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Glorious things are spoken of you,
    O city of God. Selah(A)

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11 and I will multiply humans and animals upon you. They shall increase and be fruitful, and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(A) 12 I will lead people upon you—my people Israel—and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance. No longer shall you bereave them of children.

13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, “You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord God, 15 and no longer will I let you hear the insults of the nations; no longer shall you bear the disgrace of the peoples, and no longer shall you cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord God.(B)

The Renewal of Israel

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 Mortal, when the house of Israel lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a menstrual period.(C) 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for the idols with which they had defiled it.(D) 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds I judged them.(E) 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to go out of his land.”(F) 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.(G)

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.(H) 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations and which you have profaned among them, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes.(I) 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.(J) 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.(K) 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.(L) 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.(M) 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.(N) 29 I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.(O) 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways and your dealings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds.(P) 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of Israel.(Q)

33 Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the towns to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified.”(R) 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.(S)

37 Thus says the Lord God: I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them: to multiply their people like sheep. 38 Like a consecrated flock, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals, so shall the ruined towns be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(T)

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27 My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.(A) 28 Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.”(B)

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22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,(A) 23 and to the assembly[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 12.23 Or angels, and to the festal gathering and assembly

10 And in the spirit[a] he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.(A) 11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.(B) 12 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names that are the names[b] of the twelve tribes of the Israelites:(C) 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.(D)

15 The angel[c] who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.(E) 16 The city has four equal sides, its length the same as its width, and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.(F) 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.(G) 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.(H) 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 21.10 Or in the Spirit
  2. 21.12 Other ancient authorities lack that are the names
  3. 21.15 Gk He

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.(A)

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12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
    and they shall never languish again.(A)
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.[a]
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 31.13 Cn: Heb old together

beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.(A)
Within its citadels God
    has shown himself a sure defense.(B)

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There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.(A)

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14 Return, O faithless children,
            says the Lord,
    for I am your husband;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
    and I will bring you to Zion.(A)

15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.(B) 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, nor shall another one be made.(C) 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.(D)

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to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.(A)
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.(B)

Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks;
    foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines,(C)
but you shall be called priests of the Lord;
    you shall be named ministers of our God;
you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations,
    and in their riches you shall glory.(D)
Because their[a] shame was double
    and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
    everlasting joy shall be theirs.(E)

For I, the Lord, love justice,
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing;[b]
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.(F)
Their descendants shall be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge
    that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.(G)
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my whole being shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.(H)
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    to spring up before all the nations.(I)

The Vindication and Salvation of Zion

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn
    and her salvation like a burning torch.(J)
The nations shall see your vindication
    and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will give.(K)
You shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.(L)
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her
    and your land Married,
for the Lord delights in you,
    and your land shall be married.(M)
For as a young man marries a young woman,
    so shall your builder[c] marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
    so shall your God rejoice over you.(N)
Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,
    I have posted sentinels;
all day and all night
    they shall never be silent.
You who remind the Lord,
    take no rest,(O)
and give him no rest
    until he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes it renowned throughout the earth.(P)
The Lord has sworn by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
I will not again give your grain
    to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink the wine
    for which you have labored,(Q)
but those who harvest it shall eat it
    and praise the Lord,
and those who gather it shall drink it
    in my holy courts.(R)

10 Go through, go through the gates;
    prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
    clear it of stones;
    lift up an ensign over the peoples.(S)
11 The Lord has proclaimed
    to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
    “Look, your savior comes;
his reward is with him
    and his recompense before him.”(T)
12 They shall be called, “The Holy People,
    The Redeemed of the Lord,”
and you shall be called, “Sought Out,
    A City Not Forsaken.”(U)

Footnotes

  1. 61.7 Heb your
  2. 61.8 Or robbery with a burnt offering
  3. 62.5 Cn: Heb your sons

20 And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.(A)

21 And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouths of your children or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.(B)

The Ingathering of the Dispersed

60 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.(C)
For darkness shall cover the earth
    and thick darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will arise upon you,
    and his glory will appear over you.(D)
Nations shall come to your light
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.(E)

Lift up your eyes and look around;
    they all gather together; they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
    and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms.(F)
Then you shall see and be radiant;
    your heart shall thrill and rejoice,[a]
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you;
    the wealth of the nations shall come to you.(G)
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
    the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
    all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense
    and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.(H)
All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
    the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall be acceptable on my altar,[b]
    and I will glorify my glorious house.(I)

Who are these that fly like a cloud
    and like doves to their windows?
For the coastlands shall wait for me,
    the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from far away,
    their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God
    and for the Holy One of Israel,
    because he has glorified you.(J)
10 Foreigners shall build up your walls,
    and their kings shall minister to you,
for in my wrath I struck you down,
    but in my favor I have had mercy on you.(K)
11 Your gates shall always be open;
    day and night they shall not be shut,
so that nations shall bring you their wealth,
    with their kings led in procession.(L)
12 For the nation and kingdom
    that will not serve you shall perish;
    those nations shall be utterly laid waste.(M)
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
    the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
    and I will glorify where my feet rest.(N)
14 The descendants of those who oppressed you
    shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
    shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
    the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.(O)
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
    with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
    a joy from age to age.(P)
16 You shall suck the milk of nations;
    you shall suck the breasts of kings,
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.(Q)

17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
    instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
    instead of stones, iron.
I will appoint Peace as your overseer
    and Righteousness as your taskmaster.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
    devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation
    and your gates Praise.(R)

God the Glory of Zion

19 The sun shall no longer be
    your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
    give light to you by night,[c]
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.(S)
20 Your sun shall no more go down
    or your moon withdraw itself,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of mourning shall be ended.(T)
21 Your people shall all be righteous;
    they shall possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands,
    so that I might be glorified.(U)
22 The least of them shall become a clan
    and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the Lord;
    in its time I will accomplish it quickly.(V)

Footnotes

  1. 60.5 Heb be enlarged
  2. 60.7 Q ms Heb mss Gk Syr Tg: MT will ascend on the favor of my altar
  3. 60.19 Q ms Gk OL Tg: MT lacks by night

Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.(A)
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
    and your descendants will possess nations
    and will settle desolate towns.(B)

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
    do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace,
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.(C)
For your Maker is your husband;
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    the God of the whole earth he is called.(D)
For the Lord has called you
    like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.(E)
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.(F)
In overflowing wrath for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.(G)

This is like the days of Noah to me:
    Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
    would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
    and will not rebuke you.(H)
10 For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.(I)

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14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
    my Lord has forgotten me.”(A)
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child
    or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these might forget,
    yet I will not forget you.(B)
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.(C)
17 Your builders outdo your destroyers,[a]
    and those who laid you waste go away from you.(D)
18 Lift up your eyes all around and see;
    they all gather; they come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
    you shall put all of them on like an ornament,
    and like a bride you shall bind them on.(E)

19 For your wastelands, your desolate places,
    and your devastated land—
now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.(F)
20 The children born in the time of your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing:
“The place is too crowded for me;
    make room for me to settle.”(G)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
    “Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away—
    so who has reared these?
I was left all alone—
    where, then, have these come from?”(H)

22 Thus says the Lord God:
I will soon lift up my hand to the nations
    and raise my signal to the peoples,
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.(I)
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you
    and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.(J)

24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty
    or the captives of a tyrant[b] be rescued?
25 But thus says the Lord:
Even the captives of the mighty will be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.(K)
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that I am the Lord your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 49.17 Or Your children come swiftly; your destroyers
  2. 49.24 Q ms Syr Vg: MT of a righteous person

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal[a] Zion,
    for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 12.6 Or O inhabitant of

Psalm 125

The Security of God’s People

A Song of Ascents.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved but abides forever.(A)
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people
    from this time on and forevermore.(B)

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11     Let Mount Zion be glad;
let the towns[a] of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments.(A)

12 Walk about Zion; go all around it;
    count its towers;
13 consider well its ramparts;
    go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 48.11 Heb daughters

The Tribal Portions

48 These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern border, on the Hethlon road,[a] to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enon (which is on the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north), and[b] extending from the east side to the west,[c] Dan, one portion.(A) Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion.(B) Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion.(C) Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion.(D) Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion.(E) Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.(F)

Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion that you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the middle of it.(G) The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and twenty[d] thousand in width. 10 These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five thousand cubits on the northern side, ten thousand cubits in width on the western side, ten thousand in width on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the middle of it.(H) 11 As for the consecrated priests, the descendants[e] of Zadok who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did,(I) 12 they shall have a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites.(J) 13 Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. The whole length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the width twenty[f] thousand.(K) 14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it; they shall not transfer this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.(L)

15 The remainder, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, shall be for ordinary use for the city, for dwellings and for pasturelands. In the middle of it shall be the city,(M) 16 and these shall be its dimensions: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred.(N) 17 The city shall have pasturelands: on the north two hundred fifty cubits, on the south two hundred fifty, on the east two hundred fifty, on the west two hundred fifty.(O) 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.(P) 19 The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.(Q) 20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be twenty-five thousand cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.(R)

21 What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy portion to the east border and westward from the twenty-five thousand cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple in the middle of it,(S) 22 and the property of the Levites and of the city, shall be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

23 As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion.(T) 24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion.(U) 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion.(V) 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion.(W) 27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion.(X) 28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of Egypt[g] to the Great Sea.(Y) 29 This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.(Z)

30 These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure,(AA) 31 three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel.(AB) 32 On the east side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On the south side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure, three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates:[h] the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the city shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.(AC)

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Footnotes

  1. 48.1 Cn: Heb by the side of the way
  2. 48.1 Cn: Heb and they shall be his
  3. 48.1 Gk: Heb the east side the west
  4. 48.9 Cn: Heb ten
  5. 48.11 Heb ms Gk: MT of the descendants
  6. 48.13 Gk: Heb ten
  7. 48.28 Heb lacks of Egypt
  8. 48.34 Heb ms Gk Syr: MT their gates three

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) 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) 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) 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)

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. 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) 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) Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one reed. 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)

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Footnotes

  1. 40.6 Heb deep, and one threshold, one reed deep
  2. 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
  3. 40.13 Gk: Heb roof
  4. 40.13 Heb opening facing opening
  5. 40.14 Heb made
  6. 40.14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  7. 40.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  8. 40.19 Compare Gk: Heb from before
  9. 40.19 Heb adds the east and the north
  10. 40.22 Gk: Heb before them
  11. 40.26 Gk: Heb before them
  12. 40.30 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  13. 40.36 Heb ms: MT lacks were of the same size as the others
  14. 40.37 Gk Vg: Heb posts
  15. 40.38 Cn: Heb at the posts of the gates
  16. 40.44 Gk: Heb chambers for the singers
  17. 40.44 Heb lacks one
  18. 40.44 Gk: Heb east
  19. 40.48 Gk: Heb lacks between the posts
  20. 40.48 Gk: Heb and the width of the gate was three cubits
  21. 40.49 Gk: Heb eleven
  22. 40.49 Gk: Heb and by steps that went up

Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our possession,”(A)

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