Therefore, if you are offering your [sacrificial] gift on the Altar and [just then] you remember that your brother has a grievance against you,

[stop right there]; leave your gift at the Altar and [immediately] go to that brother and settle the matter first, before returning to offer your gift.

And [you say], whoever takes an oath 'by the Altar,' it does not [really] mean anything, but whoever takes an oath 'by the gift on the Altar,' he is obligated to [fulfill] the oath.

You blind people! Which is more important, the gift or the Altar that makes the gift sacred?

The person, therefore, who takes an oath 'by the Altar,' [not only] swears by it, but [also] by everything on it.

[This will be done] so that on you may fall the guilt for shedding on the ground the blood of all those innocent people, from the blood of righteous Abel to that of Barachiah's son Zachariah, whom you murdered between the Sanctuary and the Altar [i.e., in the Temple area].

to perform his customary duties as a priest before God, he drew the responsibility [that day] of entering the Temple of the Lord to burn the incense offering. [Note: This was done on a golden Altar in the Temple by a priest twice a day].

Just then an angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the incense altar.

Yes, I tell you, this generation will be punished [for the death of the prophets], from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who died between the Altar and the sanctuary [i.e., in the Temple area]. [Note: This punishment began about

For as I traveled along [your streets] and observed what you are worshiping, I saw an altar with the inscription: [DEDICATED] TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So, what you are worshiping ignorantly is what I am telling you about.

Do you not know that those who perform service in the Temple [are permitted to] eat food from the Temple? And those who serve at the Altar receive a share of what is sacrificed on the Altar?

Look at the physical nation of Israel; do not their people [i.e., the priests] who eat the [animal] sacrifices have fellowship [with God] in the Altar [service]?

For the Lord [See next verse], about whom these things are being said, belonged to another tribe, from which no one has [ever] been appointed to serve at the Altar.

It had a golden altar for [burning] incense [in it], and [originally] the gold-plated Chest of the Agreement, containing a golden jar of manna, Aaron's staff that sprouted buds and the tablets of the Agreement.

[Now] we [Christians] have an altar [i.e., the sacrifice of Christ] from which people who serve in the Tabernacle [i.e., the Jews] have no right to eat.

Was not our forefather Abraham made right with God by deeds [of obedience] when he offered his son Isaac [as a sacrifice] on the Altar?

And when the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for [believing and preaching] God's message, and for the testimony [about Jesus] which they had maintained.

Then another angel, who held a golden incense holder, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a quantity of incense to add to the prayers of all the saints [as an offering] on the golden Altar, which was in front of the throne.

Then the angel took the incense holder and filled it with hot coals from the Altar and threw it to the earth. [Immediately] there was [heard] rolling thunder, and lightning flashes [were seen] and an earthquake [was felt].

And the sixth angel sounded its trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns [i.e., corners] of the golden Altar, which is in front of God.

Then there was given to me a measuring stick that looked like a [tree] branch. I was told [Note: Neither the giver nor the speaker are identified], "Get up and measure the Temple of God, and the Altar and [count] those who worship there,

Then another angel [i.e., the sixth] came out of the Altar. He had authority over [its] fire and he called out in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle [i.e., the fifth angel] saying, "Use your sharp sickle to gather the clusters from the vines of the earth, for its grapes are ripe."

And I heard [a voice from] the Altar saying, "Yes, O Lord, God Almighty, your judgments are true and just."