The appointed one said to them: “Come and cast lots! Who slaughters [the tamid offering]? Who throws [its blood]? Who clears the ash from the Inner Altar? Who clears the ash from the Menorah? Who brings the limbs [of the tamid] up onto the ramp [of the Altar]?” The head and the [right] hind leg; the two forelegs; [the fat of] the tail and the [left] hind leg; [the fat of] the chest and the neck; the two flanks; the intestines; and the fine flour; and the chavitim; and the wine. They cast lots; the one who won, won.

The appointed one said to them: “Go out and see if the time for slaughtering has arrived.” If [the time] had arrived, the observer says: “Dawn!” Masya ben Shmuel says: The entire eastern sky has lit up. “As far as Hebron?” And [the observer] says, “Yes!”

The appointed one] said to them: “Go out and bring a lamb from the Chamber of Lambs.” Now, the Chamber of Lambs was in the northwest corner [of the Hall of the Fire], and four chambers were [located] there: One [was] the Chamber of Lambs, and one [was] the Chamber of Receipts, and one [was] the Chamber of the Hall of the Fire, and one [was] a chamber in which they made the Show Bread.

They entered the Chamber of Vessels and took out from there ninety-three silver and gold vessels. They gave the tamid [lamb] to drink with a cup of gold. Even though [the animal] had been examined before evening, they examine it by the light of the torches.

The one who won the privilege of the tamid pulls it and goes to the slaughtering area, and [those] who won the privilege of [carrying] the limbs fol-low him. The slaughtering area was [located] to the north of [the] Altar, and on it were eight dwarf pillars, and a square of cedar [was] on top of them, and iron hooks were set into [the cedar blocks], and there were three sets [of hooks] for each and every one, from which they would hang [the animals] and skin [them], upon marble tables that [stood] between the pillars.

The ones who won the privilege to clear the ashes from the Inner Altar and from the Menorah would precede, and four vessels were in their hands: the basket, the jug, and two keys. The basket is similar to a large tarkav [vessel] [made] of gold; [it] holds two kavs and a half. And the jug is similar to a large pitcher made of gold. And [regarding] the two keys, [there is] one [that he] thrusts to the armpit and one [with which he] opens quickly.

He came to the northern minor doorway. The Great Gate had two minor doorways: one on the north and one on the south. The one to the south, no man ever entered through it, and [the reason for] this is explained by [the prophet] Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:2): “Hashem said to me, `This gate shall be closed; it shall not be opened; a man shall not come through it, because Hashem, the God of Israel, comes through it; it shall be closed.’ ” [He] took the key and opened the minor doorway [and] entered the cell, and from the cell to the Heichal, until [he] reached the Great Gate. [When] he reached the Great Gate, he removed the bolt and the locks, and opened it. The slaughterer would not slaughter, until he heard the sound of the Great Gate being opened.

From Jericho they would hear the sound of the Great Gate being opened. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the “shovel.” From Jericho they would hear the sound of the wood that Ben Katin fashioned [into] a wheel for the Laver. From Jericho they would hear the sound of Gevini the Crier. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the flute. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the cymbals. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the [Leviim’s] song. From Jericho they would hear the sound of the shofar. And some say: Also the sound of the Kohen Gadol when he mentions the Name [of God] on Yom Kippur. From Jericho they would smell the fragrance of the compounded incense. R’ Eliezer ben Diglai said: There were goats in my father’s household on the mountain of Michvar, and they would sneeze because of the fragrance of the compounded incense.

[The Kohen] who won the privilege of clearing the ashes of the Inner Altar entered and took the basket, and he placed it in front of himself, and he would scoop up [the ashes] and place [them] into [the basket]. And at the end he swept the rest inside it, and he left [the basket] and went out. [The Kohen] who won the privilege of clearing the ashes from the Menorah entered [the Heichal] and [if] he found the two eastern lamps burning, he would clear the ashes from the rest [of the lamps] and [would] leave those [two] burning in their place. [If] he found that [the two eastern lamps] were extinguished, he would clear their ashes and relight them from those that were still burning, and afterward he would clear the ash from the rest. And there was a stone in front of the Menorah, in which were three steps, upon which the Kohen would stand and prepare the lamps, and he would place the jug on the second step, and exit.