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
New Living Translation
Rooms for the Priests
42 Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms against the north wall of the inner courtyard. 2 This structure, whose entrance opened toward the north, was 175 feet[a] long and 87 1⁄2 feet[b] wide. 3 One block of rooms overlooked the 35-foot[c] width of the inner courtyard. Another block of rooms looked out onto the pavement of the outer courtyard. The two blocks were built three levels high and stood across from each other. 4 Between the two blocks of rooms ran a walkway 17 1⁄2 feet[d] wide. It extended the entire 175 feet of the complex,[e] and all the doors faced north. 5 Each of the two upper levels of rooms was narrower than the one beneath it because the upper levels had to allow space for walkways in front of them. 6 Since there were three levels and they did not have supporting columns as in the courtyards, each of the upper levels was set back from the level beneath it. 7 There was an outer wall that separated the rooms from the outer courtyard; it was 87 1⁄2 feet long. 8 This wall added length to the outer block of rooms, which extended for only 87 1⁄2 feet, while the inner block—the rooms toward the Temple—extended for 175 feet. 9 There was an eastern entrance from the outer courtyard to these rooms.
10 On the south[f] side of the Temple there were two blocks of rooms just south of the inner courtyard between the Temple and the outer courtyard. These rooms were arranged just like the rooms on the north. 11 There was a walkway between the two blocks of rooms just like the complex on the north side of the Temple. This complex of rooms was the same length and width as the other one, and it had the same entrances and doors. The dimensions of each were identical. 12 So there was an entrance in the wall facing the doors of the inner block of rooms, and another on the east at the end of the interior walkway.
13 Then the man told me, “These rooms that overlook the Temple from the north and south are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. And because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. 14 When the priests leave the sanctuary, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building complex open to the public.”
15 When the man had finished measuring the inside of the Temple area, he led me out through the east gateway to measure the entire perimeter. 16 He measured the east side with his measuring rod, and it was 875 feet long.[g] 17 Then he measured the north side, and it was also 875 feet. 18 The south side was also 875 feet, 19 and the west side was also 875 feet. 20 So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.
Footnotes
- 42:2a Hebrew 100 cubits [53 meters]; also in 42:8.
- 42:2b Hebrew 50 cubits [26.5 meters]; also in 42:7, 8.
- 42:3 Hebrew 20[-cubit] [10.6-meter].
- 42:4a Hebrew 10 cubits [5.3 meters].
- 42:4b As in Greek and Syriac versions, which read Its length was 100 cubits [53 meters]; Hebrew reads and a passage 1 cubit [21 inches or 53 centimeters] wide.
- 42:10 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads east.
- 42:16 As in 45:2 and in Greek version at 42:17, which reads 500 cubits [265 meters]; Hebrew reads 500 rods [5,250 feet or 1,590 meters]; similarly in 42:17, 18, 19, 20.
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.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
