Ezekiel 42
New King James Version
The Chambers for the Priests
42 Then he (A)brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the (B)north; and he brought me into (C)the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. 2 Facing the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. 3 Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the (D)pavement of the outer court, was (E)gallery against gallery in three stories. 4 In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. 5 Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. 6 For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was [a]shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. 7 And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. 8 The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one (F)hundred cubits. 9 At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.
10 Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. 11 (G)There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. 12 And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east.
13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord (H)shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy offerings—(I)the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering—for the place is holy. 14 (J)When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for the people.”
Outer Dimensions of the Temple
15 Now when he had finished measuring the inner [b]temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the (K)east, and measured it all around. 16 He measured the east side with the [c]measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. 17 He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. 18 He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 19 He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 20 He measured it on the four sides; (L)it had a wall all around, (M)five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the [d]common.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 42:6 Or narrowed
- Ezekiel 42:15 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 42:16 About 10.5 feet, Ezek. 40:5
- Ezekiel 42:20 Or profane
Ezekiel 42
The Message
42 1-9 The man led me north into the outside courtyard and brought me to the rooms that are in front of the open space and the house facing north. The length of the house on the north was one hundred seventy-five feet, and its width eighty-seven and a half feet. Across the thirty-five feet that separated the inside courtyard from the paved walkway at the edge of the outside courtyard, the rooms rose level by level for three stories. In front of the rooms on the inside was a hallway seventeen and a half feet wide and one hundred seventy-five feet long. Its entrances were from the north. The upper rooms themselves were narrower, their galleries being wider than on the first and second floors of the building. The rooms on the third floor had no pillars like the pillars in the outside courtyard and were smaller than the rooms on the first and second floors. There was an outside wall parallel to the rooms and the outside courtyard. It fronted the rooms for eighty-seven and a half feet. The row of rooms facing the outside courtyard was eighty-seven and a half feet long. The row on the side nearest the Sanctuary was one hundred seventy-five feet long. The first-floor rooms had their entrance from the east, coming in from the outside courtyard.
10-12 On the south side along the length of the courtyard’s outside wall and fronting on the Temple courtyard were rooms with a walkway in front of them. These were just like the rooms on the north—same exits and dimensions—with the main entrance from the east leading to the hallway and the doors to the rooms the same as those on the north side. The design on the south was a mirror image of that on the north.
13-14 Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms adjacent to the open area are holy rooms where the priests who come before God eat the holy offerings. There they place the holy offerings—grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These are set-apart rooms, holy space. After the priests have entered the Sanctuary, they must not return to the outside courtyard and mingle among the people until they change the sacred garments in which they minister and put on their regular clothes.”
15-16 After he had finished measuring what was inside the Temple area, he took me out the east gate and measured it from the outside. Using his measuring stick, he measured the east side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.
17 He measured the north side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.
18 He measured the south side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.
19 Last of all he went to the west side and measured it: eight hundred seventy-five feet.
20 He measured the wall on all four sides. Each wall was eight hundred seventy-five feet. The walls separated the holy from the ordinary.
Ezekiel 42
Easy-to-Read Version
The Priests’ Room
42 Then the man led me through the north gate out into the outer courtyard. He led me to a building with many rooms that was west of the restricted area and the building on the north side. 2 This building was 100 cubits[a] long and 50 cubits[b] wide. People entered it from the courtyard on the north side. 3 The building was three stories tall and had balconies. The 20-cubit[c] inner courtyard was between the building and the Temple. On the other side, the rooms faced the pavement of the outer courtyard. 4 There was a path 10 cubits[d] wide and 100 cubits long running along the south side of the building, even though the entrance was on the north side. 5-6 Since this building was three stories tall and did not have columns like those columns of the outer courtyards, the top rooms were farther back than the rooms on the middle and bottom floors. The top floor was narrower than the middle floor, which was narrower than the bottom floor because the balconies used this space. 7 There was a wall outside that was parallel to the rooms and ran along the outer courtyard. It ran in front of the rooms for 50 cubits. 8 The row of rooms that ran along the outer courtyard was 50 cubits long, although the total length of the building, as on the Temple side, was 100 cubits long. 9 The entrance was below these rooms at the east end of the building so that people could enter from the outer courtyard. 10 The entrance was at the start of the wall beside the courtyard.
There were rooms on the south side, by the restricted area and the other building. These rooms had a 11 path in front of them. They were like the rooms on the north side. They had the same length and width and the same kind of doors. 12 The entrance to the lower rooms was at the east end of the building so that people could enter from the open end of the path by the wall.
13 The man said to me, “The north rooms and south rooms across from the restricted area are holy. These rooms are for the priests who offer the sacrifices to the Lord. That is where the priests will put the most holy offerings and eat them. That is because that place is holy. The most holy offerings are the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. 14 The priests who enter the holy area must leave their serving clothes in that holy place before they go out into the outer courtyard, because these clothes are holy. If a priest wants to go to the part of the Temple where the other people are, he must go to those rooms and put on other clothes.”
The Outer Courtyard
15 The man had finished measuring inside the Temple area. Then he brought me out through the east gate and measured all around that area. 16 He measured the east side with the ruler. It was 500 cubits[e] long. 17 He measured the north side. It was 500 cubits long. 18 He measured the south side. It was 500 cubits long. 19 He went around to the west side and measured it. It was 500 cubits long. 20 He measured the four walls that went all the way around the Temple. The wall was 500 cubits long and 500 cubits wide. It separated the holy area from the area that is not holy.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 42:2 100 cubits 170' 5/8" (51.83 m).
- Ezekiel 42:2 50 cubits 85' 5/16" (25.92 m).
- Ezekiel 42:3 20-cubit 34' 1/8" (10.37 m).
- Ezekiel 42:4 10 cubits 17' 1/16" (5.18 m).
- Ezekiel 42:16 500 cubits 850' 3 1/16" (259.16 m).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International