Beginning

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck, in the same day, Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me there. ² In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was something like the frame of a city to the south. ³ He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

⁵ Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits^[a] long, of a cubit and a hand width each. So he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

⁶ Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide. ⁷ Every lodge was one reed long and one reed wide. Between the lodges was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.

⁸ He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.

¹⁰ The side rooms of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side. The three of them were of one measure. The posts had one measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ He measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits; ¹² and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the side rooms, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. ¹³ He measured the gate from the roof of the one side room to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits, door against door. ¹⁴ He also made posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate. ¹⁵ From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits. ¹⁶ There were closed windows to the side rooms, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches. Windows were around inward. Palm trees were on each post.

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court. Behold, there were rooms and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were on the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the width from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

²⁰ He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces toward the north. ²¹ The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side. Its posts and its arches were the same as the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. ²² Its windows, its arches, and its palm trees were the same as the measure of the gate which faces toward the east. They went up to it by seven steps. Its arches were before them. ²³ There was a gate to the inner court facing the other gate, on the north and on the east. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate.

²⁴ He led me toward the south; and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its posts and its arches according to these measurements. ²⁵ There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like the other windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. ²⁶ There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. It had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts. ²⁷ There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate toward the south.

²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements; ²⁹ with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts. The ascent to it had eight steps.

³² He brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured the gate according to these measurements; ³³ with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.

³⁵ He brought me to the north gate, and he measured it according to these measurements— ³⁶ its lodges, its posts, and its arches. There were windows in it all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. ³⁷ Its posts were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.

³⁸ A room with its door was by the posts at the gates. They washed the burnt offering there. ³⁹ In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to kill the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰ On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate: eight tables, on which they killed the sacrifices. ⁴² There were four cut stone tables for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. ⁴³ The hooks, a hand width long, were fastened within all around. The meat of the offering was on the tables.

⁴⁴ Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate. They faced toward the south. One at the side of the east gate faced toward the north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This room, which faces toward the south, is for the priests who perform the duty of the house. ⁴⁶ The room which faces toward the north is for the priests who perform the duty of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to him.” ⁴⁷ He measured the court, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, square. The altar was before the house.

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the porch was twenty cubits and the width eleven cubits, even by the steps by which they went up to it. There were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

41 He brought me to the nave and measured the posts, six cubits wide on the one side and six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tent. ² The width of the entrance was ten cubits,^[b] and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side. He measured its length, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.

³ Then he went inward and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴ He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the nave. He said to me, “This is the most holy place.”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the width of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side. ⁶ The side rooms were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in each story. They entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might be supported and not penetrate the wall of the house. ⁷ The side rooms were wider on the higher levels, because the walls were narrower at the higher levels. Therefore the width of the house increased upward; and so one went up from the lowest level to the highest through the middle level.

⁸ I saw also that the house had a raised base all around. The foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits. That which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house. ¹⁰ Between the rooms was a width of twenty cubits around the house on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side rooms were toward an open area that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. The width of the open area was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

¹³ So he measured the temple, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the width of the face of the temple, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.

¹⁵ He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits from the inner temple, and the porches of the court, ¹⁶ the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, opposite the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered), ¹⁷ to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure. ¹⁸ It was made with cherubim and palm trees. A palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces, ¹⁹ so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. It was made like this through all the house all around. ²⁰ Cherubim and palm trees were made from the ground to above the door. The wall of the temple was like this.

²¹ The door posts of the nave were squared. As for the face of the nave, its appearance was as the appearance of the temple. ²² The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its base, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before Yahweh.” ²³ The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. ²⁴ The doors had two leaves each, two turning leaves: two for the one door, and two leaves for the other. ²⁵ There were made on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm trees, like those made on the walls. There was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside. ²⁶ There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch. This is how the side rooms of the temple and the thresholds were arranged.

42 Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north. Then he brought me into the room that was opposite the separate place, and which was opposite the building toward the north. ² Facing the length of one hundred cubits^[c] was the north door, and the width was fifty cubits. ³ Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the three stories. ⁴ Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ width inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north. ⁵ Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these more than from the lower and the middle in the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, and they didn’t have pillars as the pillars of the courts. Therefore the uppermost was set back more than the lowest and the middle from the ground. ⁷ The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, was fifty cubits long. ⁸ For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. Behold, those facing the temple were one hundred cubits. ⁹ From under these rooms was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.

¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms. ¹¹ The way before them was like the appearance of the rooms which were toward the north. Their length and width were the same. All their exits had the same arrangement and doors. ¹² Like the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north rooms and the south rooms, which are opposite the separate place, are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, with the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter in, then they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court until they lay their garments in which they minister there; for they are holy. Then they shall put on other garments, and shall approach that which is for the people.”

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faces toward the east, and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around. ¹⁷ He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around. ¹⁸ He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ¹⁹ He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, the length five hundred cubits, and the width five hundred cubits, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.