Ezekiel 41-43

New King James Version

Dimensions of the Sanctuary

41 Then he ^(A)brought me into the ^[a]sanctuary and measured the doorposts, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side—the width of the tabernacle. ² The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.

³ Also he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. ^4 (B)He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

The Side Chambers on the Wall

⁵ Next, he measured the wall of the ^[b]temple, six cubits. The width of each side chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. ^6 (C)The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in each story; they rested on ^[c]ledges which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported, but ^(D)not fastened to the wall of the temple. ⁷ As one went up from story to story, the side chambers ^(E)became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps; therefore the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle one. ⁸ I also saw an elevation all around the temple; it was the foundation of the side chambers, ^(F)a full rod, that is, six cubits high. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and so also the remaining terrace by the place of the side chambers of the ^[d]temple. ¹⁰ And between it and the wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side chambers opened on the terrace, one door toward the north and another toward the south; and the width of the terrace was five cubits all around.

The Building at the Western End

¹² The building that faced the separating courtyard at its western end was seventy cubits wide; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

Dimensions and Design of the Temple Area

¹³ So he measured the temple, one ^(G)hundred cubits long; and the separating courtyard with the building and its walls was one hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the width of the eastern face of the temple, including the separating courtyard, was one hundred cubits. ¹⁵ He measured the length of the building behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its ^(H)galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner ^[e]temple and the porches of the court, ¹⁶ their doorposts and ^(I)the beveled window frames. And the galleries all around their three stories opposite the threshold were paneled with ^(J)wood from the ground to the windows—the windows were covered— ¹⁷ from the space above the door, even to the inner ^[f]room, as well as outside, and on every wall all around, inside and outside, by measure.

¹⁸ And it was made ^(K)with cherubim and ^(L)palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces, ^19 (M)so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around. ²⁰ From the floor to the space above the door, and on the wall of the sanctuary, cherubim and palm trees were carved.

²¹ The ^(N)doorposts of the temple were square, as was the front of the sanctuary; their appearance was similar. ^22 (O)The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its sides were of wood; and he said to me, “This is ^(P)the table that is ^(Q)before the Lord.”

^23 (R)The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. ²⁴ The doors had two ^(S)panels apiece, two folding panels: two panels for one door and two panels for the other door. ²⁵ Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the temple just as they were carved on the walls. A wooden canopy was on the front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ There were ^(T)beveled window frames and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the vestibule—also on the side chambers of the temple and on the canopies.

The Chambers for the Priests

42 Then he ^(U)brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the ^(V)north; and he brought me into ^(W)the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. ² Facing the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. ³ Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the ^(X)pavement of the outer court, was ^(Y)gallery against gallery in three stories. ⁴ In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was ^[g]shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. ⁷ And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. ⁸ The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one ^(Z)hundred cubits. ⁹ At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.

¹⁰ Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. ^11 (AA)There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. ¹² And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord ^(AB)shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy offerings—^(AC)the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering—for the place is holy. ^14 (AD)When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for the people.”

Outer Dimensions of the Temple

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the inner ^[h]temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the ^(AE)east, and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the ^[i]measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. ¹⁷ He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. ¹⁸ He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. ¹⁹ He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. ²⁰ He measured it on the four sides; ^(AF)it had a wall all around, ^(AG)five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the ^[j]common.

The Temple, the Lord’s Dwelling Place

43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate ^(AH)that faces toward the east. ^2 (AI)And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. ^(AJ)His voice was like the sound of many waters; ^(AK)and the earth shone with His glory. ³ It was ^(AL)like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when ^[k]I came ^(AM)to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw ^(AN)by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. ^4 (AO)And the glory of the Lord came into the ^[l]temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. ^5 (AP)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, ^(AQ)the glory of the Lord filled the ^[m]temple.

⁶ Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while ^(AR)a man stood beside me. ⁷ And He said to me, “Son of man, this is ^(AS)the place of My throne and ^(AT)the place of the soles of My feet, ^(AU)where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. ^(AV)No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their ^[n]harlotry or with ^(AW)the carcasses of their kings on their high places. ^8 (AX)When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰ “Son of man, ^(AY)describe the ^[o]temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the ^[p]temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ^(AZ)ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and ^(BA)perform them. ¹² This is the law of the ^[q]temple: The whole area surrounding ^(BB)the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

Dimensions of the Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of the ^(BC)altar in cubits ^(BD)(the ^[r]cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit. ¹⁵ The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four ^(BE)horns extending upward from the ^[s]hearth. ¹⁶ The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, ^(BF)square at its four corners; ¹⁷ the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and ^(BG)its steps face toward the east.”

Consecrating the Altar

¹⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing ^(BH)burnt offerings on it, and for ^(BI)sprinkling blood on it. ¹⁹ You shall give ^(BJ)a young bull for a sin offering to ^(BK)the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of ^(BL)Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God. ²⁰ ‘You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. ²¹ Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^(BM)burn it in the appointed place of the ^[t]temple, ^(BN)outside the sanctuary. ²² On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. ²³ When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ When you offer them before the Lord, ^(BO)the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Every day for ^(BP)seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. ²⁶ Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so ^[u]consecrate ^[v]it. ^27 (BQ)When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will ^(BR)accept you,’ says the Lord God.”