41 Then the man brought me to the main hall^(A) and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits^[a] on each side.^{[b] 2} The entrance was ten cubits^[c] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits^[d] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.^[e](B)

³ Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits^[f] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits^[g] wide. ⁴ And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.^(C) He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.^(D)”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits^[h] wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty^(E) on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.^{(F) 7} The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway^(G) went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

⁸ I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. ⁹ The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple ¹⁰ and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. ¹¹ There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

¹² The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits^[i] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.^[j]

¹³ Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits^[k] long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. ¹⁴ The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.^(H)

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries^(I) on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, ¹⁶ as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows^(J) and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.^{(K) 17} In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary ¹⁸ were carved^(L) cherubim^(M) and palm trees.^(N) Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:^{(O) 19} the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple.^{(P) 20} From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

²¹ The main hall^(Q) had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. ²² There was a wooden altar^(R) three cubits^[l] high and two cubits square^[m]; its corners, its base^[n] and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table^(S) that is before the Lord.” ²³ Both the main hall^(T) and the Most Holy Place had double doors.^{(U) 24} Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves^(V) for each door. ²⁵ And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. ²⁶ On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.^(W)

The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms^(X) opposite the temple courtyard^(Y) and opposite the outer wall on the north side.^{(Z) 2} The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.^{[o] 3} Both in the section twenty cubits^[p] from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery^(AA) faced gallery at the three levels.^{(AB) 4} In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits^[q] long.^[r] Their doors were on the north.^{(AC) 5} Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. ⁶ The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. ⁷ There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. ⁸ While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. ⁹ The lower rooms had an entrance^(AD) on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ On the south side^[s] along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard^(AE) and opposite the outer wall, were rooms^{(AF) 11} with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north ¹² were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north^(AG) and south rooms^(AH) facing the temple courtyard^(AI) are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings,^(AJ) the sin offerings^[t](AK) and the guilt offerings^(AL)—for the place is holy.^{(AM) 14} Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments^(AN) in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.^(AO)”

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate^(AP) and measured the area all around: ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.^{[u][v] 17} He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits^[w] by the measuring rod. ¹⁸ He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ²⁰ So he measured^(AQ) the area^(AR) on all four sides. It had a wall around it,^(AS) five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide,^(AT) to separate the holy from the common.^(AU)

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow^(A) of the good things^(B) that are coming—not the realities themselves.^(C) For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect^(D) those who draw near to worship.^{(E) 2} Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.^{(F) 3} But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.^{(G) 4} It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats^(H) to take away sins.^(I)

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world,^(J) he said:

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”^(N)—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.”^(O) He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy^(P) through the sacrifice of the body^(Q) of Jesus Christ once for all.^(R)

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices,^(S) which can never take away sins.^{(T) 12} But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins,^(U) he sat down at the right hand of God,^{(V) 13} and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.^{(W) 14} For by one sacrifice he has made perfect^(X) forever those who are being made holy.^(Y)

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies^(Z) to us about this. First he says:

¹⁷ Then he adds:

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence^(AC) to enter the Most Holy Place^(AD) by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way^(AE) opened for us through the curtain,^(AF) that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest^(AG) over the house of God,^{(AH) 22} let us draw near to God^(AI) with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,^(AJ) having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience^(AK) and having our bodies washed with pure water.^{(AL) 23} Let us hold unswervingly to the hope^(AM) we profess,^(AN) for he who promised is faithful.^{(AO) 24} And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,^{(AP) 25} not giving up meeting together,^(AQ) as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another^(AR)—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.^(AS)

²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning^(AT) after we have received the knowledge of the truth,^(AU) no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire^(AV) that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^{(AW) 29} How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God^(AX) underfoot,^(AY) who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant^(AZ) that sanctified them,^(BA) and who has insulted the Spirit^(BB) of grace?^{(BC) 30} For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d](BD) and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^{[e](BE) 31} It is a dreadful thing^(BF) to fall into the hands^(BG) of the living God.^(BH)

³² Remember those earlier days after you had received the light,^(BI) when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.^{(BJ) 33} Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution;^(BK) at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.^{(BL) 34} You suffered along with those in prison^(BM) and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.^{(BN) 35} So do not throw away your confidence;^(BO) it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶ You need to persevere^(BP) so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.^{(BQ) 37} For,

³⁸ And,

³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.