The Daily Audio Bible

The Priests’ Rooms

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

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

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

The Outside of the Temple

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

The Lord Among His People

43 The man led me to the outer east gate. ² And I saw the greatness of the God of Israel coming from the east. God’s voice was like the roar of rushing water. His greatness made the earth shine. ³ I saw a vision. It was like the vision I had seen when the Lord came to destroy the city. It was also like the vision I had seen by the Kebar River. I bowed facedown on the ground. ⁴ The greatness of the Lord came into the Temple through the east gate.

⁵ Then the Spirit picked me up. And he brought me into the inner courtyard. There the Lord’s greatness filled the Temple. ⁶ The man stood at my side. I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple. ⁷ The voice from the Temple said to me, “Human being, this is my throne. And this is the place my feet rest. I will live here among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will not make my holy name unclean again. Neither the people nor their kings will make it unclean by their sexual sins. Nor will they make it unclean with the dead bodies of their kings. ⁸ They made my name unclean by putting their doorway next to my doorway. And they put their doorpost next to my doorpost. Only a wall separated me from them. When they did their acts that I hate, they made my holy name unclean. So I destroyed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them stop their sexual sins. And let them take the dead bodies of their kings far away from me. Then I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “Human being, tell the people of Israel about the Temple. Then they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them think about the plan of the Temple. ¹¹ Then they will be ashamed of all they have done. Let them know the design of the Temple. Let them know how it is built. Show them its exits and entrances. Show them all its designs, all its rules and all its teachings. And write the rules as they watch. Do this so they can obey all the Temple’s teachings and rules. ¹² This is the teaching of the Temple: All the area around the top of the mountain is most holy. This is the teaching of the Temple.

The Altar

¹³ “And these are the measurements of the altar, using the measuring stick. It is 21 inches long. The altar’s base is 21 inches high and 21 inches long. Its rim is about 9 inches around its edge. And the altar is this tall: ¹⁴ From the ground up to the lower ledge, it measures 3½ feet. It is 21 inches wide. It measures 7 feet from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge and is 21 inches wide. ¹⁵ The place where the sacrifice is burned on the altar is 7 feet high. The four corners are shaped like horns and reach up above it. ¹⁶ It is square. It is 21 feet long and 21 feet wide. ¹⁷ The upper ledge is also square, 24½ feet long and 24½ feet wide. The border around it is 10½ inches wide. Its base is 21 inches around. Its steps are on the east.”

¹⁸ Then the man said to me, “Human being, this is what the Lord God says: These are the rules for the altar. When it is built, use these rules to offer burnt offerings and sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ You must give a young bull as a sin offering to the priests. These priests are the Levites from the family of Zadok. They come near me to serve me, says the Lord God. ²⁰ Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the altar’s four corners. Put it also on the four corners of the ledge. And put it on the border all around. This is how you will make the altar pure and ready for God’s service. ²¹ Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the proper place in the Temple area. It will be outside the Holy Place.

²² “On the second day offer a male goat. It must have nothing wrong with it. It will be for a sin offering. The priests will make the altar pure and ready for God’s service. They will do it the same way they did with the young bull. ²³ When you finish making the altar pure and ready, offer a young bull and a male sheep from the flock. They must also have nothing wrong with them. ²⁴ You must offer them before the Lord. The priests will throw salt on them. Then they will offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

²⁵ “You must prepare a goat every day for seven days as a sin offering. Also, you must prepare a young bull and male sheep from the flock. They must have nothing wrong with them. ²⁶ For seven days the priests will make the altar pure and ready for God’s service. Then the priests will give the altar to God. ²⁷ After these seven days, on the eighth day, the priests must present your offerings. They must offer your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, says the Lord God.”

A Warning to the Rich

5 You rich people, listen! Cry and be very sad because of the trouble that will come to you. ² Your riches will rot, and your clothes will be eaten by moths. ³ Your gold and silver will rust, and rust will be a proof that you were wrong. It will eat your bodies like fire. You saved your treasure for the last days. ⁴ Men worked in your fields, but you did not pay them. They harvested your crops and are crying out against you. Now the Lord of heaven’s armies has heard their cries. ⁵ Your life on earth was full of rich living. You pleased yourselves with everything you wanted. You made yourselves fat, like an animal ready to be killed. ⁶ You showed no mercy to the innocent man. You murdered him. He cannot stand against you.

Be Patient

⁷ Brothers, be patient until the Lord comes again. A farmer is patient. He waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth. He waits patiently for it to receive the first rain and the last rain. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope. The Lord is coming soon. ⁹ Brothers, do not complain against each other. If you do not stop complaining, you will be judged guilty. And the Judge is ready to come! ¹⁰ Brothers, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They suffered many hard things, but they were patient. ¹¹ We say they are happy because they were able to do this. You have heard about Job’s patience. You know that after all his trouble, the Lord helped him. This shows that the Lord is full of mercy and is kind.

Be Careful What You Say

¹² My brothers, it is very important that you not use an oath when you make a promise. Don’t use the name of heaven, earth, or anything else to prove what you say. When you mean yes, say only “yes.” When you mean no, say only “no.” Do this so that you will not be judged guilty.

The Power of Prayer

¹³ If one of you is having troubles, he should pray. If one of you is happy, he should sing praises. ¹⁴ If one of you is sick, he should call the church’s elders. The elders should pour oil on him^[a] in the name of the Lord and pray for him. ¹⁵ And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will heal him. And if he has sinned, God will forgive him. ¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. When a good man prays, great things happen. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed that it would not rain. And it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then Elijah prayed again. And the rain came down from the sky, and the land grew crops again.

Saving a Soul

¹⁹ My brothers, one of you may wander away from the truth. And someone may help him come back. ²⁰ Remember this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner’s soul from death. By doing this, that person will cause many sins to be forgiven.

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