Beginning

The New Temple

40 It was the twenty-fifth year of our captivity. It was at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month. It was in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was defeated. On that same day I felt the power of the Lord. He brought me to Jerusalem. ² In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel. He put me on a very high mountain. On the south of the mountain there were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ The Lord took me closer to the buildings. I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. He was standing in the gateway. He had a cord made of linen and a stick in his hand, both for measuring. ⁴ The man said to me, “Human being, look with your eyes and hear with your ears. And pay attention to all that I will show you. That’s why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel all that you see.”

The East Gate

⁵ I saw a wall that surrounded the Temple. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was 10½ feet long. So the man measured the wall. It was 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gate. He went up its steps and measured the opening of the gate. It was more than 10½ feet wide. ⁷ There were rooms for the guards. They were 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide. The walls that came out between the guards’ rooms were about 9 feet thick. And there was a gate next to the porch that faced the Temple. The opening of this gate was 10½ feet wide.

⁸ Then the man measured the porch of the gate. ⁹ It was about 14 feet deep. And its doors were 3½ feet thick. The porch of the gate faced the Temple.

¹⁰ There were three little rooms on each side of the last gate. These three rooms measured the same on each side. The walls between each room were the same thickness. ¹¹ The man measured the width of the entrance to the gateway. It was 17½ feet wide. The length of the gate was about 23 feet. ¹² And there was a low wall about 21 inches high in front of each room. The rooms were 10½ feet on each side. ¹³ The man measured the gateway from the roof of one room to the roof of the opposite room. It was about 44 feet from one door to the opposite door. ¹⁴ The man also measured the porch. It was about 35 feet wide. The courtyard was around the porch. ¹⁵ From the front of the outer side of the gate to the front of the porch of the inner side of the gate was 87½ feet. ¹⁶ The rooms and porch had small windows on all sides. The windows were narrower on the side facing the gateway. Carvings of palm trees were on each inner wall of the rooms.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard. I saw rooms and a pavement of stones. Thirty rooms were along the edge of the paved walkway. ¹⁸ The pavement ran alongside the gates. It was as long as the gates were wide. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then the man measured from the outer wall to the inner wall. The outer court between these two walls was 175 feet on the east and on the north.

The North Gate

²⁰ The man measured the length and width of the gate leading to the outer courtyard. It faced north. ²¹ It had three rooms on each side. Its inner walls and its porch measured the same as the first gate. It was 87½ feet long. And it was 44 feet wide. ²² Its windows, porch and carvings of palm trees measured the same as the east gate. Seven steps went up to the gate. And the gate’s porch was opposite them. ²³ The inner courtyard had a gate across from the northern gate like the one on the east. The man measured it and found it was 175 feet from inner gate to outer gate.

The South Gate

²⁴ Then the man led me south. I saw a gate facing south. He measured its inner walls and its porch. They measured the same as the other gates. ²⁵ The gate and its porch had windows all around like the other gates. It was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ²⁶ Seven steps went up to this gate. Its porch was in front of them. It had carvings of palm trees on its inner walls. ²⁷ A gate was on the south side of the inner courtyard. The man measured from gate to gate on the south side. It was 175 feet.

The Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man brought me through the south gate to the inner courtyard. The inner south gate measured the same as the gates in the outer wall. ²⁹ The inner south gate’s rooms, inner walls and porch measured the same as the gates in the outer wall. There were windows all around the gate and its porch. The gate was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁰ Each porch of each inner gate was about 44 feet long and about 9 feet wide. ³¹ The inner south gate’s porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inside walls. Its stairway had eight steps.

³² The man brought me into the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the inner east gate. It measured the same as the other gates. ³³ The inner east gate’s rooms, inside walls and porch measured the same as the other gates. Windows were all around the gate and its porch. The inner east gate was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side. Its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵ Then the man brought me to the inner north gate. He measured it. It measured the same as the other gates. ³⁶ Its rooms, inner walls and porch measured the same as the other gates. Windows were all around the gate. It was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁷ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on its inner walls on each side. And its stairway had eight steps.

Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ There was a room with a door that opened onto the porch of the inner north gate. In this room the priests washed animals for the burnt offerings. ³⁹ There were two tables on each side of the room. Animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings and penalty offerings were killed on these tables. ⁴⁰ On each side of the porch, outside the door to the room, were two tables. ⁴¹ So four tables were on one side of the gate. And four tables were on the other side of the gate. In all there were eight tables on which the priests killed animals for sacrifices. ⁴² There were four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering. These tables were about 3 feet long and 3 feet wide. And they were about 2 feet high. On these tables the priests put their tools. They used the tools to kill animals for burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double hooks 3 inches long were put up on all the walls. The flesh for the offering was put on the tables.

The Priests’ Rooms

⁴⁴ There were two rooms in the inner courtyard. One was beside the north gate. It faced south. The other room was beside the south gate. It faced north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room which faces the south is for the priests. They serve in the Temple. ⁴⁶ And the room that faces north is for the priests who serve at the altar. These priests are descendants of Zadok. They are the only descendants of Levi who can come near the Lord to serve him.”

⁴⁷ The man measured the Temple courtyard. It was a perfect square. It was 175 feet long and 175 feet wide. The altar was in front of the Temple.

The Temple Porch

⁴⁸ The man brought me to the porch of the Temple. And he measured each wall of the porch. It was about 9 feet on each side. The gate was 24½ feet wide. The walls of the gate were about 5 feet on each side. ⁴⁹ The porch was 35 feet long and 21 feet wide. Ten steps went up to the porch. Pillars were by the walls, one on each side of the entrance.

The Holy Place of the Temple

41 The man brought me to the Holy Place. He measured its walls. They were 10½ feet wide on each side. ² The entrance was 17½ feet wide. The walls alongside the entrance were about 9 feet wide on each side. The man measured the Holy Place. It was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.

³ Then the man went inside. And he measured the walls of the doorway. Each was 3½ feet wide. The doorway was 10½ feet wide. The walls next to it were more than 12 feet thick. ⁴ Then the man measured the room at the end of the Holy Place. It was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. The man said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

⁵ Then the man measured the wall of the Temple. It was 10½ feet wide. The side rooms were 7 feet wide all around the Temple. ⁶ The side rooms were on three different stories, each above the other. There were 30 rooms on each story. The side rooms had ledges on the wall all around. The rooms rested on the ledges but were not attached to the walls. ⁷ The side rooms around the Temple were wider on each higher story. So rooms were wider on the top story. A stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest through the middle story.

⁸ I also saw that the Temple had a raised base all around. It was the foundation for the side rooms and was 10½ feet thick. ⁹ The outer wall of the side rooms was about 9 feet thick. There was an open area between the side rooms of the Temple ¹⁰ and the priests’ rooms. It was 35 feet wide and went all around the Temple. ¹¹ The doors of the side rooms led to a paved base around the outside of the Temple. One door faced north. And the other door faced south. The paved base was about 9 feet wide all around.

¹² There was a building facing the Temple courtyard at the west side. It was 122½ feet wide. The wall of the building was about 9 feet thick all around. It was 157½ feet long.

¹³ Then the man measured the Temple. The Temple was 175 feet long. This included the courtyard with the building and its walls. It was all 175 feet long. ¹⁴ Also the eastern front of the Temple and its courtyard was 175 feet wide.

¹⁵ The man measured the length of the building facing the courtyard on the west side, including its side rooms. Its walls from one side to the other were 175 feet.

The Holy Place, the Most Holy Place and the porch of the courtyard ¹⁶ had wood panels on the walls. By the doorway, the Temple had wood panels on the walls. The wood covered all the walls from the floor up to the windows. The windows were covered with crossed strips of wood.

¹⁷ In the space above the entrance to the Most Holy Place there were carvings. And on the outside and all the walls around the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place were carvings. ¹⁸ The carvings were of creatures with wings and palm trees. A palm tree was between each carved creature. Every creature had two faces. ¹⁹ One was a man’s face looking toward the palm tree on one side. The other was a lion’s face looking toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all around the Temple wall. ²⁰ This was from the floor to above the door. Palm trees and creatures with wings were carved on all the walls of the Holy Place. ²¹ The walls of the Holy Place were square. In front of the Most Holy Place was something that looked like ²² an altar of wood. It was more than 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Its corners, base and sides were wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is in the presence of the Lord.” ²³ Both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place had double doors. ²⁴ Each of the doors had two pieces that would swing open. ²⁵ Palm trees and creatures with wings were also carved on the doors of the Holy Place. They were like those carved on the walls. And there was a wood roof on the front Temple porch. ²⁶ There were windows and palm trees on both side walls of the porch. The side rooms of the Temple were also covered by a roof.

The Priests’ Rooms

42 Then the man led me north out into the outer courtyard. He led me to the rooms across from the Temple courtyard. The outer wall was north of these rooms. ² The building on the north side was 175 feet long and 87½ feet wide. ³ There was 35 feet of the Temple courtyard between this building and the Temple. On the other side, this building faced the stone pavement of the outer courtyard. The building had rooms and balconies on three stories. ⁴ There was a hallway on the north side of the rooms. It was 17½ feet wide and 175 feet long. Doors led into the rooms from this hallway. ⁵ The top rooms were narrower. This was because the balconies took more space from them. The rooms on the first and second stories of the building were wider. ⁶ The rooms were on three stories. They did not have pillars like the pillars of the courtyards. So the top rooms were farther back than those on the first and second stories. ⁷ There was a wall outside parallel to the rooms and to the outer courtyard. It ran in front of the rooms for 87½ feet. ⁸ The row of rooms along the outer courtyard was 87½ feet long. The rooms that faced the Temple were about 175 feet long. ⁹ The lower rooms had an entrance on the east end of the building. This was so a person could enter them from the courtyard.

¹⁰ There were rooms on the south side, parallel to the wall of the outer courtyard. They faced the Temple courtyard. ¹¹ These rooms had a hallway in front of them. They were like the rooms on the north. They had the same length and width. And the doors were the same. ¹² The doors of the south rooms were like the doors of the north rooms. There was a door at the east end of a hall. This hall went to all the rooms.

¹³ The man said to me, “The north and south rooms across from the Temple courtyard are holy rooms. There the priests who go near the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings: the grain offerings, sin offerings and the penalty offerings. ¹⁴ The priests who enter the Holy Place must leave their serving clothes there. Then they may go into the outer courtyard. This is because these clothes are holy. The priests must put on other clothes. Then they may go to the part of the Temple which is for the people.”

The Outside of the Temple

¹⁵ The man finished measuring inside the Temple. Then he brought me out through the east gate. He measured the area all around. ¹⁶ The man measured the east side with the measuring stick. It was 875 feet by the measuring stick. ¹⁷ He measured the north side. It was 875 feet by the measuring stick. ¹⁸ He measured the south side. It was 875 feet by the measuring stick. ¹⁹ He went around to the west side. And it measured 875 feet by the measuring stick. ²⁰ So he measured the Temple on all four sides. The Temple had a wall all around it. It was 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. It separated the holy from that which is not holy.