Bible in 90 Days
Blessing on Israel
36 And you, mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our possession,”(A) 3 therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because they made you desolate indeed and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and an object of gossip and slander among the people,(B) 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted towns, which have become a source of plunder and an object of derision to the rest of the nations all around;(C) 5 therefore thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my land as their possession, because of its pasture, to plunder it.(D) 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the watercourses and valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the insults of the nations;(E) 7 therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer insults.
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they shall soon come home. 9 See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown, 10 and I will multiply your population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt,(F) 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.(G) 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.(H)
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.(I) 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.(J) 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.(K) 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.”(L) 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.(M)
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.(N) 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.(O) 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.(P) 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.(Q) 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.(R) 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.(S) 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.(T) 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.(U) 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.(V) 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.(W)
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.”(X) 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.(Y)
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.(Z)
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.(AA) 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”(AB) 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live.(AC) 6 I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”(AD)
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”(AE) 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.(AF)
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’(AG) 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.(AH) 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people.(AI) 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”(AJ)
The Two Sticks
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”;(AK) 17 and join them together into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, “Will you not show us what you mean by these?” 19 say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it, and I will put the stick of Judah upon it[e] and make them one stick, in order that they may be one in my hand.”(AL) 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from every quarter and bring them to their own land.(AM) 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.(AN) 23 They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen[f] and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.(AO)
24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.(AP) 25 They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever.(AQ) 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless[g] them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.(AR) 27 My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.(AS) 28 Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.”(AT)
Invasion by Gog
38 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him(AU) 3 and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; 4 I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will lead you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with shield and buckler, wielding swords.(AV) 5 Paras, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with buckler and helmet;(AW) 6 Gomer and all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remotest parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples are with you.(AX)
7 Be ready and keep ready, you and all the companies that are assembled around you, and take command of them.[h] 8 After many days you shall be mustered; in the latter years you shall go against a land restored from war, a land where people were gathered from many nations on the mountains of Israel, which had long lain waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now are living in safety, all of them.(AY) 9 You shall advance, coming on like a storm; you shall be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.(AZ)
10 Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme.(BA) 11 You will say, “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who live in safety, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,(BB) 12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to assail the waste places that are now inhabited and the people who were gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center[i] of the earth.”(BC) 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its young warriors[j] will say to you, “Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your horde to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize a great amount of spoil?”(BD)
14 Therefore, mortal, prophesy and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will rouse yourself[k](BE) 15 and come from your place out of the remotest parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army;(BF) 16 you will come up against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before their eyes.(BG)
Judgment on Gog
17 Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?(BH) 18 On that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my wrath shall be aroused.(BI) 19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare: On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;(BJ) 20 the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the animals of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground and all humans who are on the face of the earth shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.(BK) 21 I will summon the sword against Gog[l] in[m] all my mountains, says the Lord God; the swords of all will be against their comrades.(BL) 22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will pour down torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur upon him and his troops and the many peoples who are with him.(BM) 23 So I will display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(BN)
Gog’s Armies Destroyed
39 And you, mortal, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal!(BO) 2 I will turn you around and drive you forward and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.(BP) 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every kind and to the wild animals to be devoured.(BQ) 5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, says the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.(BR)
7 My holy name I will make known among my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned any more, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.(BS) 8 It has come! It has happened, says the Lord God. This is the day of which I have spoken.
9 Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them—bucklers and shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears—and they will make fires of them for seven years.(BT) 10 They will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any trees in the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons; they will despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.(BU)
The Burial of Gog
11 On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers[n] east of the sea; it shall block the path of the travelers, for there Gog and all his horde will be buried; it shall be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.[o](BV) 12 Seven months the house of Israel shall spend burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land shall bury them, and it will bring them honor on the day that I show my glory, says the Lord God.(BW) 14 They will set apart men to pass through the land regularly and bury any invaders[p] who remain on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it; for seven months they shall make their search.(BX) 15 As the searchers[q] pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone shall set up a sign by it until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog.[r] 16 (A city Hamonah[s] is there also.) Thus they shall cleanse the land.
17 As for you, mortal, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every kind and to all the wild animals: Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.(BY) 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatted calves of Bashan.(BZ) 19 You shall eat fat until you are filled and drink blood until you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with warriors and all kinds of soldiers, says the Lord God.(CA)
Israel Restored to the Land
21 I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed and my hand that I have laid on them.(CB) 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt treacherously with me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.(CC) 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.(CD)
25 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.(CE) 26 They shall bear their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they live securely in their land with no one to make them afraid,(CF) 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands and through them have displayed my holiness in the sight of many nations.(CG) 28 Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I sent them into exile among the nations and then gathered them into their own land. I will leave none of them behind,(CH) 29 and I will never again hide my face from them, when I pour out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.(CI)
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.(CJ) 2 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.(CK) 3 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.(CL) 4 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.”(CM)
5 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. 6 Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.[t] There were(CN) 7 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.(CO) 8 Then he measured the inner vestibule of the gateway, one reed. 9 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.(CP) 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[u] of the one recess to the back[v] of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from wall to wall.[w] 14 He measured[x] the vestibule (sixty cubits) and the gate next to the post on every side of the court.[y](CQ) 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[z] 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.(CR)
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.(CS) 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[aa] the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, one hundred cubits.[ab](CT)
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.(CU) 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.[ac](CV) 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.(CW)
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.(CX) 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.(CY) 26 There were seven steps leading up to it; its vestibule was on the inside.[ad] It had palm trees on its posts, one on either side.(CZ) 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.(DA)
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.(DB) 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.(DC) 30 There were vestibules all around the inner court,[ae] twenty-five cubits deep and five cubits wide.(DD) 31 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its posts, and its stairway had eight steps.(DE)
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.(DF) 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.(DG) 34 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.(DH)
35 Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others.(DI) 36 Its recesses, its posts, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,[af] and it had windows all around. Its depth was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits.(DJ) 37 Its vestibule[ag] faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its posts, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.(DK)
38 There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate[ah] where the burnt offering was to be washed.(DL) 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.(DM) 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.(DN) 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[ai] in the inner court, one[aj] at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south[ak] gate facing north.(DO) 45 He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,(DP) 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.”(DQ) 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.(DR)
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[al] was fourteen cubits, and the shoulders of the gate were three cubits wide on either side.[am] 49 The width of the vestibule was twenty cubits and the depth twelve[an] cubits; ten steps led up[ao] to it, and there were pillars beside the posts on either side.(DS)
41 Then he brought me to the nave and measured the posts; on each side six cubits was the depth of the posts.[ap](DT) 2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. He measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.(DU) 3 Then he went into the inner room and measured the posts of the entrance, two cubits, and the width of the entrance, six cubits, and the sidewalls[aq] of the entrance, seven cubits.(DV) 4 He measured the depth of the room, twenty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits, beyond the nave. And he said to me, “This is the most holy place.”(DW)
5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the width of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. 6 The side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets[ar] all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple.(DX) 7 The passageway[as] of the side chambers widened from story to story, for the structure was supplied with a stairway all around the temple. For this reason the structure became wider from story to story. One ascended from the bottom story to the uppermost story by way of the middle one.(DY) 8 I saw also that the temple was on a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits high.(DZ) 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and the free space between the side chambers of the temple(EA) 10 and the chambers of the court was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side.(EB) 11 The side chambers opened onto the area left free, one door toward the north and another door toward the south, and the width of the part that was left free was five cubits all around.(EC)
12 The building that was facing the temple yard on the west side was seventy cubits deep, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around and its width ninety cubits.(ED)
13 Then he measured the temple, one hundred cubits deep, and the yard and the building with its walls, one hundred cubits deep,(EE) 14 also the width of the east front of the temple and the yard, one hundred cubits.(EF)
15 Then he measured the width of the building facing the yard at the west, together with its galleries[at] on either side, one hundred cubits.
The nave of the temple’s interior and the outer[au] vestibule(EG) 16 were paneled,[av] and all around all three had windows with recessed[aw] frames. Facing the threshold, the temple was paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered).(EH) 17 On the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside and on all the walls all around in the inner room and the nave there was a pattern.[ax] 18 It was formed of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces:(EI) 19 a human face turned toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion turned toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around;(EJ) 20 from the floor to the area above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall.[ay]
21 The doorposts of the nave were square. In front of the holy place was something resembling(EK) 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits wide;[az] its corners, its base,[ba] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that stands before the Lord.”(EL) 23 The nave and the holy place had each a double door.(EM) 24 The doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. 25 On the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls, and there was a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside. 26 And there were recessed windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule.[bb](EN)
The Holy Chambers and the Outer Wall
42 Then he led me out into the outer court toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the temple yard and opposite the building on the north.(EO) 2 The length of the building that was on the north side[bc] was[bd] one hundred cubits and the width fifty cubits. 3 Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, the chambers rose[be] gallery[bf] by gallery[bg] in three stories.(EP) 4 Amid the chambers was an interior passage, ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits deep,[bh] and its[bi] entrances were on the north.(EQ) 5 Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries[bj] took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers in the building. 6 For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the outer[bk] court; for this reason the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.(ER) 7 There was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8 For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the temple were one hundred cubits long.(ES) 9 At the foot of these chambers ran a passage that one entered from the east in order to enter them from the terrace space outside.(ET) 10 The entrance was aligned with the start of the wall[bl] toward the court.
On the south[bm] also, opposite the vacant area and opposite the building, there were chambers 11 with a passage in front of them; they were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and width, with the same exits[bn] and arrangements and doors. 12 So the entrances of the chambers to the south were entered through the entrance at the head of the corresponding passage, from the east, along the matching wall.[bo]
13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the vacant area are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings; there they shall deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the purification offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy.(EU) 14 When the priests enter the holy place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the vestments in which they minister, for these are holy; they shall put on other garments before they go near to the area open to the people.”(EV)
15 When he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faces east and measured the temple area all around.(EW) 16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 17 Then he turned and measured[bp] the north side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 18 Then he turned and measured[bq] the south side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to make a separation between the holy and the common.(EX)
The Divine Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east.(EY) 2 And there the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters, and the earth shone with his glory.(EZ) 3 The[br] vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city and[bs] like the vision that I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell upon my face.(FA) 4 As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east,(FB) 5 the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(FC)
6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple.(FD) 7 He said to me: “Mortal, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution and by sacrificing to their kings[bt] at their death.[bu](FE) 8 When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed; therefore I have consumed them in my anger.(FF) 9 Now let them put away their idolatry and sacrifices to their kings[bv] far from me, and I will reside among them forever.(FG)
10 “As for you, mortal, describe the temple to the house of Israel, and let them measure the pattern, and let them be ashamed of their iniquities.(FH) 11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form—all its ordinances and its entire plan and all its laws; and write it down in their sight so that they may observe and follow the entire plan and all its ordinances.(FI) 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple.(FJ)
The Altar
13 “These are the dimensions of the altar by long cubits in which each is a cubit and a handbreadth: its base shall be one cubit high[bw] and one cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. This shall be the height of the altar:(FK) 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a width of one cubit, and from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, four cubits, with a width of one cubit,(FL) 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits, and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns.(FM) 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve wide.(FN) 17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide, with a rim around it half a cubit high, and its surrounding base, one cubit. Its steps shall face east.”(FO)
18 Then he said to me: “Mortal, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for dashing blood against it,(FP) 19 you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, says the Lord God, a bull of the herd for a purification offering.(FQ) 20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around; thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the purification offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.(FR)
22 “On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a purification offering, and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.(FS) 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.(FT) 25 For seven days you shall provide daily a goat for a purification offering; also a bull of the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.(FU) 26 Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it and so consecrate it. 27 When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, and I will accept you, says the Lord God.”(FV)
The Closed Gate
44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faces east, and it was shut. 2 The Lord said to me: “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”(FW)
Admission to the Temple
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.(FX) 5 The Lord said to me: “Mortal, mark well, look closely, and listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the Lord and all its laws, and mark well the entrances[bx] to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.(FY) 6 Say to the rebellious house,[by] to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your abominations(FZ) 7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You[bz] have broken my covenant with all your abominations.(GA) 8 And you have not kept charge of my sacred offerings, but you have appointed foreigners[ca] to act for you in keeping my charge in my sanctuary.
9 “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.(GB) 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them.(GC) 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their punishment.(GD) 13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred, but they shall bear their shame and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed.(GE) 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.(GF)
The Levitical Priests
15 “But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.(GG) 16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary; it is they who shall approach my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments; they shall have nothing of wool on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.(GH) 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.(GI) 19 When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall remove the vestments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments.(GJ) 20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.(GK) 22 They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest.(GL) 23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.(GM) 24 In a dispute they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.(GN) 25 They shall not defile themselves by going near a dead person; for father or mother, however, and for son or daughter and for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.(GO) 26 After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him.(GP) 27 On the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his purification offering, says the Lord God.
28 “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding.(GQ) 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the purification offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.(GR) 30 The first of all the first fruits of all kinds and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings shall belong to the priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest on your house.(GS) 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by animals.(GT)
The Holy District
45 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty[cb] thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its entire extent. 2 Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3 In the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4 It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.(GU) 5 Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities to live in.[cc](GV)
6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.(GW)
7 “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary(GX) 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.(GY)
9 “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God.(GZ)
Weights and Measures
10 “You shall have honest balances, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.[cd](HA) 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall make a mina for you.(HB)
Offerings
13 “This is the offering that you shall make: one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil[ce] one-tenth of a bath[cf] from each cor (the cor,[cg] like the homer, contains ten baths), 15 and one sheep from every flock of two hundred from the pastures of Israel. This is the offering for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God.(HC) 16 All the people of the land shall join in making this offering in Israel through the prince. 17 This shall be the obligation of the prince regarding the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the festivals, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the house of Israel: he shall provide the purification offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the offerings of well-being, to make atonement for the house of Israel.(HD)
Festivals
18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull of the herd without blemish and purify the sanctuary.(HE) 19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court.(HF) 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.(HG)
21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Festival of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.(HH) 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a purification offering.(HI) 23 And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a purification offering.(HJ) 24 He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the festival, he shall make the same provision for purification offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings and for the oil.(HK)
Miscellaneous Regulations
46 “Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall remain closed on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.(HL) 2 The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his offerings of well-being, and he shall bow down at the entryway of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be closed until evening.(HM) 3 The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.(HN) 4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish,(HO) 5 and the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.(HP) 6 On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish;(HQ) 7 as a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.(HR) 8 When the prince enters, he shall come in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.(HS)
9 “When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return by way of the gate by which they entered but shall go out straight ahead.(HT) 10 When they come in, the prince shall come in with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.
11 “At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain offering with a bull shall be an ephah and with a ram an ephah and with the lambs as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah.(HU) 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or offerings of well-being as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering or his offerings of well-being as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be closed.(HV)
13 “You shall provide a lamb, a yearling, without blemish, for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.(HW) 14 And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning regularly, one-sixth of an ephah and one-third of a hin of oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for all time.(HX) 15 Thus the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, as a regular burnt offering.(HY)
16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance,[ch] it shall belong to his sons; it is their holding by inheritance.(HZ) 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance.(IA) 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; he shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own holding, so that none of my people shall be dispossessed of their holding.”(IB)
19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them.(IC) 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the purification offering and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so communicate holiness to the people.”(ID)
21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and in each corner of the court there was a court: 22 in the four corners of the court were small[ci] courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts,[cj] was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”(IE)
Water Flowing from the Temple
47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there water was flowing from below the entryway of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east), and the water was flowing down from below the south side of the temple, south of the altar.(IF) 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east,[ck] and the water was trickling out on the south side.(IG)
3 Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.(IH) 4 Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was up to the waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, “Mortal, have you seen this?”
Then he led me back along the bank of the river.(II) 7 As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other.(IJ) 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh.(IK) 9 Wherever the river goes,[cl] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes. 10 People will stand fishing beside the sea[cm] from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.(IL) 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”(IM)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.