Old/New Testament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you ² that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³ knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” ⁵ For they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God, ⁶ by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished. ⁷ But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore, since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, ¹² looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. ¹⁵ Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.