Bible in 90 Days

A Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

36 As for you, son of man, 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 has said against you, “Aha! Even the ancient high places are our possession,” ³ therefore, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: For good reason they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side so that you might become a possession to the rest of the nations, and you have been taken up on the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the people. ⁴ Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the rest of the nations that are all around; ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who have arrogated My land into their possession with the joy of all their hearts and with a spiteful soul, to cast it out for a prey. ⁶ Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations. ⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I have lifted up My hand that surely the nations who are about you shall themselves bear their invectives.

⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit for My people Israel. For they shall come soon. ⁹ For I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it. And the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. ¹¹ And I will multiply man and beast upon you. And they shall increase and bring forth fruit. And I will settle you as you were before and do better to you than at the beginning. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹² Indeed, I will cause men to walk upon you, My people Israel, and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children.

¹³ Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” ¹⁴ therefore you shall devour men no more or bereave your nation of children anymore, says the Lord God. ¹⁵ Nor will I cause men to hear in you the invectives of the nations anymore, nor shall you bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to fall anymore, says the Lord God.

The Restoration of Israel

¹⁶ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁷ Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. ¹⁸ Therefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for their idols with which they had polluted it. ¹⁹ And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries. According to their ways and according to their deeds, I judged them. ²⁰ When they entered the nations, where they went, they profaned My holy name, because they said of them, “These are the people of the Lord and have gone out of His land.” ²¹ But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

²² Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ²³ I will vindicate the sanctity of My great name which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified among you before their eyes.

²⁴ For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. ²⁶ Also, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. ²⁸ You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you will be My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will also save you from all your uncleanness. And I will call for the grain and increase it and lay no famine upon you. ³⁰ I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field so that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then you shall remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. ³² Not for your sake am I doing this, says the Lord God, let it be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated for your ways, O house of Israel!

³³ Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste places shall be built. ³⁴ The desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all who pass by. ³⁵ They shall say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. And the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fenced and inhabited.” ³⁶ Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I the Lord have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

³⁷ Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. ³⁸ As the flock for sacrifices, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, ² and He caused me to pass among them all around. And there were very many in the open valley. And they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

⁴ Again He said to me, “Prophesy over 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 to enter you so that you live. ⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you and will grow back flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you so that you live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise and a shaking. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ When I looked, the sinews and the flesh grew upon them, and the skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the wind; prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain so that they live.” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, 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.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Pay attention, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves. ¹⁴ And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I the Lord have spoken and performed it, says the Lord.”

Israel and Judah Unite

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: ¹⁶ Moreover, son of man, take one stick and write on it: “For Judah and for the sons of Israel his companions.” Then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions.” ¹⁷ Then join them to one another into one stick so that they become one in your hand.

¹⁸ When the sons of your people speak to you, saying, “Will you not show us what you mean by these things?” ¹⁹ say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick; and they shall be one in My hand. ²⁰ The sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. ²¹ Say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land. ²² And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all. And they shall be two nations no more, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore. ²³ Nor shall they defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them. So they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ David My servant shall be king over them. And they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes and do them. ²⁵ They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived. And they shall dwell in it, they and their sons and their son’s sons forever. And My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷ My tabernacle also shall be with them. Indeed, I will be their God and they shall be My people. ²⁸ The nations shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.

A Prophecy Against Gog

38 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ² Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshek and Tubal, and prophesy against him, ³ and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshek and Tubal. ⁴ And I will turn you back and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords. ⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet. ⁶ I will do so to Gomer and all its troops, Beth Togarmah of the north quarters and all its troops, and many peoples with you.

⁷ Be prepared and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. ⁸ After many days you shall be called. In the latter years you shall come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered out of many peoples, against the mountains of Israel which had been always a waste. But its people were brought out of the nations, and they, all of them, are dwelling safely. ⁹ You shall ascend and come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.

¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: It shall come to pass on that day that things shall come into your mind and you shall think an evil thought, ¹¹ and you shall say, “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates,” ¹² to take spoil and to seize prey, to turn your hand against the desolate places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have obtained livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the world. ¹³ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages shall say to you, “Have you come to take spoil? Have you gathered your company to seize prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?”

¹⁴ Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: On that day when My people of Israel dwell safely, shall you not know it? ¹⁵ And you shall come from your place out of the north parts, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. ¹⁶ And you shall come up against My people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the latter days that I will bring you against My land so that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified in you, O Gog, before their eyes.

Judgment on Gog

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, that My fury shall come up in My anger. ¹⁹ For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep upon the earth and all the men who are upon the face of the earth shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. ²¹ I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains, says the Lord God. Every man’s sword shall be against his brother. ²² I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood. And I will rain upon him and upon his troops and upon the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone. ²³ Thus I will magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

The Destruction of Gog’s Armies

39 Moreover you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshek, and Tubal. ² And I will turn you back, drive you on, and take you up the north parts and bring you against the mountains of Israel. ³ And I will strike your bow out of your left hand and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. ⁴ You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. ⁵ You shall fall upon the open field. For I have spoken, says the Lord God. ⁶ I will send a fire on Magog and among those who dwell safely in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

⁷ So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel. And I will not let them pollute My holy name anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ It is coming and it shall be done, says the Lord God. This is the day of which I have spoken.

⁹ Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire for seven years. ¹⁰ They shall take no wood out of the field, or cut down any out of the forests, for they shall make fires with the weapons. And they shall despoil those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.

The Burial of Gog

¹¹ It shall come to pass in that day that I will give to Gog a place of graves there in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea, and it shall stop the passengers. And there they shall bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.

¹² For seven months the house of Israel shall be burying them so that they may cleanse the land. ¹³ Indeed, all the people of the land shall bury them. And it shall be their renown on the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord God. ¹⁴ They shall separate men who continually pass through the land to bury the passengers, even those who remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it.

After the end of seven months they shall search. ¹⁵ As the passengers pass through the land and anyone sees a man’s bone, then he shall set up a sign by it until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. ¹⁶ Also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.

¹⁷ As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to every kind of fowl and to every beast of the field: Assemble and come. Gather on every side to My sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the officials of the earth as though of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. ¹⁹ You shall eat fat until you are full and drink blood until you are drunk from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. ²⁰ Thus you shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all the men of war, says the Lord God.

²¹ I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid upon them. ²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. ²³ The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity because they trespassed against Me, and I hid My face from them. And I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and all of them fell by the sword. ²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions, I have done to them and hid My face from them.

The Restoration of Israel

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 will be jealous for My holy name. ²⁶ They shall forget their shame and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against Me when they lived safely in their land and no one made them afraid. ²⁷ When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. ²⁸ Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God who caused them to be led into captivity among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land and have left none of them there anymore. ²⁹ Nor will I hide My face from them anymore. For I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God.

The Vision of the New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck, on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me there. ² In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me upon a very high mountain, on which was as the frame of a city on the south. ³ He brought me there, and there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand. And he stood in the gate. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you. For you have been brought here to show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

The East Gate

⁵ There was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man’s hand was a measuring reed of six cubits^[a] long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth.^[b] So he measured the width of the building, one reed. And the height, one reed.

⁶ Then he went to the gateway facing east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed wide. And the other threshold of the gate was one reed wide. ⁷ Every little chamber was one reed long and one reed wide. And between the little chambers were five cubits.^[c] And the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the inside gate was one reed.

⁸ He measured also the vestibule of the gate within, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight cubits.^[d] And its posts, two cubits.^[e] And the vestibule of the gate was the inner end.

¹⁰ The little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side and three on that side. The three were of one measurement. And the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ He measured the width of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits,^[f] and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.^{[g] 12} The space also before the little chambers was one cubit^[h] on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side. And the little chambers were six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. ¹³ He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another; the width was twenty-five cubits,^[i] door against door. ¹⁴ He measured the posts, sixty cubits,^[j] even to the post of the court all around the gate. ¹⁵ From the face of the gate of the entrance to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits.^{[k] 16} There were narrow windows in the little chambers and in their posts inside the gate all around, and likewise in the vestibules. And windows were all around inside. And on each post were palm tree ornaments.

The Outer Court

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court. Thirty chambers were on the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits^[l] eastward and northward.

The North Gate

²⁰ As for the gate of the outer court that faced north, he measured its length and its width. ²¹ Its little chambers, three on this side and three on that side, its posts, and its arches had the same measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its width twenty-five cubits. ²² Its windows, and those of its arches, and its palm trees had the same measurements as the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it; and its arches were in front of it. ²³ The gate of the inner court was opposite the gate on the north, as on the east. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

The South Gate

²⁴ After that he brought me toward the south, and there was a gate facing south. And he measured its posts and its arches according to these same measurements. ²⁵ There were windows in it and in its arches all around like those 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. And it had palm tree ornaments, one on this side, and another on that side on its posts. ²⁷ There was a gate in the inner court facing south. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

The Inner Court

²⁸ He brought me to the inner court by the south gate. And he measured the south gate according to these same measurements. ²⁹ And its little chambers and its posts and its arches were according to these same measurements. And there were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ The arches all around were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its arches faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts. And its staircase had eight steps.

³² He brought me into the inner court facing east. And he measured the gate according to these same measurements. ³³ Its little chambers and its posts and its arches were according to these same measurements. And there were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits^[m] long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its arches faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts, on this side and on that side. And its staircase had eight steps.

³⁵ He brought me to the north gate and measured it according to these same measurements; ³⁶ its little chambers, its posts, and its arches, and it had windows all around: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. ³⁷ Its posts faced the outer court. And palm tree ornaments were on its posts, on this side and on that side. And its staircase had eight steps.

Chambers for Washing the Sacrifice

³⁸ The chambers and its entrance were by the posts of the gates where they washed the burnt offering. ³⁹ In the vestibule of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, to slay on it the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰ On the outside of the vestibule, as 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 this side and four tables on that side by the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughtered their sacrifices. ⁴² The four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high.^[n] On which also they laid the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice. ⁴³ Within were hooks, a handbreadth wide,^[o] fastened all around. And on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

Chambers for the Singers and Priests

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate were the chambers for the singers in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the east gate facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple. ⁴⁶ The chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who come near to the Lord to minister to Him.”

⁴⁷ So he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits wide, foursquare. And the altar was before the temple.

The Vestibule of the Temple

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured each post of the vestibule, five cubits^[p] on this side, and five cubits on that side. And the width of the gate was three cubits^[q] on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits^[r] and the width eleven cubits.^[s] And he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it. And there were pillars by the posts, one on this side and another on that side.

The Inner Temple

41 Afterward he brought me to the temple and measured the posts, six cubits^[t] wide on the one side and six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tabernacle. ² The width of the door was ten cubits.^[u] And the sides of the door were five cubits^[v] on the one side and five cubits on the other side. And he measured its length, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.^[w]

³ Then he went inward and measured the post of the door, two cubits,^[x] and the door, six cubits, and the width of the door, seven cubits.^{[y] 4} So he measured its length, twenty cubits. And before the temple, the width was twenty cubits. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

⁵ Afterward he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits, and the width of every side chamber, four cubits,^[z] all around the temple on every side. ⁶ The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty in each story. There were offsets all around to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. ⁷ The side chambers became wider with each successive story going up because the structures went up all around the temple. Therefore the width of the temple increased going upwards and thus one went up from the lowest to the highest level through the middle level.

⁸ I saw also the height all around the temple. The foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the wall of the side chambers was five cubits. And that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within. ¹⁰ Between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side chambers opened onto the open place, one door toward the north and another door toward the south. And the width of the open place was five cubits all around.

¹² Now the building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits^[aa] wide. And the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.^[ab]

¹³ So he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the separate yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long;^{[ac] 14} also the width of the eastern face of the temple and the separate yard was a hundred cubits.

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard at the west, together with its galleries on either side, one hundred cubits with the nave of the temple and the porches of the court, ¹⁶ the doorposts and the narrow windows. The galleries all around their three stories opposite the threshold were paneled with wood from the ground to the windows (the windows were covered), ¹⁷ from the space above the door, even to the inner room, as well as outside, and on every wall all around, inside and outside, by measure. ¹⁸ It was made with cherubim and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between cherub and cherub. And every cherub had two faces, ¹⁹ so that the face of a man was 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 throughout the temple all round. ²⁰ From the ground to the top of the door and on the wall of the nave, cherubim and palm trees were carved.

²¹ The posts of the temple and the face of the sanctuary were squared. The appearance of the one was as the appearance of the other. ²² The altar of wood was three cubits^[ad] high, and its length two cubits. And its corners and its length and its walls were of wood. And he said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” ²³ The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. ²⁴ The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves. Two leaves were for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. ²⁵ There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees like those made on the walls. And there were thick planks on the front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ There were beveled windows and palm trees on both sides, on the sides of the vestibule; thus were the side chambers of the temple and the thresholds.

The Chambers for the Priests

42 Then he brought me out into the outer court, toward the north; and he brought me into the chamber that was opposite the separate yard and which was opposite the building on the north. ² Before the length of a hundred cubits was the north door, and the width was fifty cubits.^{[ae] 3} Opposite the twenty cubits^[af] that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. ⁴ In front of the chambers was a passage on the inner side, ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits^[ag] deep; and their doors faced north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were shorter. For the galleries were higher than these, than the lower and the middle ones of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, but had no pillars as the pillars of the courts. Therefore the building was set back more than the lowest and the middle ones from the ground. ⁷ And a wall that was outside was parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers; its length was fifty cubits. ⁸ For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. And the length of those before the temple was a hundred cubits. ⁹ From under these chambers was the entrance on the east side as one goes into them from the outer court.

¹⁰ The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separate yard and opposite the building, ¹¹ with a passage in front of them; they were like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, of the same length and width. And all their exits and arrangements were according to plan. ¹² Corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south was a door at the head of the passage way, the passage way directly in front of the wall toward the east.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter it, then they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. And they shall put on other garments, and shall approach those things which are for the people.”

¹⁵ Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner temple, he brought me out by the gate that faces east, and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred cubits^[ah] with the measuring reed all around. ¹⁷ He measured the north side with the measuring reed round about, five hundred reeds. ¹⁸ He measured the south side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds. ¹⁹ He turned about to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it by the four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred reeds long and five hundred wide,^[ai] to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.

God’s Glory Returns to the Temple

43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. ² And the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like a noise of many waters. And the earth shone with His glory. ³ It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw, when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision that I saw by the River Kebar. And I fell upon my face. ⁴ The glory of the Lord came into the temple by the way of the gate facing east. ⁵ So the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court. And the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶ Then I heard one speaking to me out of the temple. And a man stood by me. ⁷ He said to me: Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel forever. And My holy name shall the house of Israel defile no more, nor they nor their kings by their harlotry, nor by the corpses of their kings when they die. ⁸ By setting their threshold by My threshold and their post by My posts and the wall between Me and them, they have even defiled My holy name by their abominations that they have committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰ As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. And let them measure the pattern. ¹¹ If they are ashamed of all that they have done, show them the design of the temple and its fashion and exits and its entrances and all its forms and all its ordinances and all its laws. And write it in their sight so that they may keep its whole form and all its ordinances and do them.

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.

The Altar Restored

¹³ These are the measurements of the altar by cubits^[aj] (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): The base shall be a cubit, and the width a cubit, and its border by its edge all around shall be a span.^[ak] And this shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ From the bottom on the ground even to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit.^[al] And from the lesser ledge even to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit.^{[am] 15} So the altar shall be four cubits. And from the altar and upward shall be four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide,^[an] square in its four corners. ¹⁷ The ledge shall be fourteen cubits^[ao] long and fourteen wide in the four squares. And the border about it shall be half a cubit.^[ap] And its bottom shall be a cubit all around. And its stairs shall face east.

¹⁸ He said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ You shall give to the priests the Levites that are of the seed of Zadok who approach Me to minister to Me, says the Lord God, a young bull as a sin offering. ²⁰ You shall take of its blood and put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of the ledge and on the rim all around. Thus you shall cleanse and purge it. ²¹ You shall take the bull also of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.

²² On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering. And they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. ²³ When you have made an end of cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram out of the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

²⁵ For seven days you shall prepare every day a goat as a sin offering. They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. ²⁶ For seven days they shall purge the altar and purify it. So they shall consecrate it. ²⁷ When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and forward, the priests shall present your burnt offerings and your peace offerings upon the altar. And I will accept you, says the Lord God.

The East Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me back to the gate of the outer sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. ² Then the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it. Because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it, therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate and shall go out by the same way.

⁴ Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the temple. And I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face.

⁵ The Lord said to me: Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well those who may enter the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let all your abominations suffice; ⁷ you brought foreigners into My sanctuary, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood. For they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ You have not kept the charge of My holy things. But you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary. ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigner who is among the sons of Israel.

Laws for the Priests

¹⁰ But the Levites who have gone far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray away from Me after their idols, they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house and ministering to the house. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity. ¹³ They shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things in the Most Holy Place. But they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.

¹⁵ But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

¹⁷ It shall come to pass that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. And no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads and shall have linen breeches on their loins. They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments. And they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.

²⁰ Nor shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long. They shall only trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ Nor shall any priest drink wine when they enter the inner court. ²² Nor shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who has been put away. But they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who had a priest before. ²³ They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴ In controversy they shall stand in judgment. And they shall judge it according to My judgments. And they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My assemblies. And they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

²⁵ They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves. But for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that has had no husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days. ²⁷ In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.

²⁸ It shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall eat the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering. And every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations shall be the priest’s. You shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest in your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died naturally or was torn to pieces.

The Holy District

45 Moreover, when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion of the land. The length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand cubits,^[aq] and the width shall be twenty thousand.^[ar] It shall be holy throughout its territory all around. ² Of this there shall be a square plot for the sanctuary, five hundred by five hundred cubits,^[as] with fifty cubits^[at] for an open space around it. ³ Of this measure you shall measure the length of twenty-five thousand cubits and the width of ten thousand cubits.^[au] And in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who shall come near to minister to the Lord. And it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵ An area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the temple, and for their possession cities in which to dwell.

⁶ You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand cubits^[av] wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long adjacent to the allotment of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

⁷ A portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the holy allotment and property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, from the west side westward and from the east side eastward. And the length shall correspond to one of the tribal portions, from the west border to the east border. ⁸ In the land shall be his possession in Israel. And My officials shall no more oppress My people. And the rest of the land they shall give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

Laws Governing the Prince

⁹ Thus says the Lord God: Let it suffice you officials of Israel. Remove violence and destruction, and execute justice and righteousness. Take away your exactions from My people, says the Lord God. ¹⁰ You shall have just balances and a just ephah^[aw] and a just bath.^{[ax] 11} The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure so that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer,^[ay] and the ephah the tenth part of a homer. Their measure shall be after the homer. ¹² The shekel^[az] shall be twenty gerahs.^[ba] Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.^[bb]

¹³ This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah^[bc] of a homer of wheat, and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah^[bd] of a homer of barley. ¹⁴ Concerning the ordinance of oil that is the bath of oil, you shall offer the tenth part of a bath^[be] out of the kor,^[bf] which is a homer or ten baths, for ten baths are a homer. ¹⁵ And one lamb shall be out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the watering places of Israel, as a grain offering and as a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall give this offering for the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings and grain offerings and drink offerings in the feasts and in the New Moons and in the Sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering and the grain offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.

Observing the Feasts

¹⁸ Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary. ¹⁹ And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court. ²⁰ So you shall do the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs and for him who is naive. So you shall make atonement for the temple.

²¹ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days. Unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull as a sin offering. ²³ For seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily for the seven days, and a male of the goats daily as a sin offering. ²⁴ He shall prepare a grain offering of an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram and a hin^[bg] of oil for an ephah.

²⁵ In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, he shall do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the grain offering, and according to the oil.

The Prince and the Feasts

46 Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut the six working days. But on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. ² The prince shall enter by the way of the vestibule of that gate from outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out. But the gate shall not be shut until the evening. ³ Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the Sabbaths and in the New Moons. ⁴ The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to the Lord in the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵ The grain offering shall be an ephah^[bh] for a ram and the grain offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give and a hin^[bi] of oil to an ephah. ⁶ In the day of the New Moon it shall be a young bull without blemish and six lambs and a ram. They shall be without blemish. ⁷ He shall prepare a grain offering, an ephah^[bj] for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain to, and a hin of oil to an ephah. ⁸ When the prince enters, he shall go in by the way of the vestibule of that gate, and he shall go out the same way.

⁹ But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate by which he entered, but shall go out the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince shall be in their midst. When they enter, he shall enter; and when they go out, he shall go out. ¹¹ At the feasts and the appointed festivals the grain offering shall be an ephah^[bk] for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able to give, together with a hin of oil for an ephah.

¹² Now when the prince prepares a voluntary burnt offering or voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he did on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out. And after he goes out, the gate shall be shut.

¹³ You shall daily prepare a burnt offering to the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish. You shall prepare it every morning. ¹⁴ You shall prepare a grain offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah,^[bl] and the third part of a hin^[bm] of oil to temper with the fine flour, a grain offering continually by a perpetual ordinance to the Lord. ¹⁵ Thus they shall prepare the lamb and the grain offering and the oil every morning as a continual burnt offering.

Inheritance Laws for the Prince

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord God: If the prince gives a gift out of his inheritance to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. It is their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty. Then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will be only his sons. It will belong to them. ¹⁸ Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression to thrust them out of their possession. But he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession so that My people not be scattered, every man from his possession.

Preparations for the Offerings

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests which face toward the north. And there was a place at the extreme westward end of them. ²⁰ Then he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering so that they not bear them out into the outer court, to sanctify the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court. And in every corner of the court there was a court. ²² In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty wide.^[bn] These four corners were of one measurement. ²³ There was a row of masonry all around in them, all around the four of them; and it was made with hearths at the bottom of the rows all around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the boiling places where the ministers of the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

The River Flowing From the Temple

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and water was flowing out from under the threshold of the temple eastward, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing down from under from the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 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 east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

³ When the man who had the line in his hand went eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the water; the water reached the ankles. ⁴ Again he measured a thousand and brought me through the water. The water reached the knees. Again he measured a thousand and brought me through the water. The water reached the loins. ⁵ Afterward he measured a thousand. And it was a river that I could not pass over, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. ⁷ When I had returned I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸ Then he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. ⁹ Every living creature that swarms, wherever the rivers go, will live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come there and the others become fresh. Thus everything shall live wherever the river comes. ¹⁰ It shall come to pass that the fishermen shall stand upon it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim there shall be a place to spread out nets. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the Mediterranean Sea, exceedingly many. ¹¹ But its miry places and its marshes shall not be healed. They shall be given to salt. ¹² By the river upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all kinds of trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade nor shall its fruit fail. They shall bring forth fruit according to their months, because their water issues out of the sanctuary. And their fruit shall be for food and their leaves for medicine.”