And when they have completed these days means after the seven days of purifying the altar. This clause may be rendered “When these days are over” (New King James Version , Complete Jewish Bible; similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “At the end of that time” (Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible). Then from the eighth day onward means from the time after the seven days. These two time expressions at the beginning of the verse have almost the same meaning, so some translations omit one of them; for example, Good News Translation says “When the week is over,” New Living Translation has “On the eighth day, and on each day afterward,” and Contemporary English Version translates simply “From then on.” Omitting one of these time expressions is acceptable provided the meaning is clear that the regular sacrifices will start on the day after the seven days of purification are finished.

The priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings means the priests will begin to offer the regular daily sacrifices. For burnt offerings, see 40.38. Peace offerings were made to establish or maintain good relations with God (see Lev 3.1-17; 7.11-38). In peace offerings the fat and certain parts of the sacrifice were completely burned on the altar, but most of the meat was eaten by those who made the offering. They ate it as a shared meal. Peace offerings are also called “fellowship offerings” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version), “offerings of well-being” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “shared-offerings” (Revised English Bible), and “communion sacrifices/offerings” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible). In some languages it may be desirable to use a descriptive phrase to render peace offerings, for example, “sacrifices that make everything right with God and other people” or “sacrifices in which people eat the meat as a sacred meal.” The Hebrew pronoun for your is plural, referring to Ezekiel and his fellow Israelites. To make this clear, Good News Translation renders your burnt offerings and your peace offerings as “the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings of the people.”

And I will accept you gives the result of the regular sacrifices being offered properly, so the connector and may be rendered “Then” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version). I will accept you means God will “be pleased with” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) and “look kindly on” (Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible) all the people. The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural, so it refers to all the people of Israel. Good News Translation is clear with “all of you.”

For the emphatic formula says the Lord GOD, see verse 19.

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 .