When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish: After Ezekiel purifies the altar by sacrificing a young bull and a male goat (verses 19-22), he has to sacrifice another young bull (see verse 19) and a ram from the flock, that is, “a young ram” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). A ram is a male sheep. These animals also had to be without blemish (see verse 22). Although it is likely that the priests will actually sacrifice the animals, the singular Hebrew pronoun for you shows that Ezekiel is the one in charge. Translators may render this verse as follows:

• After you have finished making the altar fit for my worship, you shall take a young bull and a young male sheep that do not have any physical defects and offer them as a sacrifice.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .