Beginning
The New Temple of God
40 It was the tenth day of the month in the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of our captivity and fourteen years after Jerusalem was captured. At that time Yahweh’s power came over me, and he brought me to Jerusalem. 2 In visions, Elohim brought me to Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side of the mountain were some buildings that looked like those in a city. 3 He brought me closer. I saw a man who looked like he was covered with bronze. The man was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring stick, and he stood in a gateway. 4 He said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and listen with your ears. Pay close attention to everything I’m going to show you. You were brought here to be shown these things. Tell the nation of Israel everything that you see.”
The East Gateway
5 I saw a wall that surrounded the temple. The man had a measuring stick that was 10½ feet long. He measured the wall. It was 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high.
6 Then the man went to the gateway that faced east. He went up its steps and measured the entrance to the gateway. It was 10½ feet wide. 7 There were also guardrooms. Each guardroom was 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide. The space between the guardrooms was 9 feet thick. And the entrance to the gateway by the entrance hall of the temple was 10½ feet wide. 8 He also measured the entrance hall of the gateway. 9 It extended 14 feet from the temple. Its recessed walls were 3½ feet thick. The gateway’s entrance hall faced the temple.
10 Now, there were three guardrooms on each side of the eastern gateway. All three rooms on each side were the same size, and the recessed walls on each side were the same size.
11 Then the man measured the width of the entrance to the gateway. It was 17½ feet wide, and the gateway was 23 feet long. 12 There was a barrier about 21 inches in front of each guardroom. The guardrooms were 10½ feet square.
13 He measured the gateway from the top of one guardroom to the top of the opposite guardroom. It was 44 feet wide from one door to the opposite door. 14 He also measured the entrance hall. It was 35 feet wide. In front of the entrance hall to the gateway was a courtyard on all sides.
15 The total length of the gateway from the front of the outer part to the front of the inner part of the entrance hall was 87½ feet.
16 The guardrooms and recessed walls inside the gateway had small windows all around. The entrance hall also had windows all around on the inside. Pictures of palm trees were carved on the recessed walls.
The Outer Courtyard
17 Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard. I saw rooms there and pavement all around the courtyard. There were 30 rooms along the edge of the pavement. 18 The pavement in the lower courtyard ran alongside the gateways. It was as wide as it was long. 19 The man measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner courtyard. It was 175 feet from east to north.
The North Gateway
20 Then the man measured the length and width of the gateway, leading to the outer courtyard. This was the gateway that faced north. 21 Its three guardrooms, its recessed walls, and its entrance hall were the same size as those in the east gateway. The gateway was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. 22 Its windows, recessed walls, and palm tree pictures were the same size as those in the east gateway. Seven steps went up to it and led to its entrance hall. 23 The inner courtyard had a gateway opposite the north gate just like the east gateway. The man measured the distance from one gate to the other gate. It was 175 feet.
The South Gateway
24 Then the man led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway that faced south. He measured its recessed walls and its entrance hall. They were the same size as those of the other gateways. 25 The gateway and its entrance hall had windows on all sides like the windows in the other gateways. It was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. 26 Seven steps went up to it and led to its entrance hall. Pictures of palm trees were carved on the recessed walls, one picture on each side. 27 The inner courtyard had a gateway facing south. The man measured the distance from the gateway on the south side to its opposite gateway. It was 175 feet.
The Inner Courtyard
28 Then the man brought me to the inner courtyard through the south gateway. He measured the south gateway. It was the same size as the others. 29 Its guardrooms, recessed walls, and entrance hall were the same size as the other gateways. The guardrooms and the entrance hall had windows all around. The gateway was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. 30 There were entrance halls all around the inner courtyard. They were all 44 feet long and 9 feet wide. 31 The entrance halls faced the outer courtyard. Pictures of palm trees were carved on the recessed walls, and eight steps led up to each gateway.
32 Then the man brought me to the east side of the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway. It was the same size as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, recessed walls, and entrance halls were the same size as those of the other gateways. Its guardrooms and entrance hall had windows all around. The gateway was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. 34 Its entrance hall faced the outer courtyard. Pictures of palm trees were carved on the recessed walls, and eight steps led up to the gateway.
35 Then the man brought me to the north gateway. He measured it. It was the same size as the others. 36 Its guardrooms, recessed walls, and entrance hall had windows all around. The gateway was 87½ feet long and 44 feet wide. 37 Its recessed walls faced the outer courtyard. Pictures of palm trees were carved on the recessed walls, and eight steps led up to the gateway.
Special Rooms
38 There was a room with a door that opened toward the entrance hall of the gateway. This is the room where the priests washed the animals for the burnt offerings. 39 In the entrance hall of the gateway there were two tables on each side of the room. On these tables the animals were slaughtered for burnt offerings, offerings for sin, and guilt offerings. 40 On each side of the entrance to the north gateway there were two tables, and on the other side of the entrance hall of the gateway there were two tables. 41 So there were four tables on each side of the gateway, eight tables in all, on which they slaughtered animals. 42 There were four tables made of cut stone for burnt offerings. They were 3 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 21 inches high. On these tables the priests laid the utensils that were used to slaughter animals for burnt offerings and sacrifices. 43 Double-pronged hooks, three inches long, were attached to the wall all around the room, and the tables were for the meat of the animals. 44 Outside the gateways to the inner courtyard were the rooms for the singers in the inner courtyards. One room was at the side of the north gateway. It faced south. The other room was at the side of the south gateway. It faced north. 45 The man said to me, “This room that faces south is for the priests who serve in the temple. 46 The room that faces north is for the priests who serve at the altar. These priests are Zadok’s descendants. They are the only Levites who are able to come near Yahweh and serve him.” 47 The man measured the courtyard. It was a perfect square—175 feet long and 175 feet wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.
48 Then the man brought me to the entrance hall of the temple and measured its recessed walls. They were 9 feet on each side. The gateway was 24½ feet wide, and the walls on each side were 5 feet wide. 49 The entrance hall was 35 feet long and 21 feet wide. Steps led up to it. Pillars stood by the recessed walls, one on each side of the entrance hall.
The Holy Place in the Temple
41 Then the man brought me into the holy place in the temple and measured the recessed walls. They were 10½ feet wide on each side. 2 The entrance was 17½ feet wide, and on each side of the entrance the walls were 9 feet wide. Then he measured the length of the holy place. It was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.
3 Then the man went inside and measured the passageway. It was 3½ feet thick. The entrance was 10½ feet high and 12 feet wide. 4 Then he 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 Next, the man measured the temple wall. It was 10½ feet wide. The width of each side room around the temple was 7 feet. 6 The rooms were arranged on three different stories. There were 30 rooms on each story. These rooms had supports all the way around the temple wall, but these supports were not fastened to the temple wall. 7 The side rooms grew wider all the way around as they went up, story after story. The surrounding structure went from story to story all around the temple. The structure grew wider as it went higher. A stairway went from the first story through the second story to the third story.
8 I also saw a raised base all around the temple. This base was the foundation for the side rooms. It measured the full length of the measuring rod, 10½ feet. 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was 9 feet thick. There was an open area between the side rooms connected to the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms. It was 35 feet wide and went all around the temple. 11 The doors in the side rooms were entrances into the open area. There was one door to the north and another to the south. The base of the open area was 9 feet wide all the way around.
12 At the far end of the open area, on the west side of the temple, was a building 122½ feet wide. The wall of the building was 9 feet thick all the way around, and it was 157½ feet long.
13 Then the man measured the temple. It was 175 feet long. This included the open area with the building and its walls. All together it was 175 feet long. 14 The eastern side of the temple, including the open area, was also 175 feet wide. 15 He also measured the length of the building facing the courtyard on the west side along with its corridors on both sides. It was 175 feet long.
The holy place and the most holy place were paneled. 16 The doorposts, the small windows, and the corridors of all three stories were paneled. The walls, from the floor up to the windows, were paneled. 17 In the space above the door to the most holy place and on the walls all around it, 18 there were pictures of angels[a] and palm trees. Palm trees were positioned between each of the angels, and each angel had two faces: 19 the face of a man, which was turned toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion, which was turned toward a palm tree on the other side. These pictures were carved all around the temple. 20 Pictures of angels and palm trees were carved on the walls from the floor to the space above the door.
21 The doorframes in the holy place were square. In front of the most holy place was something similar. 22 There was a wooden altar, 5 feet high and 3½ feet wide. Its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. Then the man told me, “This is the table that is in the presence of Yahweh.”
23 The holy place and the most holy place had two doors. 24 Each of the doors were double doors that swung open. 25 Pictures of angels and palm trees were carved on the doors of the holy place as on the walls. There was a wooden roof hanging over the outer entrance hall. 26 There were small windows and palm trees on both sides of the entrance hall, on the side rooms of the temple, and on the roofs.
The Courtyards of the Lord’s New Temple
42 Then the man led me out toward the north to the outer courtyard. He brought me to the side rooms opposite both the open area and the northern building. 2 The building that faced north was 175 feet long and 87½ feet wide. 3 Opposite the inner courtyard was an area that was 35 feet wide, and opposite the pavement of the outer courtyard were corridors facing corridors on all three stories. 4 In front of the side rooms was a walkway, 17½ feet wide and 175 feet long. The doors of these side rooms faced north.
5 The side rooms on the third story were narrower than those on the first or second stories of the building because the corridors took space away from them. 6 The rooms were in three stories. They didn’t have pillars like the pillars in the courtyards. That is why the rooms on the third story were set farther back than those on the first and second stories. 7 There was a wall which ran parallel to the side rooms and the outer courtyard. It ran alongside the side rooms for 87½ feet. 8 The row of rooms in the outer courtyard was 87½ feet long. The rooms that faced the temple were 175 feet long. 9 These lower side rooms had an entrance on the east side. A person was able to enter the outer courtyard through them.
10 There were side rooms parallel to the wall of the courtyard on the south side.[b] They faced the open area and the building. 11 There was a walkway in front of them like the one that was in front of the side rooms on the north side. These side rooms were as long and as wide as the northern rooms. They had the same exits, dimensions, and doors. 12 The doors to the south rooms were the same as the doors to the north rooms. There was a doorway at the other end of the walkway that was parallel to the corresponding wall that ran eastward. People entered through that doorway.
13 Then the man said to me, “The northern and southern side rooms that face the open area are holy rooms. These rooms are where the priests who come near Yahweh eat the holiest offerings. Because these rooms are holy, the priests keep the holiest offerings there: the grain offerings, the offerings for sin, and the guilt offerings. 14 Once the priests enter the holy place, they must not go out of the holy place into the outer courtyard until they leave behind the clothes that they wore as they served. These clothes are holy. The priests must put on other clothes. Then they can go into the area that is for the people.”
15 When the man had finished measuring the inner part of the temple area, he led me out through the east gate. Then he measured all the way around the outer area. 16 He measured the east side with a measuring stick. It was 875 feet long according to the measuring stick. 17 He measured the north side. It was 875 feet long according to the measuring stick. 18 He measured the south side. It was 875 feet long according to the measuring stick. 19 He came around to the west side and measured it. It was 875 feet long according to the measuring stick. 20 So he measured all four sides. There was a wall all around it. The wall was 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. It separated what was holy from what was unholy.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.