Ezekiel 40
Good News Translation
A VISION OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE (40.1— 48.35)
Ezekiel Is Taken to Jerusalem
40 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away. 2 (A)In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me[a] a group of buildings that looked like a city. 3 (B)He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.
4 He said to me, “Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
The East Gate
5 (C)What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. 6 Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.[b] 7 Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. 8-9 He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick. (10 These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)
11 Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. 12 In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) 13 Then he measured the distance from the back wall[c] of one room to the back wall[d] of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. 14 The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.[e] 15 The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. 16 There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.
The Outer Courtyard
17 The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, 18 which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.
19 There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.[f]
The North Gate
20 Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. 21 The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 22 The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. 23 Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.
The South Gate
24 Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. 25 There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. 27 Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.
The Inner Courtyard: The South Gate
28 The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. 29-30 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 31 Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.
The Inner Courtyard: The East Gate
32 The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. 34 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.
The Inner Courtyard: The North Gate
35 Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. 36 Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. 37 The entrance room[g] faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.
Buildings Near the North Gate
38 In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. 39 In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. 40 Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. 41 Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. 42 The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. 43 Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.[h]
44 Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.[i] 45 The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, 46 and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him.
The Inner Courtyard and the Temple Building
47 The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar. 48 Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide,[j] with walls 5 feet thick on either side. 49 Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep.[k] There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 40:2 One ancient translation in front of me; Hebrew in the south.
- Ezekiel 40:6 One ancient translation deep; Hebrew deep, one entrance 10 feet deep.
- Ezekiel 40:13 Probable text back wall; Hebrew roof.
- Ezekiel 40:13 Probable text back wall; Hebrew roof.
- Ezekiel 40:14 Verse 14 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Ezekiel 40:19 Hebrew has two additional words, the meaning of which is unclear.
- Ezekiel 40:37 Some ancient translations entrance room; Hebrew inner wall.
- Ezekiel 40:43 Verse 43 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Ezekiel 40:44 One ancient translation Then … south gateway; verse 44 in Hebrew is unclear.
- Ezekiel 40:48 One ancient translation and 24 feet wide; Hebrew does not have these words.
- Ezekiel 40:49 One ancient translation 20 feet deep; Hebrew 18 feet deep.
Ezekiel 40
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Vision of 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 the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me there.(A) 2 He brought me, in visions of God, to the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain on which was a structure like a city to the south.(B) 3 When he brought me there, a man was there whose appearance shone like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand, and he was standing in the gateway.(C) 4 The man said to me, “Mortal, look closely and listen attentively, and set your mind on all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”(D)
5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area. The length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length, so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed. 6 Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.[a] There were(E) 7 recesses, and each recess was one reed wide and one reed deep, and the space between the recesses, five cubits, and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end was one reed deep.(F) 8 Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one reed. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts, two cubits, and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. 10 There were three recesses on either side of the east gate; the three were of the same size, and the posts on either side were of the same size.(G) 11 Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits, and the width of the gateway, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a barrier before the recesses, one cubit on either side, and each recess was six cubits square. 13 Then he measured the gate from the back[b] of the one recess to the back[c] of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from wall to wall.[d] 14 He measured[e] the vestibule (sixty cubits) and the gate next to the post on every side of the court.[f](H) 15 From the front of the gate at the entrance to the end of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. 16 The recesses and their posts had windows, with shutters[g] on the inside of the gateway all around, and the vestibules also had windows on the inside all around, and on the posts were palm trees.(I)
17 Then he brought me into the outer court; there were chambers there and a pavement all around the court; thirty chambers fronted on the pavement.(J) 18 The pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the inner front of[h] the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, one hundred cubits.[i](K)
20 Then he measured the gate of the outer court that faced north—its depth and width. 21 Its recesses, three on either side, and its posts and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(L) 22 Its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. Seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was on the inside.[j](M) 23 Opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court; he measured from gate to gate, one hundred cubits.(N)
24 Then he led me toward the south, and there was a gate on the south, and he measured its posts and its vestibule; they had the same dimensions as the others.(O) 25 There were windows all around in it and in its vestibule, like the windows of the others; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(P) 26 There were seven steps leading up to it; its vestibule was on the inside.[k] It had palm trees on its posts, one on either side.(Q) 27 There was a gate on the south of the inner court, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred cubits.(R)
28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it was of the same dimensions as the others.(S) 29 Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and there were windows all around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(T) 30 There were vestibules all around the inner court,[l] twenty-five cubits deep and five cubits wide.(U) 31 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its posts, and its stairway had eight steps.(V)
32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate; it was of the same size as the others.(W) 33 Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around in it and in its vestibule; its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(X) 34 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.(Y)
35 Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others.(Z) 36 Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,[m] and it had windows all around. Its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(AA) 37 Its vestibule[n] faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.(AB)
38 There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate[o] where the burnt offering was to be washed.(AC) 39 And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side on which the burnt offering and the purification offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered.(AD) 40 On the outside of the vestibule, where one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables, and on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. 41 Four tables were on one side and four tables on the other side of the gate, eight tables, on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. 42 There were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered.(AE) 43 There were pegs one handbreadth long fastened all around the inside. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
44 On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers[p] in the inner court, one[q] at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south[r] gate facing north.(AF) 45 He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,(AG) 46 and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are the descendants of Zadok, who alone among the descendants of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”(AH) 47 He measured the court, one hundred cubits deep and one hundred cubits wide, a square, and the altar was in front of the temple.(AI)
The Temple
48 Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the posts of the vestibule, five cubits deep on either side, and the width of the gate between the posts[s] was fourteen cubits, and the shoulders of the gate were three cubits wide on either side.[t] 49 The width of the vestibule was twenty cubits and the depth twelve[u] cubits; ten steps led up[v] to it, and there were pillars beside the posts on either side.(AJ)
Footnotes
- 40.6 Heb deep, and one threshold, one reed deep
- 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
- 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
- 40.13 Heb opening facing opening
- 40.14 Heb made
- 40.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 40.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 40.19 Compare Gk: Heb from before
- 40.19 Heb adds the east and the north
- 40.22 Gk: Heb before them
- 40.26 Gk: Heb before them
- 40.30 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 40.36 Heb ms: MT lacks were of the same size as the others
- 40.37 Gk Vg: Heb posts
- 40.38 Cn: Heb at the posts of the gates
- 40.44 Gk: Heb chambers for the singers
- 40.44 Heb lacks one
- 40.44 Gk: Heb east
- 40.48 Gk: Heb lacks between the posts
- 40.48 Gk: Heb and the width of the gate was three cubits
- 40.49 Gk: Heb eleven
- 40.49 Gk: Heb and by steps that went up
Ezekiel 40
Complete Jewish Bible
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — this was the fourteenth year after the city [of Yerushalayim] was struck — it was on that very day that the hand of Adonai was on me, and he took me there. 2 In visions God brought me into the land of Isra’el and put me down on a very high mountain; on it, toward the south, it seemed that a city was being built. 3 That is where he took me, and there in front of me was a man whose appearance was like bronze. He had a flax cord and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. 4 The man said to me, “Human being, look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to all the things I am showing you; because the reason you were brought here is so that I could show them to you. Tell everything you see to the house of Isra’el.”
5 There was a wall surrounding the house. The man had in his hand a measuring rod six cubits long [ten-and-a-half feet], each cubit [twenty-one inches] being a normal cubit [eighteen inches] plus a handbreadth [three inches]. He measured the wall’s width at ten-and-a-half feet and its height ten-and-a-half feet. 6 He went to the east gate, climbed its steps and measured one of the gate’s doorposts at ten-and-a-half feet wide and the other one the same. 7 There were guardrooms, each ten-and-a-half feet square; the distance between the guardrooms was eight-and-three-quarters feet. The threshold of the gate adjoining the gate’s entranceway facing the house measured ten-and-a-half feet. 8 He measured the gate’s entranceway facing the house at ten-and-a-half feet. 9 Then he measured the gate’s entranceway itself, fourteen feet, and its supports, three-and-a-half feet; the gate’s entranceway was on the side facing the house. 10 There were three guardrooms on each side of the east gate, all the same size; and on each side the supports [between the guardrooms] were also all the same size. 11 He measured the width of the opening to the gateway at seventeen-and-a-half feet and the width of the passage through the gateway at twenty-two-and-three-quarters feet. 12 There was a partition in front of the guardrooms [on one side] twenty-one inches [wide] and a partition on the other side twenty-one inches [wide], with the guardrooms themselves being ten-and-a-half feet square. 13 He measured [inside] the gate from the back wall of one guardroom to the back wall of the other a distance of forty-three-and-three-quarters feet, the openings [to the guardrooms] being opposite each other. 14 He made the posts 105 feet, likewise the posts of the other gates around the courtyard. 15 The distance along the passage from the outer opening of the gateway to the far side of the entranceway at the inner end of the gateway was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet. 16 There were narrow windows to the guardrooms and to their supports facing inward all along the gate; also the vestibules had windows all around facing inward. On each side support were [carvings of] palm trees.
17 Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There I saw rooms and paved mosaic flooring made for the courtyard all around its perimeter, and thirty rooms facing the flooring. 18 The flooring was alongside the gates and corresponded to the length of the gates [from outside to inside], this lower flooring. 19 He measured at 175 feet the distance from inside this lower gate that faced east to the outside of the inner courtyard, and he did the same for the gate that faced north.
20 Next he measured the length and width of the outer courtyard gate that faced north. 21 It had three guardrooms on each side, and its supports and vestibule were the same size as those at the first gate; its length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and its width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 22 Its windows, vestibule and palm trees were the same size as those at the east gate. Seven steps led up to it [from the outside], while its vestibule was toward the inside.
23 There were gates to the inner courtyard across from the gates to the north and east; he measured 175 feet from each outer gate to its corresponding inner gate.
24 He led me toward the south, and there I saw a gate that faced south. He measured its supports and vestibule; they were the same size as the others. 25 There were windows in it and all around its vestibule like the other windows; the length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and the width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 26 Seven steps led up to it [from the outside], while its vestibule was toward the inside. It had palm trees, one on each side, on its supports. 27 The inner courtyard had a gate on the south; he measured from gate to gate toward the south 175 feet.
28 He brought me to the inner courtyard through its south gate. He measured this south gate as being the same size; 29 its guardrooms, supports and vestibule were the same size; it had windows and a vestibule surrounding it; it was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet long and forty-three-and-three-quarters feet wide. 30 There was a vestibule around it forty-three-and-three-quarters feet long and eight-and-three-quarters feet wide; 31 this vestibule faced the outer courtyard, palm trees were on its supports, and it had eight steps leading up to it.
32 He brought me into the inner courtyard, went toward the east and measured that gate as being the same size; 33 its guardrooms, supports and vestibule were the same size; it had windows and a vestibule surrounding it; it was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet long and forty-three-and-three-quarters feet wide. 34 Its vestibule faced the outer courtyard, palm trees were on its supports, both on the one side and on the other; and it had eight steps leading up to it.
35 He brought me over to the north gate and measured it as being the same size; 36 it had guardrooms, supports and a vestibule with windows all around; the length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and the width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 37 Its supports faced the outer courtyard; palm trees were on its supports, both on the one side and on the other; and it had eight steps leading up to it.
38 There was a room with its entry by the supports at the gates where the burnt offerings were washed. 39 In the entranceway to the gate were two tables on the one side and two on the other, on which to slaughter the burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. 40 On the outside, as one goes up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side of the entranceway to the gate were two tables. 41 So there were four tables on the one side and four on the other side, by the gate — eight tables on which to slaughter sacrifices. 42 There were four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering, thirty-one-and-a-half inches square and twenty-one inches high, on which to lay the instruments for slaughtering the burnt offerings and other sacrifices. 43 Hooks a handbreadth long were fastened all around the inside of the room; the flesh of the offerings was to be placed on the tables.
44 Outside the inner gate, in the inner courtyard, were rooms for the singers, one facing south alongside the north gate, and one facing north alongside the east gate. 45 He said to me, “This room facing south is for the cohanim in charge of the house; 46 while the room facing north is for the cohanim in charge of the altar; these are the descendants of Tzadok, who are the descendants of Levi designated to approach Adonai and serve him.”
47 Then he measured the courtyard at 175 feet long and 175 feet wide — it was square. The altar was in front of the house.
48 He brought me to the vestibule of the house and measured at eight-and-three-quarters feet the thickness of the walls on either side of its entrance. On each side, these walls extended five-and-a-quarter feet from the side-walls of the vestibule. 49 The length of the vestibule was thirty-five feet and the width nineteen-and-a-quarter feet; steps led up to it. There were columns on each side of the entrance.
Ezekiel 40
The Message
Measuring the Temple Complex
40 1-3 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month—it was the fourteenth year after the city fell—God touched me and brought me here. He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick.
4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I’m going to show you. That’s why you’ve been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see.”
* * *
5 First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet.
* * *
6-7 He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep.
8-9 He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard.
10 Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical.
11 He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep.
12 In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square.
13 He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other.
14 He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard.
15 The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet.
16 The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees.
* * *
17-19 The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet.
* * *
19-23 Then he took me to the north side. Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet.
24-27 Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides. Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet.
* * *
28-31 He led me into the inside courtyard through the south gate complex. He measured it and found it the same as the outside ones. Its alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule were the same. The gate complex and porch, windowed all around, measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The vestibule of each of the gate complexes leading to the inside courtyard was forty-three and three-quarters by eight and three-quarters feet. Each vestibule faced the outside courtyard. Palm trees were carved on its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it.
32-34 He then took me to the inside courtyard on the east and measured the gate complex. It was identical to the others—alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule all the same. The gate complex and vestibule had windows all around. It measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on the doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.
35-37 He brought me to the gate complex to the north and measured it: same measurements. The alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule with its windows: eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on its doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.
* * *
38-43 There was a room with a door at the vestibule of the gate complex where the burnt offerings were cleaned. Two tables were placed within the vestibule, one on either side, on which the animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were slaughtered. Two tables were also placed against both outside walls of the vestibule—four tables inside and four tables outside, eight tables in all for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. The four tables used for the burnt offerings were thirty-one and a half inches square and twenty-one inches high. The tools for slaughtering the sacrificial animals and other sacrifices were kept there. Meat hooks, three inches long, were fastened to the walls. The tables were for the sacrificial animals.
* * *
44-46 Right where the inside gate complex opened onto the inside courtyard there were two rooms, one at the north gate facing south and the one at the south gate facing north. The man told me, “The room facing south is for the priests who are in charge of the Temple. And the room facing north is for the priests who are in charge of the altar. These priests are the sons of Zadok, the only sons of Levi permitted to come near to God to serve him.”
47 He measured the inside courtyard: a hundred seventy-five feet square. The altar was in front of the Temple.
* * *
48-49 He led me to the porch of the Temple and measured the gateposts of the porch: eight and three-quarters feet high on both sides. The entrance to the gate complex was twenty-one feet wide and its connecting walls were four and a half feet thick. The vestibule itself was thirty-five feet wide and twenty-one feet deep. Ten steps led up to the porch. Columns flanked the gateposts.
* * *
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
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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