The temple area restored

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city – on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. ² In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. ⁴ The man said to me, ‘Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.’

The east gate to the outer court

⁵ I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,^[a] each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

⁶ Then he went to the east gate. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. ⁷ The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits^[b] thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

⁸ Then he measured the portico of the gateway; ⁹ it^[c] was eight cubits^[d] deep and its jambs were two cubits^[e] thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.^{[f] 12} In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits^[g] from one parapet opening to the opposite one. ¹⁴ He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway – sixty cubits.^[h] The measurement was up to the portico^[i] facing the courtyard.^{[j] 15} The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.^{[k] 16} The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all round, as was the portico; the openings all round faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.

The outer court

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all round the court; there were thirty rooms along the pavement. ¹⁸ It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits^[l] on the east side as well as on the north.

The north gate

²⁰ Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. ²¹ Its alcoves – three on each side – its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²² Its openings, its portico and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. ²³ There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.

The south gate

²⁴ Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. ²⁵ The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all round, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side. ²⁷ The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits.

The gates to the inner court

²⁸ Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. ²⁹ Its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ (The porticoes of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.) ³¹ Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.

³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. ³³ Its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, ³⁶ as did its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico, and it had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its portico^[m] faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

The rooms for preparing sacrifices

³⁸ A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings were washed. ³⁹ In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings^[n] and guilt offerings were slaughtered. ⁴⁰ By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other – eight tables in all – on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴² There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high.^[o] On them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ And double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth^[p] long, were attached to the wall all round. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

The rooms for the priests

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms, one^[q] at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the side of the south^[r] gate and facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, ‘The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple, ⁴⁶ and the room facing north is for the priests who guard the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.’

⁴⁷ Then he measured the court: it was square – a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.

The new temple

⁴⁸ He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits^[s] and its projecting walls were^[t] three cubits^[u] wide on either side. ⁴⁹ The portico was twenty cubits^[v] wide, and twelve^[w] cubits^[x] from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs,^[y] and there were pillars on each side of the jambs.

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall 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]

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. He said to me, ‘This is the Most Holy Place.’

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room round the temple was four cubits^[h] wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all round 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. ⁷ The side rooms all round 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 upwards. A stairway 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 round 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 round 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 round.

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 round, 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.

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries 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 and galleries round 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. ¹⁷ In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all round the inner and outer sanctuary ¹⁸ were carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces: ¹⁹ the face of a human being towards the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion towards the palm tree on the other. They were carved all round the whole temple. 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 had a rectangular door-frame, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. ²² There was a wooden altar 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 that is before the Lord.’ ²³ Both the main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors. ²⁴ Each door had two leaves – two hinged leaves 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 side walls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.

The rooms for the priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. ² The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.^{[a] 3} Both in the section twenty cubits^[b] from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. ⁴ In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits^[c] long^[d]. Their doors were on the north. 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 on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ On the south side^[e] along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms 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 and south rooms facing the temple courtyard 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, the sin offerings^[f] and the guilt offerings – for the place is holy. ¹⁴ Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments 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.’

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around: ¹⁶ he measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.^{[g][h] 17} He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits^[i] 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 the area on all four sides. It had a wall round it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

God’s glory returns to the temple

43 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, ² and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. ³ The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he^[a] came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell face down. ⁴ The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. ⁵ Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶ While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. ⁷ He said: ‘Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites for ever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name – neither they nor their kings – by their prostitution and the funeral offerings^[b] for their kings at their death.^{[c] 8} When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them for ever.

¹⁰ ‘Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, ¹¹ and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple – its arrangement, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations^[d] and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

¹² ‘This is the law of the temple: all the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.

The great altar restored

¹³ ‘These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits,^[e] that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a kerb of one span^[f] around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes round the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide.^[g] From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes round the altar it is four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide.^{[h] 15} Above that, the altar hearth is four cubits high, and four horns project upwards from the hearth. ¹⁶ The altar hearth is square, twelve cubits^[i] long and twelve cubits wide. ¹⁷ The upper ledge also is square, fourteen cubits^[j] long and fourteen cubits wide. All round the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a kerb of half a cubit.^[k] The steps of the altar face east.’

¹⁸ Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: these will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing blood against the altar when it is built: ¹⁹ you are to give a young bull as a sin offering^[l] to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who come near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. ²⁰ You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge and all round the rim, and so purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

²² ‘On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. ²⁴ You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

²⁵ ‘For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. ²⁶ For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. ²⁷ At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

The priesthood restored

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. ² The Lord said to me, ‘This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. ³ The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.’

⁴ Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell face down.

⁵ The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ Say to rebellious Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: enough of your detestable practices, people of Israel! ⁷ In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant. ⁸ Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary. ⁹ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: no foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.

¹⁰ ‘“The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin. ¹¹ They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them. ¹² But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹³ They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. ¹⁴ And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.

¹⁵ ‘“But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and serve me as guards.

¹⁷ ‘“When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woollen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. ¹⁸ They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments round their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. ¹⁹ When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their garments.

²⁰ ‘“They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. ²¹ No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests. ²³ They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴ ‘“In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

²⁵ ‘“A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days. ²⁷ On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering^[a] for himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.

²⁸ ‘“I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything in Israel devoted^[b] to the Lord will belong to them. ³⁰ The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household. ³¹ The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal, found dead or torn by wild animals.

Book II

Psalms 42 – 72

Psalm 42^[a][b]

For the director of music. A maskil^[c] of the Sons of Korah.