Ezekiel 42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Holy Chambers and the Outer Wall
42 Then he led me out into the outer court toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the temple yard and opposite the building on the north.(A) 2 The length of the building that was on the north side[a] was[b] one hundred cubits and the width fifty cubits. 3 Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, the chambers rose[c] gallery[d] by gallery[e] in three stories.(B) 4 Amid the chambers was an interior passage, ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits deep,[f] and its[g] entrances were on the north.(C) 5 Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries[h] took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers in the building. 6 For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the outer[i] court; for this reason the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.(D) 7 There was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8 For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the temple were one hundred cubits long.(E) 9 At the foot of these chambers ran a passage that one entered from the east in order to enter them from the terrace space outside.(F) 10 The entrance was aligned with the start of the wall[j] toward the court.
On the south[k] also, opposite the vacant area and opposite the building, there were chambers 11 with a passage in front of them; they were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and width, with the same exits[l] and arrangements and doors. 12 So the entrances of the chambers to the south were entered through the entrance at the head of the corresponding passage, from the east, along the matching wall.[m]
13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the vacant area are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings; there they shall deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the purification offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy.(G) 14 When the priests enter the holy place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the vestments in which they minister, for these are holy; they shall put on other garments before they go near to the area open to the people.”(H)
15 When he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faces east and measured the temple area all around.(I) 16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 17 Then he turned and measured[n] the north side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 18 Then he turned and measured[o] the south side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to make a separation between the holy and the common.(J)
Footnotes
- 42.2 Gk: Heb door
- 42.2 Gk: Heb before the length
- 42.3 Heb lacks the chambers rose
- 42.3 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 42.3 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 42.4 Gk Syr: Heb a way of one cubit
- 42.4 Heb their
- 42.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 42.6 Gk: Heb lacks outer
- 42.10 Compare Gk: Heb in the thickness of the wall
- 42.10 Gk: Heb east
- 42.11 Heb and all their exits
- 42.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 42.17 Gk: Heb measuring reed all around. He measured
- 42.18 Gk: Heb measuring reed all around. He measured
Ezekiel 42
Common English Bible
Chambers and promenades
42 Then he led me north to the outer courtyard and brought me into the set of chambers opposite the yard and the structure to the north. 2 The length of the facade at the north entrance was one hundred fifty feet, its depth seventy-five feet. 3 It was next to the twenty chambers that belonged to the inner courtyard and next to the pavement of the outer courtyard, and it had three courses of promenades. 4 In front of the chambers there was a passage fifteen feet wide, and to the inside, a passage eighteen inches wide. The entrance to the chambers was on the north. 5 The upper chambers were smaller, because the promenades took up more space from them than from the first and second stories. 6 This was because the promenades were arranged in three levels, but they didn’t have columns like those in the courtyards. For this reason, the top story was narrower than the first and second stories. 7 A stone wall ran parallel to the chambers facing the outer courtyard. It was seventy-five feet long, 8 the same length, seventy-five feet, as the chambers facing the outer courtyard. Those facing the temple were one hundred fifty feet. 9-10 These chambers were entered from the outer courtyard at the end of the courtyard wall, because the entrance was at the end of the chambers at the east. South of the yard and the building, there were more chambers with a passage 11 in front of them. The design of the chambers resembled the ones to the north in length and width, as well as in all their exits. The arrangement of the entrances 12 to the chambers on the south side was identical as well. One entered from the east at the beginning of the corresponding wall.
13 Then he said to me, “The north and south chambers that face the building and the yard are the holy chambers where the priests eat the offerings that have been brought to the Lord. They are most holy. Here they will place the most holy things, the grain offering, the purification offering, and the compensation offering. The place is holy. 14 When the priests enter, they won’t go out of the sanctuary to the outer courtyard. There they will place the priestly vests that they wore when they were ministering, because these garments are also holy. They will put on other garments when they go out to the people’s area.”
15 When he finished making the interior measurements of the temple, he led me out toward the east gate, and he measured all the way around. 16 He used the same measuring rod on all four sides. He measured the east side, seven hundred fifty feet; 17 the north side, seven hundred fifty feet; and 18 the south side, seven hundred fifty feet. 19 He turned to the west side, seven hundred fifty feet. 20 On all four sides he measured the wall all the way around. Its length was seven hundred fifty feet, and its width seven hundred fifty feet. So he made a division between the holy and the ordinary.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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