Old/New Testament
A Vision of the New Temple[a]
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year,[b] 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 came upon me, and he brought me there. 2 In visions of God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side there was a structure that resembled a city. 3 When he brought me there, I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. In his hand he had a linen cord and a measuring rod. He was standing by the gatehouse.
4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch carefully, listen carefully, and pay attention to[c] everything that I am about to show you, because you were brought here so that I could show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.”
The Wall and Outer Gates
The Wall
5 I saw a wall[d] all the way around the temple compound. In the man’s hand was the measuring rod, six cubits long (using the long cubit).[e] When he measured the thickness of the structure, it was one rod thick, and its height was one rod.
The East Gatehouse
6 Then he approached the gatehouse[f] that was on the east side of the temple compound and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate. It was one rod deep.[g] 7 Each guardroom[h] was one rod wide and one rod deep. Between the guardrooms, the walls were five cubits thick,[i] and the threshold of the gate of the vestibule[j] on the inner side of the gatehouse was one rod deep. 8 ⎣He measured the vestibule on the inner side of the gatehouse. It was one rod.⎦[k]
9 He measured the vestibule of the gatehouse, which was eight cubits,[l] and its gateposts were two cubits. The vestibule of the gatehouse was located at the inner end of the gateway. 10 Inside the east gatehouse, there were three guardrooms on either side of the entry. All three were the same size, and the gateposts on either side were also the same size. 11 Then he measured the width of the entry into the gateway. It was ten cubits, and the length of the gateway was thirteen cubits.[m] 12 There was a barrier in front of the guardrooms, one cubit wide, on both sides of the passage. Each guardroom was six cubits square.[n]
13 Next he measured the passageway through the gatehouse, from the outside edge of the ceiling of one guardroom to the outside edge of the ceiling opposite it. The total width was twenty-five cubits.[o] The doorways to the guardrooms were facing each other on each side of the passageway. 14 He determined that the measurement of the gateposts was sixty cubits,[p] and the courtyard all around the gateway reached to the gateposts.[q] 15 From the front of the outer entrance of the gateway to the outside edge of the vestibule on the inner side of the gateway was fifty cubits.[r] 16 The guardrooms and their doorposts had openings on all sides. The openings were slits that were narrower toward the inside of the gate, and likewise, the vestibule had openings that narrowed toward the inside all the way around.[s] The doorposts had decorations like palm trees.
The Outer Courtyard
17 Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There were rooms and a pavement constructed all the way around the courtyard. Thirty rooms faced the pavement.[t] 18 The pavement ran along the sides of the gates. The pavement was as wide as the length of the gatehouse. This was the lower pavement. 19 He measured the width of the pavement from the inside edge of the outer gatehouse to the outside edge of the inner courtyard. It measured one hundred cubits[u] on the east and on the north sides of the temple.
The North Gatehouse
20 There was a gateway leading into the outer courtyard on the north side. The man measured its length and its width. 21 Its guardrooms, three on each side, its gateposts, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the first gatehouse, fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22 The entry, the vestibule, and its palm decorations also had the same measurements as those of the gatehouse facing east. From outside the temple compound one could enter the gate by seven steps, and the vestibule of the gateway was straight ahead at the inner end of the gateway.
23 A gateway into the inner courtyard was opposite the outer gatehouse (the same as on the east side), and he measured from the outer gate to the inner one opposite it. The distance was one hundred cubits.[v]
The South Gatehouse
24 Next, he led me toward the south, and there also was a gatehouse on the south side of the temple compound. He measured its gateposts and its vestibule, and the measurements were like the others. 25 It and its vestibule had openings all around like the openings of the others. Its length was fifty cubits and its width was twenty-five cubits. 26 It had seven steps going up to it, and its vestibule was straight ahead of them at the opposite end of the gateway, and it had palm decorations on either side on its gateposts. 27 The inner courtyard also had a gateway facing south. He measured from one gate to the other toward the south. It was one hundred cubits.
The Gates to the Inner Courtyard
28 Then he brought me into the inner courtyard through its south gate.[w] He measured this gatehouse on the south side of the inner courtyard. Its measurements were like those of the previous gatehouses. 29 Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule had the same measurements as the others. Both the gatehouse and the vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
30 There were vestibules on each side of the inner courtyard. They were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.[x] 31 The vestibule of the inner gatehouse faced the outer courtyard. There were palm decorations on its gateposts, and its stairway had eight steps.
32 Next he brought me into the inner courtyard through the gate facing east. He measured the gatehouse, and its dimensions were the same as the others. 33 Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule were the same size as the others. It and its vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34 Its vestibule faced the outer court, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairs had eight steps.
35 Then he brought me to the north gatehouse and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others. 36 This was also true of its guardrooms, its gateposts, and its vestibule. It had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 37 Its vestibule faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairway had eight steps.
Rooms of the Inner Courtyard
38 There was a room with a door, next to the gateposts at each of the inner gateways,[y] where they washed the burnt offering.[z]
39 Inside the vestibule of the gateway, on each side, there were two tables upon which to slaughter the whole burnt offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering. 40 Next to the outside wall of the vestibule, as one goes toward the entrance of the north gateway, there were two more tables. Next to the other outside wall of the vestibule of the gateway were two more tables. 41 That is, there were four tables on one side and four on the other side of the gateway—eight tables on which they were to slaughter the sacrifices.
42 Four more tables for the burnt offering were made of hewn stone. They were one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high. On them they placed the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the other sacrifices. 43 Double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth[aa] long, were fastened to the building all around, but the meat for the sacrifice was placed on the tables.
44 Just outside of the inner gateway, in the inner courtyard, were two rooms,[ab] one beside the north gate, which faced south, and the other beside the south[ac] gate, which faced north. 45 He said to me, “This room that faces south is for the priests who guard the temple, 46 and the room that faces north is for the priests who guard the altar. They are descendants of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”
The Inner Courtyard
47 Then he measured the courtyard.[ad] It was one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide[ae]—a square. The altar was in front of the temple.
The Temple Building
The Vestibule
48 Next he brought me to the vestibule of the temple building.[af] He measured each doorpost of the vestibule: five cubits[ag] on either side. The width of the gate was ⎣fourteen cubits.[ah] The sides of the gate were⎦ three cubits[ai] on either side.[aj] 49 The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and its width was eleven cubits.[ak] One entered it by ten[al] steps, and there were pillars by the doorposts, one on either side.
The Rooms of the Temple
41 Then he brought me to the outer room of the sanctuary[am] and measured the doorposts, six cubits[an] wide on either side. This was the width of the Tent.[ao] 2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits,[ap] and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits[aq] on either side. Then he measured the outer room’s length, forty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits.[ar]
3 Then he entered the inner room of the sanctuary[as] and measured the doorposts of its entrance, two cubits, and the width of the entrance was six cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were seven cubits on either side.[at] 4 He measured its length, twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits,[au] the same as the width of the outer room. Then he said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”
5 Next he measured the wall of the temple building. It was six cubits thick, and the width of each side room was four cubits. The side rooms[av] ran all around the temple. 6 The side rooms were stacked on top of one another, in three stories, with thirty rooms in each story. The floors of the side rooms rested on ledges attached to the wall of the temple all the way around, so that the supports for the rooms would not cut into the temple wall itself. 7 The side rooms all around the temple became wider as one went up from story to story, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps. Therefore, the width of the interior of the attached structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle story.[aw]
The Platform and Courtyard
8 I saw a raised platform all around the temple that served as a foundation for the side rooms. The terrace built on this foundation, measured by a full rod, was six long cubits tall.[ax] 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits. The open area[ay] between the side rooms attached to the temple 10 and the other rooms on the other side of the inner courtyard was twenty cubits wide[az] all around the temple. 11 There were entrances into the side rooms from the open area, one entrance on the north side, one on the south. The width of the terrace[ba] bordering the open area was five cubits all around.[bb]
12 The building[bc] on the far side of the restricted area[bd] on the western side of the temple was seventy cubits wide.[be] The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.[bf]
13 Then he measured the temple building. Its length was one hundred cubits.[bg] The restricted area and the building with its walls also had a length of one hundred cubits. 14 The width of the area in front of the temple, including the restricted areas east of the temple, was one hundred cubits as well. 15 He also measured the length of the building facing the restricted area at the rear of the temple, along with its balconies on either side. It was one hundred cubits.
The Interior Decoration
The outer and inner rooms of the sanctuary,[bh] the vestibules of the courtyard, 16 the thresholds, and the windows with slanting frames, as well as the balconies around the three sides, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all the way around, from the floor to the upper windows, and the windows were covered with lattices.[bi] 17 The paneling extended up to the space above the entrance, both in the inner and outer sanctuary. On all the walls all around, in both the inner and outer sanctuary, there were geometric patterns,[bj] 18 carved cherubim, and decorations like palms. There was a palm decoration between each cherub and its neighbor. Each cherub had two faces: 19 the face of a man turned toward the palm on one side and the face of a lion turned toward the palm on the other side. They were carved all around the whole temple. 20 From the floor up to the space above the entrance, cherubim and palms were carved, even on the walls of the outer room of the sanctuary.[bk] 21 As for the outer room of the sanctuary, its doorposts were square, and the front of the Holy of Holies had the same design.
The Altar in the Temple
22 The altar was made of wood, three cubits high. Its length was two cubits, and its width was two cubits.[bl] Its corners, its base,[bm] and its sides were also of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”
23 Both the outer room of the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies had double doors. 24 The doors had two leaves apiece, two folding leaves—two for one door and two leaves for the other door. 25 Carved on the doors of the outer room there were cherubim and palm decorations, like those carved on the walls. Outside there was a wooden canopy in front of the vestibule. 26 There were also windows narrowing toward the inside and palm decorations on both side walls of the vestibule. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.
The Destruction of the World Is Coming
3 Dear friends, this is now the second letter that I have written to you. I wrote both of them to stir up your sincere mind with a reminder 2 for you to remember the words spoken earlier by the holy prophets and the command of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 First, know this: In the last days scoffers will come with their mocking, following their own lusts. 4 They will say, “Where is this promised coming of his? For from the time that our fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have from the beginning of the creation.” 5 You see, what they are intentionally forgetting is that the heavens came into existence long ago by the word of God and that the earth came together out of the water and between the waters.[a] 6 Through these waters the former world perished, when it was flooded with water. 7 And now, by that same word, the heavens and earth have been stored up for fire, since they are being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness. Instead, he is patient for your sakes,[b] not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Live a Holy Life
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.[c] On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be dissolved as they burn with great heat, and the earth and what was done on it will be burned up.[d] 11 Therefore,[e] since all these things will be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be, living in holiness and godliness, 12 as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God? That day will cause the heavens to be set on fire and destroyed, and the elements to melt as they burn with great heat. 13 But according to his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, dear friends, as you look forward to these things, make every effort to be found in peace, spotless and blameless in his sight. 15 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him. 16 He spoke about these things the same way in all of his letters. There are some matters that are hard to understand in his letters, which the ignorant and unstable distort, as they also do with the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Conclusion
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you do not fall from your own firm position by being led astray through the error of the wicked. 18 Instead grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.