Ezekiel 40
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The New Temple
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been captured,(A) on that very day the Lord’s hand was on me,(B) and he brought me there. 2 In visions of God(C) he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain.(D) On its southern slope was a structure resembling a city. 3 He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze,(E) with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.(F) He was standing by the city gate. 4 He spoke to me: ‘Son of man, look with your eyes, listen with your ears,(G) and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for you have been brought here so that I might show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.’(H)
The Wall and Outer Gates
5 Now there was a wall surrounding the outside of the temple.(I) The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six units of 53 centimetres;[a] each unit was the standard length plus 8 centimetres.[b] He measured the thickness of the wall structure; it was 3.2 metres,[c] and its height was the same. 6 Then he came to the gate that faced east and climbed its steps.(J) He measured the threshold of the gate; it was 3.2 metres deep – one threshold was 3.2 metres deep. 7 Each recess was 3.2 metres long and 3.2 metres deep, and there was a space of 2.65 metres[d] between the recesses. The inner threshold of the gate on the temple side next to the gate’s portico was 3.2 metres. 8 Next he measured the gate’s portico; 9 it[e] was 4.2 metres,[f] and its jambs were 1.1 metres.[g] The gate’s portico was on the temple side.
10 There were three recesses on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the jambs on either side also had the same measurements. 11 Then he measured the width of the gate’s entrance; it was 5.3 metres,[h] while the width[i] of the gate was 6.9 metres.[j] 12 There was a barrier of 53 centimetres[k] in front of the recesses on both sides, and the recesses on each side were 3.2 metres[l] square. 13 Then he measured the gate from the roof of one recess to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was 13.25 metres.[m] The openings of the recesses faced each other. 14 Next, he measured the porch – 32 metres.[n][o] 15 The distance from the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the gate’s portico on the inside was 26.5 metres.[p] 16 The recesses and their jambs had bevelled windows all round the inside of the gate.(K) The porticoes also had windows all round on the inside. Each jamb was decorated with palm trees.(L)
17 Then he brought me into the outer court,(M) and there were chambers and a paved surface laid out all round the court.(N) Thirty chambers faced the pavement, 18 which flanked the courtyard’s gates and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gate to the exterior front of the inner court; it was 53 metres.[q] This was the east; next the north is described.
20 He measured the gate of the outer court facing north, both its length and width. 21 Its three recesses on each side, its jambs, and its portico had the same measurements as the first gate: 26.5 metres long and 13.25 metres wide. 22 Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate that faced east. Seven steps led up to the gate, and its portico was ahead of them. 23 The inner court had a gate facing the north gate, like the one on the east. He measured the distance from gate to gate; it was 53 metres.
24 He brought me to the south side, and there was also a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and portico; they had the same measurements as the others. 25 Both the gate and its portico had windows all round, like the other windows. It was 26.5 metres long and 13.25 metres wide. 26 Its stairway had seven steps, and its portico was ahead of them. It had palm trees on its jambs, one on each side. 27 The inner court had a gate on the south. He measured from gate to gate on the south; it was 53 metres.
The Inner Gates
28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate. When he measured the south gate, it had the same measurements as the others. 29 Its recesses, jambs, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both it and its portico had windows all round. It was 26.5 metres long and 13.25 metres wide. 30 (There were porticoes all round, 13.25 metres long and 2.65 metres wide.[r]) 31 Its portico faced the outer court, and its jambs were decorated with palm trees. Its stairway had eight steps.
32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. When he measured the gate, it had the same measurements as the others. 33 Its recesses, jambs, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both it and its portico had windows all round. It was 26.5 metres long and 13.25 metres wide. 34 Its portico faced the outer court, and its jambs were decorated with palm trees on each side. Its stairway had eight steps.
35 Then he brought me to the north gate.(O) When he measured it, it had the same measurements as the others, 36 as did its recesses, jambs, and portico. It also had windows all round. It was 26.5 metres long and 13.25 metres wide. 37 Its portico[s] faced the outer court, and its jambs were decorated with palm trees on each side. Its stairway had eight steps.
Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices
38 There was a chamber whose door opened into the gate’s portico.[t] The burnt offering was to be washed there.(P) 39 Inside the gate’s portico there were two tables on each side, on which to slaughter the burnt offering, sin offering,(Q) and guilt offering.(R) 40 Outside, as one approaches the entrance of the north gate, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico. 41 So there were four tables inside the gate and four outside, eight tables in all on which the slaughtering was to be done. 42 There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering,(S) each eighty centimetres[u] long, eighty centimetres wide, and fifty-three centimetres high. The utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were placed on them. 43 There were eight-centimetre[v] hooks[w] fastened all round the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be laid on the tables.
Rooms for Singers and Priests
44 Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, there were chambers for the singers:[x](T) one[y] beside the north gate, facing south, and another beside the south[z] gate, facing north. 45 Then the man said to me, ‘This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.(U) 46 The chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok,(V) the ones from the sons of Levi who may approach the Lord to serve him.’(W) 47 Next he measured the court. It was square, 53 metres long and 53 metres wide. The altar(X) was in front of the temple.
48 Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were 2.65 metres thick on each side. The width of the gate was 7.4 metres,[aa] and the side walls of the gate were[ab] 1.6 metres[ac] wide on each side. 49 The portico was 10.6 metres[ad] across and 6.4[ae] metres[af] deep, and 10 steps led[ag] up to it.(Y) There were pillars by the jambs, one on each side.(Z)
Footnotes
- 40:5 = a long cubit
- 40:5 Lit six cubits by the cubit and a handbreadth
- 40:5 Lit was one rod, also in v. 7
- 40:7 Lit five cubits, also in v. 30
- 40:8–9 Some Hb mss, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read gate facing the temple side; it was one rod. 9 Then he measured the gate’s portico; it
- 40:9 Lit eight cubits
- 40:9 Lit two cubits
- 40:11 Lit 10 cubits
- 40:11 Lit length
- 40:11 Lit 13 cubits
- 40:12 Lit one cubit, also in v. 42
- 40:12 Lit six cubits
- 40:13 Lit 25 cubits, also in vv. 21, 25, 29, 33, 36
- 40:14 MT adds To the jamb of the court, the gate was all around; Hb obscure
- 40:14 Lit 60 cubits
- 40:15 Lit 50 cubits, also in vv. 21, 25, 29, 33, 36
- 40:19 Lit 100 cubits, also in vv. 23,27,47
- 40:30 Some Hb mss, LXX omit v. 30
- 40:37 LXX; MT reads jambs
- 40:38 Text emended; MT reads door was by the jambs, at the gates
- 40:42 Lit one and a half cubits
- 40:43 Lit one handbreadth
- 40:43 Or ledges
- 40:44 LXX reads were two chambers
- 40:44 LXX; MT reads singers, which was
- 40:44 LXX; MT reads east
- 40:48 Lit 14 cubits
- 40:48 LXX; MT omits 7.4 metres, and the side walls of the gate were
- 40:48 Lit three cubits
- 40:49 Lit 20 cubits
- 40:49 LXX; MT reads 19 1/4
- 40:49 Lit 12 cubits
- 40:49 MT reads and it was on steps that they would go
Ezekiel 40
New King James Version
A New City, a New Temple
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after (A)the city was [a]captured, on the very same day (B)the hand of the Lord was upon me; and He took me there. 2 (C)In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and (D)set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. 3 He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was (E)like the appearance of bronze. (F)He had a line of flax (G)and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.
4 And the man said to me, (H)“Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and [b]fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. (I)Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.” 5 Now there was (J)a wall all around the outside of the [c]temple. In the man’s hand was a measuring rod six [d]cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.
The Eastern Gateway of the Temple
6 Then he went to the gateway which faced (K)east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold was one rod wide. 7 Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide; between the gate chambers was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of the gateway by the vestibule of the inside gate was one rod. 8 He also measured the vestibule of the inside gate, one rod. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and the gateposts, two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was on the inside. 10 In the eastern gateway were three gate chambers on one side and three on the other; the three were all the same size; also the gateposts were of the same size on this side and that side.
11 He measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a [e]space in front of the gate chambers, one cubit on this side and one cubit on that side; the gate chambers were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the other; the width was twenty-five cubits, as door faces door. 14 He measured the gateposts, sixty cubits high, and the court all around the gateway extended to the gatepost. 15 From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits. 16 There were (L)beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were (M)palm trees.
The Outer Court
17 Then he brought me into (N)the outer court; and there were (O)chambers and a pavement made all around the court; (P)thirty chambers faced the pavement. 18 The pavement was by the side of the gateways, corresponding to the length of the gateways; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gateway to the front of the inner court exterior, one hundred cubits toward the east and the north.
The Northern Gateway
20 On the outer court was also a gateway facing north, and he measured its length and its width. 21 Its gate chambers, three on this side and three on that side, its gateposts and its archways, had the same measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 22 Its windows and those of its archways, and also its palm trees, had the same measurements as the gateway facing east; it was ascended by seven steps, and its archway was in front of it. 23 A gate of the inner court was opposite the northern gateway, just as the eastern gateway; and he measured from gateway to gateway, one hundred cubits.
The Southern Gateway
24 After that he brought me toward the south, and there a gateway was facing south; and he measured its gateposts and archways according to these same measurements. 25 There were windows in it and in its archways all around like those windows; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its archway was in front of them; and it had palm trees on its gateposts, one on this side and one on that side. 27 There was also a gateway on the inner court, facing south; and he measured from gateway to gateway toward the south, one hundred cubits.
Gateways of the Inner Court
28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the southern gateway; he measured the southern gateway according to these same measurements. 29 Also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways were according to these same measurements; there were windows in it and in its archways all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 30 There were archways all around, (Q)twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. 31 Its archways faced the outer court, palm trees were on its gateposts, and going up to it were eight steps.
32 And he brought me into the inner court facing east; he measured the gateway according to these same measurements. 33 Also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways were according to these same measurements; and there were windows in it and in its archways all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34 Its archways faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its gateposts on this side and on that side; and going up to it were eight steps.
35 Then he brought me to the north gateway and measured it according to these same measurements— 36 also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways. It had windows all around; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 37 Its gateposts faced the outer court, palm trees were on its gateposts on this side and on that side, and going up to it were eight steps.
Where Sacrifices Were Prepared
38 There was a chamber and its entrance by the gateposts of the gateway, where they (R)washed the burnt offering. 39 In the vestibule of the gateway were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slay the burnt offering, (S)the sin offering, and (T)the trespass offering. 40 At the outer side of the vestibule, as one goes up to the entrance of the northern gateway, were two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule of the gateway were two tables. 41 Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side, by the side of the gateway, eight tables on which they slaughtered the sacrifices. 42 There were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, one cubit and a half long, one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high; on these they laid the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice. 43 Inside were hooks, a handbreadth wide, fastened all around; and the flesh of the sacrifices was on the tables.
Chambers for Singers and Priests
44 Outside the inner gate were the chambers for (U)the singers in the inner court, one facing south at the side of the northern gateway, and the other facing north at the side of the [f]southern gateway. 45 Then he said to me, “This chamber which faces south is for (V)the priests who have charge of the temple. 46 The chamber which faces north is for the priests (W)who have charge of the altar; these are the sons of (X)Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who come near the Lord to minister to Him.”
Dimensions of the Inner Court and Vestibule(Y)
47 And he measured the court, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, foursquare. The altar was in front of the temple. 48 Then he brought me to the (Z)vestibule of the temple and measured the doorposts of the vestibule, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and the width of the gateway was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. 49 (AA)The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and by the steps which led up to it there were (AB)pillars by the doorposts, one on this side and another on that side.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 40:1 Lit. struck
- Ezekiel 40:4 Lit. set your heart
- Ezekiel 40:5 Lit. house
- Ezekiel 40:5 A royal cubit of about 21 inches
- Ezekiel 40:12 Lit. border
- Ezekiel 40:44 So with LXX; MT, Vg. eastern
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
