me pointed and
Said to beware contaminating sand.
I stepped over the blood and kept foot clean
To tread the smooth warm stone about the scene
Of Kaaba where the throngs pressed circling round
And others bowed prostrating to the ground.

EZEKIEL 44

1 He brought me back by the same gate
Of outward sanctuary’s state
That faces toward the east and it
Was shut behind me and remit.
2 Then YHWH said to me, “Let this gate
Be shut and not opened in state,
And no man shall go in by it,
Because YHWH, Israel’s Ælohim
Has entered by it on the scene,
So let it be shut definite.
3 “As for the prince, since he is chief,
He may sit in it for relief
To eat bread before YHWH, but he
Shall go in by the gate porch, see,
And go out by the same way brief.”

I’ve seen the eastern gate upon the wall
In Quds to represent Ezekiel’s fall,
And found it shut tight not with lock and key
But with cement laid thick on filigree.
That must prevent the prince today from going
Into the gateway for his bread and flowing
Wine just to turn back after satisfied
He has not trodden on the path and wide
Where Your glory once waited for the bride.
There’s such a story my grandmother told
About a bride of one with brothers bold
Who should not go out eastern gates when sold.

4 He brought me to the north gate’s way
In from of the temple’s place in sway,
And I looked and, see, YHWH’s glory
Filled YHWH’s temple, and fell to see
Upon my face, bowed down to stay.
5 And YHWH said to me, ”Son of man,
Mark well and see what your eyes scan,
And hear with your ears what you can
Of all I say to you about
The ordinances of YHWH’s sprout
Of temple, and all its laws too,
And mark well the entrance into
The house, with every going out
Of the sanctuary about.
6 “And you’ll say to rebellious ones,
To house of Israel in tons,
‘So says the Lord YHWH: “O you house
Of Israel, be enough in grouse
For you of all the things you’ve done
In your abominations’ run,
7 “In bringing strangers, those who are
Uncircumcised in heart to spar,
Uncircumcised in flesh, to be
Polluting My sanctuary,
My house, when you offer My bread,
The fat and blood that you have shed,
And they have broken covenant
With My because of all your rant.
8 ”And you’ve not kept My holy things
In charge, but you’ve set keepers’ wings
Of My charge in My temple for
Your own selves in both house and store.”
9 “So says the Lord YHWH: “No stranger,
Uncircumcised in heart nor fer
Uncircumcised in flesh shall come
Into My sanctuary’s hum,
Nor any foreigner among
The children of Israel unstrung.

I’ve seen Your glory on the Kaaba round,
I’ve seen the swallows high above the ground
To circle with the angels and their sound.
I’ve fallen on my face towards the place
Which is Your house today for every face
With full right to come there because the trace
Of circumcision marked my flesh with grace.
Beloved, condemn uncircumcised today,
And pluck them out from among those who pray,
Uncircumcised in heart, uncircumcised
In flesh, all wicked men who have despised
Your law, Your grace, the haven You have made
On earth and Paradise for undismayed.

10 ”The Levites gone astray from Me,
When Israel went astray to be,
Who went astray from Me to take
Themselves their idols, they in stake
Shall bear their own iniquity.
11 ”Yet they’ll serve in My temple there,
Have charge of the gates for their share,
And serve in the house, and beware
To slay the burnt offering as well
As sacrifice for the folk’s spell,
And they’ll stand before them to serve
Them always and no more to swerve.
12 ”Because they ministered to them
Before their idols in their hem
And made the house of Israel
Fall in iniquity a spell,
That’s why I’ve lifted up My hand
Against them,” says Lord YHWH’s command,
”And they shall bear their sin in band.
13 ”And they shall not come near to Me
To do the office and degree
Of a priest to Me, nor to come
Near to any holy things’ sum,
In the most holy, but they’ll bear
Their shame and wickedness in share
That they have once committed there.
14 ”But I will make them keepers of
The charge of the house as above,
For all the serve and for all
That shall be done in house and hall.
15 ”But the priests the Levites and sons
Of Zadok, that kept the charge runs
Of My temple when Israel’s folk
Went astray from Me at a stroke,
They shall come near to Me to serve
Me, and they shall stand and not swerve
Before Me to offer to Me
The fat and the blood,” says Lord YHWH.
16 ”They’ll come into My sanctuary,
And shall come near My table merry,
To minister to Me and keep
My charge and beware not to sleep.

Zadok appears to be among the few
Who did not apostatize with the crew
Of Israel one time who turned from You.
Beloved, there are so many days I know
In history where the great crowd would show
Their unbelief and disobedience.
And You let them return into their tents.
Majority is always wrong, I see,
And in the end that means one, and not three
Must come alone before You to present
The empty offering of self that You meant.
Beloved, let the priests come again
Or let them linger lying among men,
The last word is a silent, glowing glen.

17 “And it shall happen when they come
In at the gates of inner sum,
They shall be clothed with linen clothes,
And no wool on them when they rose
To serve in the gates of the court,
The inner court, inside resort.
18 “They’ll have their linen turbans too
Upon their heads, and linen cue
For breeches, and they shall not wear
Anything that cases sweat there.
19 “When they go in the outer court,
The outer court of the folk’s sort,
They’ll put off their clothes in which they
Were ministering and then lay
Them in the holy chambers’ way,
And put on other clothes to stay
And sanctify the folk that way.

Within the inner temple where I wait
Upon Your word and hear the din abate,
I wear the linen and the turban too.
But when I come out in the people’s view,
I clad me once again in woollen hue,
The dervish dress, a humble dog at gate.
Beloved, the glories of my present state
Are hidden in the towels of common dress,
The remnants from the flea-market in mess.
The glory that I find at plate and eye,
The undiminished flash and alibi,
Are camouflaged from common sight and weal.
I’m silent here beneath the hoof and heel.
And so I sanctify the people’s reel.

20 “Neither shall they shave off their head,
Nor let their hair grow long instead,
But they shall only cut their hair.

Beloved, I see the priests of long ago
Could not be Qalandars set in a row,
Since they had their hair cut and never long
Nor never shaven off by barber’s song.
The priesthood of believers is a joke
Among the bald and those who take the stroke
Of Nazarite vow. I am not unkind
To keep Qalandarship inside and blind,
So none know where my true repose is set
While I kneel on prie-dieu in a pew yet.
Beloved, I neither rise in welcome sound
Of ecstasy, not sink into the ground
Of law and false humility in bound.
Instead here face to face You and I met.

21 “Neither shall any priest take share
Of wine when they come in the court
The inner court, inside resort.

The lagered Bektashi who makes the tent
Of dervishhood a tavern with a rent
May take the wine of vine as well as sent
Wine of the ecstasy of angels lent.
I refused to enter that holy room
Of backgammon and dice without perfume,
But stayed beside the now forbidden tomb
Of Hajji Bektash without raki’s doom.
I sorrowed to turn down the invitation
So sweetly tendered by a beloved nation,
And as I turned away I met the face
Outside the door of dergah, yet in grace.
While others raised the glass and poured the sweet,
I entered straightway in the narrow street.

22 “Neither shall they take for their wives
A widow, nor divorced that thrives,
But they shall take maidens to wife
From house of Israel for life,
Or a widow of priest before.

The taking of a wife by any priest
Is not condemned by Scripture in the least,
As long as she was born in the right camp
And was not divorced by a priestly scamp.
Today the priest is celibate, I fear,
At least in the majority career,
And also in the Bektashi regime
The celibacy of some is a dream.
I do not raise an issue here for strife.
Let each man do his own thing with his wife.
I only point out that the word is true,
And oft ignored by those who pretend You
Give them monopoly to grace and fire,
While others wallow in lust and desire.

23 “And they shall teach My folk the score
Between holy and profane lore,
And make them know the difference
Between unclean and clean in tents.

The role of priests in ancient days gone by,
The days of prophets and Israel in sty,
Was to determine verdicts for the just
And for the unclean on the things they must.
The Rabbis came to sit in Moses’ seat,
And even Jesus Christ sat at their feet,
And ratified their verdicts for a song.
So following a Rabbi can’t be wrong.
The marja and the mullah write in dust
The verdicts from the holy Qur’an long,
And so the choice of following for trust
Is as diverse as any fife and gong.
Beloved, I lay a hand on word and deed,
And find what is pure and what not in seed.

24 “And when there shall be a conflict
They’ll stand in My judgements as picked,
And shall judge; they shall keep My laws,
And My ordinances in clause
In all My solemn things and they
Shall sanctify My Sabbaths’ day.

There are men everywhere who claim to speak
In Your behalf, Beloved, and others seek
To know which marja is the best of all
In order to come under word and thrall.
The one whose verdict takes Your word in claim,
Who keeps the ten commandments in Your name,
And does not leave the Sabbath to his blame,
But recognizes that it too was made
For all upon the earth, beast on parade
And humankind. A marja must be just:
The ten commandments tell us what we must
Consider just among the right and staid.
The secret is that such men can be found
Even upon the Persian sort of ground.

25 “And they shall not touch any dead
To defile themselves toe to head,
But for a father, mother bred,
Or son or daughter, brother’s stead,
Or for a sister not yet taken
As wife, for these they’re not mistaken.
26 “And after he is purified
They’ll count to him seven days to bide.
27 “And on the day that he returns
Into the sanctuary’s urns,
Into the inner court again
To serve in the temple for men,
He’ll offer his sin offering true,”
And so says the Lord who is YHWH.

The purifying after touching dead
Is a complete immersion and instead
Of merely washing hands and feet and brow.
I trace the law that You, Beloved, allow.
Beloved, with each breath that I breathe I die
And am again brought to life under sky.
So who’s defiled and who’s here to belie?
Must I be purified and shrouded where
I die my small deaths as I exhale air?
Beloved, that’s why I do not enter tent
After the clothed and purified who went
To bow in their prostration toward the goal.
My lack of right ablutions takes a toll.
Instead I mind Your name in secret spent.

28 “And it shall come to them in lot,
I am their inheritance plot;
And you shall give to them no more
Possession in Israel in store,
I am their possession before.
29 “They’ll eat the meat offering and sin
Offering, and trespass offering’s bin,
And every dedicated thing
In Israel shall be theirs to bring.
30 “And the first of first fruits of all,
And every oblation from call,
And every oblation in stall
Shall be the priest’s; and you shall give
To the priest the first of your dough,
And he will make the blessing live
And rest in your house and not slow.
31 “The priest shall not eat anything
That’s dead of itself, torn in sting,
Whether it be fowl on the wing,
Or beast, nor any of such thing.”

Though I am not a priest, my only lot
Of wealth upon the earth-forsaken plot
Is You, Beloved, and if in grace I share
A house or land from father, I beware
That there are takers for all things below.
There’s little chance that I shall stand the show
And get a penny for the row I hoe.
But if there is a thing beside the wealth
That You provide me secretly in stealth,
Then let me there find further glories that
Return me only to the place You’re at.
Beloved, I eat the lean and forfeit fat
Like any priest of ancient time and glow:
Remember me, Beloved, for what I know.

EZEKIEL 45

1 “And when you divide up the land
For an inheritance to stand,
You’ll offer an oblation to
YHWH, a holy portion and true
Of the land, the length of it be
Twenty-five thousand reeds to see,
And the width ten thousand in view.
This shall be holy everywhere
In all the borders that you share.
2 “Out of this let be for the rate
Of the sanctuary in state
Five hundred long, five hundred wide,
Square all around, and so beside
Fifty arm lengths round it to be
For the suburbs in their degree.
3 “And of this measure you shall take
The length of twenty-five in stake
Thousand, and the width of it ten
Thousand, and in it shall again
Be the temple, most holy den.
4 “The holy stake of land shall be
For priests serving sanctuary,
Who come near to serve before YHWH,
And it shall be for houses due,
A holy place for temple crew.
5 “The twenty-five thousand in length,
And the ten thousand wide for strength
Shall also be for Levites who
Serve in the house, for a lot due
Of twenty rooms in all for pew.
6 “And you’ll appoint the city lot
Five thousand wide, and twenty-five
Thousand long opposite the spot
Of the oblation’s holy hive;
It shall be for all Israel live.
7 “A portion shall be for the prince
On both sides of oblation’s rinse
Of holiness, and of the lot
Of the city, before they’ve got
The holy oblation in plot,
And before the possession wrought
For the city, from the west side
To westward, and from the east ride
To eastward, and the length shall be
Opposite the one lot to be,
From the west end to eastern lea.

The vision of the temple comes from You,
Beloved, who sit above the earth in view
Of heaven and its wonders and its place.
The vision is celestial in its grace.
And yet it’s set to east and west and made
Of earthly sorts of substances and grade.
The north and south impinge upon it too,
As though, Beloved, You could be boxed and true.
It’s only figment of image in rue,
The Grecian sort of thought that makes me think
That matter is an evil sort of brink,
And You are spirit only on the wink.
But if You’re spirit and not matter too,
Then You can even better fit the pew!

9 “So says the Lord YHWH: “Let it be
Enough for you, Israel’s chiefs free,
Keep far from violence and spoil,
And execute judgement and toil
In justice, take away your tax
From My folk,” the Lord YHWH exacts.
10 “You’ll have just balances and just
Measure of ephah and a just
Bath in measure of wine or dust.
11 “The ephah and the bath shall be
Of one measure, so the bath’s fee
May have the tenth part of degree
Of an homer, and ephah free
Have the tenth part of homer too;
The measure of it shall be due
To an homer taken in view.
12 “The shekel shall be twenty gerahs,
Twenty shekels like twenty sparrows
And twenty-five shekels and winnows
Of fifteen shekels be you minas.

The measure and the weight and coin are set
By the divine decree written and met.
And yet I find though measure and weight are
Even more precise now than on that far
Day and place where Ezekiel came to spar,
The coin is minted out of gospel rate.
It is not worth the time it takes to state.
The money’s turned to paper and a flick
Of pen to sign away both thin and thick.
The candle’s burned down to last of the wick,
And only imagined wealth comes to stick.
Beloved, the bankers and the legislators
Have robbed the people of their own last flaters.
We quietly remain as overraters.

13 “This is the oblation that you
Shall offer, the sixth part in view
Of an ephah of wheaten homer,
And you shall give the sixth part roamer
Of an ephah of barley homer.
14 “Concerning the statute of oil,
The bath of oil, the tenth in toil
Of a bath out of the cor’s spoil,
An homer of ten baths in coil,
For ten baths are an homer’s roil.
15 “And one lamb form the flock in count
Of two hundred, out of the mount
Of the fat pastures Israel’s got;
For a meat offering and a spot
Of a burnt offering and for peace
Offerings to make for them release,”
Says the Lord YHWH on the increase.

A bit of wheat, a bit of barley too,
A dab of oil, a lamb for fat in view,
And there is meat in Your house and Your pew.
Substantial is the worship You require,
So how can any doubt You in the fire?
The spirited and thoughtful come to say
That You cannot be boxed in any way,
And quote with wisdom of Solomon’s prayer
To show that You cannot dwell anywhere.
Beloved, now You lack Your reality,
Unboxed by temple earthly or heavenly,
I’m free to eat the spoil of priest and flock,
And worship any idol made of rock.
Your hand in judgement is an empty crock.

16 “All the folk of the land shall give
This oblation of Israel’s prince.
17 “And it shall be the prince’s sieve
To give burnt offerings and not wince
At meat offerings and drink oblations,
In the feasts, at first of month’s stations,
And on the Sabbaths, and in all
The solemn assemblies in stall
Of Israel: he shall prepare
The sin offering, meat offering there,
The burnt offering, peace offerings’ share
To make atonement for the fair
House of Israel with none to spare.
18 “So says the Lord YHWH: “In the first
Month, the month’s first day, you are versed
To take a young bullock without
Blemish and cleanse the temple out.
19 “And the priest shall take of the blood
Of the sin offering in a flood
And put it on the temple posts,
And on the four corners in hosts
Of the ledge of the altar, and
On the posts of the gate to stand
In the court from within the band.
20 “And so you’ll do the seventh day
Of the month for each one astray,
And for the simple, so you’ll make
Atonement for the temple’s sake.
21 “In the first month, the fourteenth day
Of the month you shall keep the sway
Of the Passover, it’s a feast
Of seven days, and one released
Of leavening to eat increased.
22 “And on that day shall the prince make
Himself ready for all the sake
Of the folk of the land to take
A bullock for sin offering’s wake.
23 “And seven days of the feast he
Shall prepare a burnt offering wee
To YHWH, of seven bullocks free
And seven rams without degree
Of blemish every day for seven,
And a kid of the goats like heaven
For a sin offering by decree.
24 “He’ll also make offering of food
Of an ephah for bullock rude,
An ephah for a ram and still
A hin of oil for ephah’s fill.
25 “In seventh month, the fifteenth day
Of the month, he shall do the way
Of the feast of seven days again,
According to sin offering then,
To burnt offering, to food offering,
And to the oil come in a spring.”

The yearly feasts are set prophetically,
And yet it is not sure what counting fee
The prophets of old times used when they set
The dates for the feasts come together met.
Assumption that the moon in spinning round
Reveals the day upon the earthly ground
Is simply that. The calendar could be
The one of Qumran and the Jubilee.
Beloved, reveal the date and I shall keep
The yearly feasts forever in my sleep,
But until then the Sabbath is enough,
Or Ramadhan and Zil-hajj in the rough,
And finally Ashura where I find
The sorrow of Hussein has made me blind.

EZEKIEL 46

1 “So says the Lord YHWH “The gateway
Of the inner court that bears sway
Toward the east shall be shut for
Six working days, but at the door
Of the Sabbath it shall be flung
Open, and on the first day sung
Of every month it shall be so.
2 “The prince shall enter as they go
By way of the gateway entrance
From the outside, in vigilance
Stand by the gatepost, while the priests
Shall make his burnt offering of beasts
And his peace offerings. He shall bow
Prostrating at the gate’s threshold,
Then he shall go out from the hold,
But the gate shall not be shut till
The evening. 3 “Likewise the folk still
Of all the land shall worship at
The entrance to this gateway flat
Before YHWH on the Sabbath days
And the months’ first day for always.
4 “And the burnt offering that the prince
Shall offer to YHWH to evince
The Sabbath day will be six lambs
Without blemish, one of the rams
Without blemish at which to wince.
5 “And the food offering, it shall be
An ephah for a ram to see,
And the food offering for the lambs
As he can do and without scams,
A hin of oil to ephah’s fee.

Beloved, though every day of faith is lost
In time and calculated by the bossed
For what it may and may not be and tossed,
I thank You that the Sabbath is still near,
Still ready and a refuge for the dear
From tribulation and oppression’s tear.
Beloved, though every day of doubt is bright
With tinsel and with starting a new fight,
I thank You that the offering pure and true
Of Sabbath without blemish come from You
Remains for me to eat the double fare,
The blessed from Fridays store, both clean and bare.
Beloved, though every human day is gone,
At least the donkey’s not imposed upon.

6 “On the month’s first day it shall be
A young bullock without degree
Of blemish, and six lambs in fee,
And a ram, without snickersnee.
7 “He’ll make food offering, it shall be
An ephah for bullock in fee,
An ephah for a ram to see,
And the food offering for the lambs
As he can do and without scams,
A hin of oil to ephah’s fee.
8 “And when the prince comes in, he’ll go
In by the way of the porch show
Of that gate, and he’ll go out by
The same way he came by and by.

The prince is none I know, unless it’s true
That Master of the age, old and not new,
Is prince today upon the month’s first cue.
The prince is none to show, and more than that,
The first day of the month is in the vat
Uncountable by moon or sun unless
The equinox in spring gives hint to guess
When Jubilees are worn like brooch on dress.
The prince upon the first day hidden well
Comes in with offerings succulent and swell,
Rhyme burns the rope, the rope slides in the rut,
And all the sweetmeats rest light on the gut,
And with his coming, though no man may see,
Time turns to hope, hope to eternity.

9 “But when the people of the land
Shall come before their YHWH to stand
In solemn feasts, the one that goes
In by the northern gate in rows
To worship shall go out again
By the way of the south gate’s den,
And the one that goes by the way
Of the south gate come in to pray
Shall go out by the northern gate,
He shall not return in estate
By the way of the gate that he
Came in by, but the other lea.
10 “And the prince in the midst of them,
When they go in, he shall take hem
To go in, and when they go out,
He’ll go out also without doubt.
11 “And in the feasts and celebrations
The food offering shall be in rations
Of ephah to a bullock and
An ephah to a ram to stand,
And to the lambs as he can give,
A hin of oil to ephah’s sieve.
12 “When the prince make a sacrifice
That’s burnt and voluntary price
Or peace offerings to YHWH, then one
Shall open for him the gate done
Toward the east, and he shall bring
His burnt offering and peace offering,
As he did on the Sabbath day,
Then he shall go out, then shall stay
One to shut up the gate that way.
13 “And every day they shall prepare
A burnt offering to YHWH of fair
Lamb of the first year without taint,
Each morning they’ll prepare the saint.
14 “And you shall make fool offering too
For it each morning as the due
Sixth part of an ephah, a third
Part of a hin of oil unstirred,
To temper with the fine four blurred,
A food offering always constant
A statute of YHWH’s covenant.
15 “So they shall make ready the lamb,
And the food offering without scam,
And oil each morning to remain
A constant burnt offering in grain.”

To use the north and southern doors now seems
To my sensitivities made of dreams
Of Iroquoian stories from my youth,
A case of witch-craft borrowing from truth.
The doors to use for life and live are those
That welcome the morn and then at day’s close
Send sunset in the wake for coming night.
The cross-purposes leave no door aright.
Beloved, You cut the witch-craft and the brew
At root and send the people in their crew
Across the lines of earth to wait for You.
I take the bow, I take the bowl and pit
And shake the narrow passage of a slit
For geese to fly south from their northern fit.

16 “So says the Lord YHWH: “If the prince
Gives a gift to any of his
Sons, the inheritance of it
Shall be his sons’, it shall be fit
As their lot by inheritance.
17 “But if he gives a gift of his
Lot to one of his servants whiz,
It shall be his until the year
Of the release, and then appear
Returning to the prince, but his
Inheritance shall go in lot
To his own sons found on the spot.
18 “Moreover the prince shall not take
Of the folk’s inheritance stake
By his oppression, to put them
Out of their land, but he’ll take gem
Of his own wealth to give his sons
Inheritance, though it be tons,
So My folk will not be spread out
Everyone from his lot in rout.”’”

Beloved, when I was in Mashad the first
Time and the last, if I should tell the worst,
They told me I could make a wish come true,
If I asked from the Imam what to do.
But I remembered that the gift should be
Mine only till the coming Jubilee,
And so I asked no field nor other wealth,
Nor even what I needed, which was health,
But bared my heart in secret of desire
To beg a boon of spirit and of fire
For me and mine in Your eternity,
For me and mine in Paradise to see
The gift of the Imam. Not in this place
Where temporary hopes run in the race.

19 After he brought me through the door
Which was at the side of gate’s score,
Into the holy rooms of priests,
Which faced toward the north for feasts,
And see, there was a place on two
Sides westward if you turn to view.
20 Then he said to me, “Right here’s where
The priests shall boil the offering’s fare
Of trespass and of sin to share,
Where they shall bake the food offering,
So they don’t take them out or bring
Into the outer court to sing
A blessing on the people’s wing.”
21 He brought me to the outer court,
And made me pass four corners’ sort
And see, in every corner there
There was a court set fair and square.
22 In the four corners of the court
There were courts joined in such a sort
As forty arm lengths long and wide
To thirty, and these corners bide
As four in one measure beside.
23 A row around them, all the four,
Was made in place to boil the gore
In rows around about the floor.
24 Then he said to me, “This is where
They’ll boil and were the servants share
Of the house shall boil sacrifice
Of the people and make it nice.”

I’ve seen the kitchen of Hajji Bektash,
I’ve seen the caldron and the ladle’s stash
Incised with Solomon’s seal for the rate
Of incantations from medieval state.
I’ve seen the place where meat was boiled and brought
Out steaming for the ones who came and sought
A blessing from the spirit of Imam,
The guidance of the Master of the calm,
The courage of the Abdals where they wait
To whirl across the wooden floor not late
Beneath the stairs to Paradise and all,
The door where Ali hides from beck and call.
Beloved, I’ve seen the kitchen standing there
In readiness, and no one come to share.

EZEKIEL 47

1 Then he brought me back to the door
Of the temple, and there before
Was water, flowing from beneath
The threshold of the temple east,
For the front of the temple faced
East, the water from where it’s placed
Was flowing from under the right
Side of the temple, from the site
South of the altar. 2 He brought me
Out by way of the north gate, see,
And led me round on the outside
To the outer gateway that cried
Toward the east, and there the stream
Of water ran out the right seam.
3 And when the man went out towards east
With the line in his hand increased,
He measured one thousand arm lengths
And brought me through the waters’ strengths,
The water to my ankles rose.
4 Again he measured where it flows
One thousand and brought me again
Through the waters to my knees then.
Once more he measured one thousand
Where waters rose to my waistband.
5 Again he measured one thousand,
A river that I could not cross,
For the water was at a loss
Too deep, water where one must swim,
A river not be crossed at whim.

The temple of Ezekiel seems to be
That very one that John saw in his spree
Of Patmos, the one from which living streams
Flowed out and measured far beyond the beams
Of palaces to touch eternity.
I grope to ford the heavy, crystal flood
Of Paradise to lip it in the bud
And find the water is too deep for me.
Beloved, I measure with both foot and knee,
I trample where You lead by light of mud
To crest the falling waters where I find
The river swells beyond body and mind.
The eastward facing temple looks down on
My floundering and smiles to see my dawn.

6 He said to me, “Son of man, do
You see this?” Then he brought me to
The bank of the river returned.
7 When I returned, there, so I learned
Along the river bank many
Trees on both sides abundantly
Grew there. 8 And then he said to me,
“This water flows into the sea
Through the east region, down the vale
And at sea fresh waters prevail.
9 “And every living thing that goes
Will live wherein that river shows.
There will be very many fish
As these waters go where they wish,
For they shall be fresh everywhere
They go with living creatures there.
10 “It shall be that fishermen stand
By it from En Gedi to land
Of En Eglaim, places to spread
Their nets with fish like those that bred
In the Great Sea, exceeding many.
11 “Its swamps and marshes have not any
But they will be salty and fenny.
12 “Along both banks of the stream grow
All kinds of trees that people know
For food, their leaves will not wither,
Their fruit will not fail to occur.
And every month they’ll bear their fruit
Because their waters flow in suit
From the holy place, and their fruit
Will be for food, and their leaves for
Healing medicine what is more.”

The temple made of Paradise that came
In view of Ezekiel and John by name
Was far away in vision seen alone
Before the starry heights of divine throne.
But on a day beyond the tread of stair,
Beyond the flight of sacrifice and prayer,
That temple shall descend upon the air
That graces Quds, and then shall be made bare.
The tree of life that gives each month its fruit
Will gush with leaves made green by cinder soot
Of evil once destroyed and under foot.
I take the healing plantain with the root
And plaster heart and spirit everywhere,
And hide my eyes from nothing of the glare.

13 So says the Lord YHWH: “This shall be
The border, by which you in fee
Shall hold the land according to
The twelve tribes of Israel in crew;
Joseph shall have two portions too.
14 “And you’ll inherit it, the one
As well as every other done,
As I’ve lifted My hand to give
It to your ancestors to live,
And this land shall fall to you for
Inheritance forevermore.
15 “This is the border of the land
Toward the north side of the band
From the great sea, the way to stand
Toward Hethlon, the road to Zedad;
16 ”Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim,
Which is between the border rim
Of Damascus, frontier not sad
Of Hamath; Hazarhatticon,
Which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 ”The border from the sea shall be
Hazarenan, the border free
Of Damascus, and the north yet,
And border of Hamath as set.
And this is the north side to get.
18 ”And the east side you’ll measure out
From Hauran, from Damascus’ scout,
From Gilead and from the land
Of Israel by Jordan to stand,
From the border to the east sea.
And this is the east side to be.
19 ”And the south side to southward run
From Tamar to the waters done
In strife in Kadesh, to the stream
Of the great sea. And let this deem
To be the south side by the sun.
20 ”And the west side also shall be
The great sea from the border free,
Until you come opposite where
Hamath is standing. That’s the share
Of the west side come to compare.
21 ”So you’ll divide the land to you
According to Israel’s tribes’ crew.
22 ”It shall happen when you divide
It by lot for place to reside,
And to the strangers among you,
Which shall have children among you,
And they shall be to you as born
In the land of Israel and sworn,
They’ll have inheritance with you
Among the tribes of Israel’s crew.
23 ”And it shall happen, in what tribe
The stranger dwells, there without bribe
You’ll give him his inheritance,”
Says the Lord YHWH of circumstance.

Ah my Beloved, in Paradise at last
I find that even stranger’s not outcast
From the inheritance of land and room.
Beloved, I rush in quest of my own doom.
The twelve tribes have their place eternally,
But those who wander earth among the free
Have not a place to lay the head and no
Hall to call home beneath the hale and slow.
Beloved, let me come to my Paradise
With empty hand and without sacrifice
To find the stranger at last also lies
In health and wealth before the home-born’s eyes.
I’ll keep You to Your word, Beloved, and raise
A clamour on the judgement for my stays.

EZEKIEL 48

1 “Now these are the names of the tribes:
From the northern border ascribes
Along the road to Hethlon at
The entrance of Hamath down pat,
To Hazar Enan, to frontier
Of Damascus northward, to veer
In the direction of Hamath,
One for Dan from its eastern path
To its west side, 2 “by the frontier
Of Dan, from the east side to steer
To the west, one for Asher too,
3 “By the border of Asher due,
From the east side to the west, one
For Naphtali, 4 “By border won
Of Naphtali, from the east side
To the west, one for Manasseh,
5 “By the frontier of Manasseh,
From the east side to the west ride,
One Ephraim, 6 “by the wide
Frontier of Ephraim, from east
To west, one for Reuben to rest,
7 “By the frontier of Reuben, from
The east side to the west to come,
One for Judah, 8 “by the frontier
Of Judah, from the east to veer
Toward the west, shall be the place
You shall set apart, twenty-five lace
A thousand arm lengths wide, in length
The same as every one in strength,
From the east side up to the west,
With sanctuary to invest
In the middle of all the best.

Beloved, beside the city of my heart,
The town enlaced with palaces apart,
The place of minarets and domes that glow
Beneath the shining ways where angels go,
I set apart a ground of stone and flint,
And firm foundation where the quartzites glint
And pegmatite lies scintillating where
The mica flecks beneath the starts to where
Upon its breast a temple. Here I dare.
I set apart the chambered palaces
Of inner temple where Your spirit is
As sanctuary for Your priest and his.
Beloved, the spot is sacred to Your fame,
For there I cantillate alone Your name.

9 “The district that you’ll set apart
For YHWH shall be twenty-five start
Of thousands in arm lengths of length
And ten thousand in width and strength.
10 “To these, to thus priests, shall belong
The holy area in throng,
On the north twenty-five thousand strong,
On the west ten thousand spread wide,
On the east ten thousand abide,
And on the south twenty-five more
Thousand in length before the door.
The sanctuary of YHWH’ll be
In the middle of that country.
11 “For the priest sanctified of those
Descended from Zadok who chose
To keep My charge and did not go
Astray when Israel’s folk below
Apostatized as the Levites.
12 “The oblation of the land’s rights
Is offered them in sacred lights
By the border of the Levites.
13 “Against the border of the priests
The Levites shall have for their feasts
Twenty-five thousand there in length,
And ten thousand in width and strength,
All the length twenty-five thousand,
And the width counted ten thousand.
14 “They shall not sell it nor exchange,
Nor send out the first fruits to range,
For it is holy unto YHWH.

Let me exchange no birthright won from You,
Beloved, no not for rents and bonds in due,
Nor for the jewelled plates I’ve seen in view
Where even those who worship You resign
To eat upon the tempered and the fine.
Let me exchange no lands where forests sing
Your holy name upon the harboured spring,
Nor any streams that rush from melting snow
To find the rest You promise here below.
When nothing is exchanged, and nothing lost
Among the favour that You have embossed
Upon my heart, then I shall know the way
From heritage to temple where Your sway
Is held by Guided one from day to day.

15 “And the five thousand that are left
In the width of land unbereft
Over the twenty-five thousand,
Shall be a profane place to stand
For the city, for dwelling and
For suburbs: and the city shall
Be in the middle principal.
16 “And these shall be its measures then,
The north side four thousand again
And five hundred, and the south side
Four thousand and five hundred ride,
And on the east side four thousand
And five hundred, and the west hand
Four thousand and five hundred land.
17 “The suburbs of the city there
Toward the north shall be in share
Two hundred fifty, and to go
Toward the south two hundred show
And fifty, and toward the east
Two hundred fifty, and increased
Toward the west two hundred more
And fifty to finish the score.
18 “The rest in length opposite place
Of holy oblation in trace
Shall be ten thousand eastward, and
Ten thousand westward, on the hand
Of holy oblation to stand
And the increase of it shall be
For food to those in the city
Who serve faithfully in the land.
19 “Those who serve the city shall serve
Out of all Israel’s tribes with verve.
20 “All the oblation shall be set
At twenty-five thousand and met
My twenty-five thousand; and you
Shall offer holy offering too
Foursquare with the city lot’s view.
21 “The rest shall be there for the prince,
On the one side and other since
It is the holy region set
With possession of city met,
Opposite twenty-five thousand
Of the concession toward the hand
Of the east border, and west band
Opposite twenty-five thousand
Toward the west side up unto
The portions for the prince in view:
And it shall be an offering true,
And the sanctuary house too
In the middle of it to stand.

The portion of the prince is now in cloud
Of vision two millennia allowed
To foil and hide. That prince has no address
On earth, no place to call his own, no less
Than vagrant is my prince, the one I bless.
His house is by the temple and the fire
That lies above the stars of my desire.
The wise pretend it is but allegory,
The truth of time perhaps, but just a story
In terms of fast reality. It stands
A truth of spirit, not a plant on lands.
Beloved, those who would not box You in truth
Find that You disappear before their youth
Is out of its own hope and swaddling bands.

22 “For the possession of Levites,
From the lots of the city’s rights,
In the midst of the prince’s share,
Between the border of the ware
Of Judah and of Benjamin,
Shall be for the prince without sin.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes, from
The east side to the west to hum,
Benjamin has a piece to come.
24 “By the frontier of Benjamin,
From the east side to the west bin,
Simeon shall have lot within.
25 “By the border of Simeon,
From the east side to the west won,
Issachar has a portion done.
26 “By the border of Issachar,
From the east side to western bar,
One portion for Zebulun’s star.
27 “By the border of Zebulun,
From the east side to western run,
Gad has a lot under the son.
28 “By the frontier of Gad to go
Toward the southern side in show,
The border shall be from Tamar
To waters of strife in the far
Kadesh, and to the river toward
The great sea out of desert scored.
29 ”This is the land that you’ll divide
By lot to every Israel’s tribe
For their in heritance, and these
Are their portions,” says the Lord YHWH.
30 ”And these are goings from the leas
Of the city on the north view,
Four thousand and five hundred true.

The place is guarded by twelve tribes around
With names tried in the furnace sevenfold
As steps to heaven: Reuben first, behold
A son, then Simeon, for You heard the sound,
For Judah, praise, then Issachar’s reward,
And Zebulon for dwelling, Ephraim
From ashes to the crown, forget not him,
Manasseh, right hand son, loved of the Lord
And Gad, good fortune, coriander seed,
And Naphtali, my struggle in my need.
Fight to the last, is there no final rest?
There is no rest but in the seventh son,
The middle of the law, forgotten one.

31 ”And the gates of the town shall be
After the names of tribes in fee
Of Israel; three gates on lea
Of the north, one gate there to be
Of Reuben, one gate of Judah,
One gate of Levi. 32 ”At the draw
Of the east side four thousand and
Five hundred, and three gates that spanned
The gate of Joseph, Benjamin,
And one gate for Dan from within.
33 At the south side four thousand and
Five hundred measures, three gates stand;
One gat of Simeon, and one
Gate of Issachar, and when done
Again one gate of Zebulun.
34 ”At the west side four thousand and
Five hundred with their three gates planned;
One gate of Gad, and Asher’s gate,
One gate of Naphtali in state.
35 ”Circumference of eighteen thousand,
The name of the city to stand
From that day shall be YHWH’s at hand.”

Jehovah-Shamma is a name to spell.
Jerusalem has gone down in the well.
Is this the city where David at last
Shall reign forever with flag on the mast?
Jehovah-Shamma is a name indeed
To place upon the hopes of every seed.
YHWH’s here at hand, and nearer says the word
Of the Qur’an, than the heart vein when stirred.
Beloved, whatever name the place may be,
I find that You’re at hand, though none can see,
And where You are is ever home to me.
Beloved, whatever spell You use to trace
The lines of gratitude in every place,
All thanks is Yours alone for every grace.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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