⁴⁶ The building beside the inner southern entrance is for the priests in charge of the altar—the descendants of Zadok—for they alone of all the Levites may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the inner court in front of the Temple^[a] and found it to be 175 feet square, and there was an altar in the court, standing in front of the Temple. ^48-49 Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the Temple. Ten steps led up to it from the inner court. Its walls extended up on either side to form two pillars, each of them 8-3/4 feet thick. The entrance was 24-1/2 feet wide with 5-1/4-foot walls. Thus the entry hall was 35 feet wide and 19-1/4 feet long.