Ezekiel 40:1-44:31

Other Translations of Ezekiel 40:1-44:31

King James Version

The Prophet's Vision of the Temple

40¹ In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. ² In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame by which: or, upon which of a city on the south. ³ And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. ⁴ And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

⁵ And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an hand breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. ⁶ Then came he unto the gate which looketh which looketh...: Heb. whose face was the way toward the east toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad. ⁷ And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed. ⁸ He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. ⁹ Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. ¹⁰ And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. ¹² The space space: Heb. limit, or, bound also before the little chambers was one cubit 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 breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door. ¹⁴ He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate. ¹⁵ And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. ¹⁶ And there were narrow narrow: Heb. closed windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees. ¹⁷ Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement. ¹⁸ And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, without: or, from without an hundred cubits eastward and northward. ²⁰ And the gate of the outward court that looked that looked: Heb. whose face was toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. ²¹ And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches arches: or, galleries, or, porches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. ²² And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them. ²³ And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits. ²⁴ After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. ²⁵ And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. ²⁶ And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.

²⁷ And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits. ²⁸ And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; ²⁹ And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. ³⁰ And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. broad: Heb. breadth ³¹ And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. ³² And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. ³³ And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. ³⁴ And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. ³⁵ And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; ³⁶ The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. ³⁷ And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps. ³⁸ And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering.

³⁹ And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰ And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at 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, whereupon they slew their sacrifices. ⁴² And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. ⁴³ And within were hooks, hooks: or, and irons, or, the two hearthstones an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. ⁴⁴ And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. ⁴⁵ And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge charge: or, ward, or, ordinance of the house. ⁴⁶ And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the Lord to minister unto him. ⁴⁷ So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. ⁴⁸ And 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: and the breadth 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 breadth eleven cubits; 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.

41¹ Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. ² And the breadth of the door door: or, entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. ³ Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. ⁴ So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place. ⁵ After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. ⁶ And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. ⁷ And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. ⁸ I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within. ¹⁰ And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. ¹¹ And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.

¹² Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. ¹³ So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. ¹⁵ And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries galleries: or, several walks, or, walks with pillars thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court; ¹⁶ The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled cieled...: Heb. cieling of wood with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; ¹⁷ To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. measure: Heb. measures ¹⁸ And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a 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 through all the house round about. ²⁰ From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. ²¹ The posts posts: Heb. post of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other. ²² The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. ²³ And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. ²⁴ And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. ²⁵ And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without. ²⁶ And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.

42¹ Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north. ² Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. ³ Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. ⁴ And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher were higher...: or, did eat of these than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground. ⁷ And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits. ⁸ For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits. ⁹ And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court. ¹⁰ The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building. ¹¹ And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. ¹² And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them. ¹³ Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.

¹⁵ Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. ¹⁶ He measured the east side side: Heb. wind with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. ¹⁷ He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. ¹⁸ He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. 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 round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.

The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple

43¹ Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: ² And, behold, 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 shined with his glory. ³ And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. ⁴ And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. ⁵ So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.

The Ordinances of the Temple

⁶ And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

⁷ And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. ⁸ In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled and the...: or, for there was but a wall between me and them my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. ¹⁰ Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. pattern: or, sum, or, number ¹¹ And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. ¹² This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.

¹³ And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom bottom: Heb. bosom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. ¹⁴ And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit. ¹⁵ So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. ¹⁶ And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. ¹⁷ And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east. ¹⁸ And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. ¹⁹ And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering. ²⁰ And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. ²¹ Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. ²² And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock. ²³ When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. ²⁴ And thou shalt offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the Lord. ²⁵ Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. ²⁶ Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. ²⁷ And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.

44¹ Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. ² Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. ³ It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

⁴ Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell upon my face. ⁵ And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark well, mark well: Heb. set thine heart and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. ⁶ And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, ⁷ In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, strangers: Heb. children of a stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge my charge: or, my ward, or, ordinance in my sanctuary for yourselves. ⁹ Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

¹⁰ And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear 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 unto them. ¹² Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. ¹³ And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto 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 house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. ¹⁵ But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: ¹⁶ They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

¹⁷ And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein 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 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. ²¹ Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. ²² Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. ²³ And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ And 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 mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. ²⁵ And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. ²⁷ And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD. ²⁸ And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first And the first: or, And the chief of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

English Standard Version

The Prophet's Vision of the Temple

40¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.Hebrew 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 which was a structure like a city to the south. ³ When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. ⁴ And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel."

⁵ And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadthA cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. ⁶ Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.Hebrew deep, and one threshold, one reed deep ⁷ And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. ⁸ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰ And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. ¹² There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. ¹³ Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other. ¹⁴ He measured also the vestibule, twenty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.Text uncertain; Hebrew And he made the jambs sixty cubits, and to the jamb of the court was the gateway all around ¹⁵ From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. ¹⁶ And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees. ¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement. ¹⁸ And the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court,Hebrew distance from before the low gate before the inner court to the outside a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.Or cubits. So far the eastern gate; now to the northern gate. ²⁰ As for the gate that faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth. ²¹ Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ²² And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps people would go up to it, and find its vestibule before them. ²³ And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits. ²⁴ And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And he measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the others. ²⁵ Both it and its vestibule had windows all around, like the windows of the others. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ²⁶ And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its vestibule was before them, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side.

²⁷ And there was a gate on the south of the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits. ²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. ²⁹ Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁰ And there were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits broad. ³¹ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps. ³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate. It was of the same size as the others. ³³ Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁴ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. ³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it. It had the same size as the others. ³⁶ Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others,One manuscript (compare verses 29 and 33); most manuscripts lack were of the same size as the others and it had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. ³⁷ Its vestibuleSeptuagint, Vulgate (compare verses 26, 31, 34); Hebrew jambs faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. ³⁸ There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate,Hebrew at the jambs, the gates where the burnt offering was to be washed.

³⁹ And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered. ⁴⁰ And off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables; and off to the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, on which to slaughter. ⁴² And there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴³ And hooks,Or shelves a handbreadth long, were fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid. ⁴⁴ On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambersSeptuagint; Hebrew were chambers for singers in the inner court, oneHebrew lacks one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the southSeptuagint; Hebrew east gate facing north. ⁴⁵ And he said to me, This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple, ⁴⁶ and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who aloneHebrew lacks alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him. ⁴⁷ And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple. ⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gateSeptuagint; Hebrew lacks was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate were three cubits on either side. ⁴⁹ The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelveSeptuagint; Hebrew eleven cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps.Septuagint; Hebrew and by steps that would go up to it And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side.

41¹ Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubitsA cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters was the breadth of the jambs.Compare Septuagint; Hebrew tent ² And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,Hebrew its length forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. ³ Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either sideSeptuagint; Hebrew and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴ And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place." ⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. ⁶ And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsetsSeptuagint, compare 1 Kings 6:6; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. ⁷ And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. ⁸ I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the ¹⁰ other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹ And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits. ¹³ Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits. ¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleriesThe meaning of the Hebrew term is unknown; also verse 16 on either side, a hundred cubits. The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, ¹⁶ the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), ¹⁷ to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.Hebrew were measurements ¹⁸ It was carved of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: ¹⁹ a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. ²⁰ From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave. ²¹ The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling ²² an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.Septuagint; Hebrew lacks two cubits broad Its corners, its base,Septuagint; Hebrew length and its walls were of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that is before the Lord." ²³ The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door. ²⁴ The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. ²⁵ And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a canopyThe meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown; also verse 26 of wood in front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.

42¹ Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. ² The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits,A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters and the breadth fifty cubits. ³ Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was galleryThe meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown; also verse 5 against gallery in three stories. ⁴ And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long,Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew and a way of one cubit and their doors were on the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones. ⁷ And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. ⁸ For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the naveOr temple were a hundred cubits long. ⁹ Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court. ¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the southSeptuagint; Hebrew east also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers ¹¹ with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exitsHebrew and all their exits and arrangements and doors, ¹² as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain ¹³ Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings-- the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering--for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people."

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. ¹⁷ He measured the north side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. ¹⁸ He measured the south side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. ¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, cubits long and cubits broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common.

The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple

43¹ Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. ² And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. ³ And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when heSome Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts when I came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. ⁴ As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, ⁵ the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

The Ordinances of the Temple

⁶ While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple,

⁷ and 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 people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodiesOr the monuments; also verse 9 of their kings at their high places,Or at their deaths ⁸ by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. ¹⁰ "As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. ¹² This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

¹³ "These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth):A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters its base shall be one cubit highOr its gutter shall be one cubit deep and one cubit broad, with a rim of one spanA span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; ¹⁵ and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. ¹⁷ The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east." ¹⁸ And he said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it, ¹⁹ you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, a bull from the herd for a sin offering. ²⁰ And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. ²² And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³ When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶ Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.Hebrew fill its hand ²⁷ And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD."

44¹ Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³ Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way."

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶ And say to the rebellious house,Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, ⁷ in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. YouSeptuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary. ⁹ "Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.Or iniquity; also verse 12 ¹¹ They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. ¹⁵ "But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ²⁵ They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ²⁶ After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD. ²⁸ "This shall be their 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, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Message

The Prophet's Vision of the Temple

40¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month - it was the fourteenth year after the city fell - God touched me and brought me here. ² He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick. ⁴ The man said to me, "Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I'm going to show you. That's why you've been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see."

⁵ First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man's hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet. ⁶ He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. ⁷ He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep. ⁸ He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: ⁹ twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard. ¹⁰ Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical. ¹¹ He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep. ¹² In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square. ¹³ He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other. ¹⁴ He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard. ¹⁵ The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet. ¹⁶ The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees. ¹⁷ The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. ¹⁸ The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. ¹⁹ He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet. ²⁰ Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. ²¹ It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. ²² The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. ²³ Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet. ²⁴ Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. ²⁵ The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. ²⁶ It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides.

²⁷ Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet. ²⁸ He led me into the inside courtyard through the south gate complex. He measured it and found it the same as the outside ones. ²⁹ Its alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule were the same. The gate complex and porch, windowed all around, measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. ³⁰ The vestibule of each of the gate complexes leading to the inside courtyard was forty-three and three-quarters by eight and three-quarters feet. ³¹ Each vestibule faced the outside courtyard. Palm trees were carved on its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it. ³² He then took me to the inside courtyard on the east and measured the gate complex. It was identical to the others - ³³ alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule all the same. The gate complex and vestibule had windows all around. It measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on the doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps. ³⁵ He brought me to the gate complex to the north and measured it: same measurements. ³⁶ The alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule with its windows: eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. ³⁷ Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on its doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps. ³⁸ There was a room with a door at the vestibule of the gate complex where the burnt offerings were cleaned.

³⁹ Two tables were placed within the vestibule, one on either side, on which the animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were slaughtered. ⁴⁰ Two tables were also placed against both outside walls of the vestibule ⁴¹ - four tables inside and four tables outside, eight tables in all for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. ⁴² The four tables used for the burnt offerings were thirty-one and a half inches square and twenty-one inches high. The tools for slaughtering the sacrificial animals and other sacrifices were kept there. ⁴³ Meat hooks, three inches long, were fastened to the walls. The tables were for the sacrificial animals. ⁴⁴ Right where the inside gate complex opened onto the inside courtyard there were two rooms, one at the north gate facing south and the one at the south gate facing north. ⁴⁵ The man told me, "The room facing south is for the priests who are in charge of the Temple. ⁴⁶ And the room facing north is for the priests who are in charge of the altar. These priests are the sons of Zadok, the only sons of Levi permitted to come near to God to serve him." ⁴⁷ He measured the inside courtyard: a hundred seventy-five feet square. The altar was in front of the Temple. ⁴⁸ He led me to the porch of the Temple and measured the gateposts of the porch: eight and three-quarters feet high on both sides. ⁴⁹ The entrance to the gate complex was twenty-one feet wide and its connecting walls were four and a half feet thick. The vestibule itself was thirty-five feet wide and twenty-one feet deep. Ten steps led up to the porch. Columns flanked the gateposts.

41¹ He brought me into the Temple itself and measured the doorposts on each side. Each was ten and a half feet thick. ² The entrance was seventeen and a half feet wide. The walls on each side were eight and three-quarters feet thick. He also measured the Temple Sanctuary: seventy feet by thirty-five feet. ³ He went further in and measured the doorposts at the entrance: Each was three and a half feet thick. The entrance itself was ten and a half feet wide, and the entrance walls were twelve and a quarter feet thick. ⁴ He measured the inside Sanctuary, thirty-five feet square, set at the end of the main Sanctuary. He told me, "This is The Holy of Holies." ⁵ He measured the wall of the Temple. It was ten and a half feet thick. The side rooms around the Temple were seven feet wide. ⁶ There were three floors of these side rooms, thirty rooms on each of the three floors. There were supporting beams around the Temple wall to hold up the side rooms, but they were freestanding, not attached to the wall itself. ⁷ The side rooms around the Temple became wider from first floor to second floor to third floor. A staircase went from the bottom floor, through the middle, and then to the top floor. ⁸ I observed that the Temple had a ten-and-a-half-foot-thick raised base around it, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. ⁹ The outside walls of the side rooms were eight and three-quarters feet thick. The open area between the side rooms of the Temple ¹⁰ and the priests' rooms was a thirty-five-foot-wide strip all around the Temple. ¹¹ There were two entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one placed on the north side, the other on the south. There were eight and three-quarters feet of open space all around.

¹² The house that faced the Temple courtyard to the west was one hundred twenty-two and a half feet wide, with eight-and-three-quarters-foot-thick walls. The length of the wall and building was one hundred fifty-seven and a half feet. ¹³ He measured the Temple: one hundred seventy-five feet long. The Temple courtyard and the house, including its walls, measured a hundred seventy-five feet. ¹⁴ The breadth of the front of the Temple and the open area to the east was a hundred seventy-five feet. ¹⁵ He measured the length of the house facing the courtyard at the back of the Temple, including the shelters on each side: one hundred seventy-five feet. The main Sanctuary, the inner Sanctuary, and the vestibule facing the courtyard ¹⁶ were paneled with wood, and had window frames and door frames in all three sections. From floor to windows the walls were paneled. ¹⁷ Above the outside entrance to the inner Sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner Sanctuary and the main Sanctuary, ¹⁸ angel-cherubim and palm trees were carved in alternating sequence. ¹⁹ a human face toward the palm tree on the right and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the left. They were carved around the entire Temple. ²⁰ The cherubimÐpalm tree motif was carved from floor to door height on the wall of the main Sanctuary. ²¹ The main Sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe. In front of the Holy Place was something that looked like ²² an altar of wood, five and a quarter feet high and three and a half feet square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table that stands before God." ²³ Both the main Sanctuary and the Holy Place had double doors. ²⁴ Each door had two leaves: two hinged leaves for each door, one set swinging inward and the other set outward. ²⁵ The doors of the main Sanctuary were carved with angel-cherubim and palm trees. There was a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ There were narrow windows alternating with carved palm trees on both sides of the porch.

42¹ The man led me north into the outside courtyard and brought me to the rooms that are in front of the open space and the house facing north. ² The length of the house on the north was one hundred seventy-five feet, and its width eighty-seven and a half feet. ³ Across the thirty-five feet that separated the inside courtyard from the paved walkway at the edge of the outside courtyard, the rooms rose level by level for three stories. ⁴ In front of the rooms on the inside was a hallway seventeen and a half feet wide and one hundred seventy-five feet long. Its entrances were from the north. ⁵ The upper rooms themselves were narrower, their galleries being wider than on the first and second floors of the building. ⁶ The rooms on the third floor had no pillars like the pillars in the outside courtyard and were smaller than the rooms on the first and second floors. ⁷ There was an outside wall parallel to the rooms and the outside courtyard. It fronted the rooms for eighty-seven and a half feet. ⁸ The row of rooms facing the outside courtyard was eighty-seven and a half feet long. The row on the side nearest the Sanctuary was one hundred seventy-five feet long. ⁹ The first-floor rooms had their entrance from the east, coming in from the outside courtyard. ¹⁰ On the south side along the length of the courtyard's outside wall and fronting on the Temple courtyard were rooms ¹¹ with a walkway in front of them. These were just like the rooms on the north - same exits and dimensions - with the main entrance from the east leading to the hallway and the doors to the rooms the same as those on the north side. ¹² The design on the south was a mirror image of that on the north. ¹³ Then he said to me, "The north and south rooms adjacent to the open area are holy rooms where the priests who come before God eat the holy offerings. There they place the holy offerings - grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These are set-apart rooms, holy space. ¹⁴ After the priests have entered the Sanctuary, they must not return to the outside courtyard and mingle among the people until they change the sacred garments in which they minister and put on their regular clothes."

¹⁵ After he had finished measuring what was inside the Temple area, he took me out the east gate and measured it from the outside. ¹⁶ Using his measuring stick, he measured the east side: eight hundred seventy-five feet. ¹⁷ He measured the north side: eight hundred seventy-five feet. ¹⁸ He measured the south side: eight hundred seventy-five feet. ¹⁹ Last of all he went to the west side and measured it: eight hundred seventy-five feet. ²⁰ He measured the wall on all four sides. Each wall was eight hundred seventy-five feet. The walls separated the holy from the ordinary.

The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple

43¹ The man brought me to the east gate. ² Oh! The bright Glory of the God of Israel rivered out of the east sounding like the roar of floodwaters, and the earth itself glowed with the bright Glory. ³ It looked just like what I had seen when he came to destroy the city, exactly like what I had seen earlier at the Kebar River. And again I fell, face to the ground. ⁴ The bright Glory of God poured into the Temple through the east gate. ⁵ The Spirit put me on my feet and led me to the inside courtyard and - oh! the bright Glory of God filled the Temple!

The Ordinances of the Temple

⁶ I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple while the man stood beside me.

⁷ He said, "Son of man, this is the place for my throne, the place I'll plant my feet. This is the place where I'll live with the Israelites forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again drag my holy name through the mud with their whoring and the no-god idols their kings set up at all the wayside shrines. ⁸ When they set up their worship shrines right alongside mine with only a thin wall between them, they dragged my holy name through the mud with their obscene and vile worship. Is it any wonder that I destroyed them in anger? ⁹ So let them get rid of their whoring ways and the stinking no-god idols introduced by their kings and I'll move in and live with them forever. ¹⁰ "Son of man, tell the people of Israel all about the Temple so they'll be dismayed by their wayward lives. Get them to go over the layout. ¹¹ That will bring them up short. Show them the whole plan of the Temple, its ins and outs, the proportions, the regulations, and the laws. Draw a picture so they can see the design and meaning and live by its design and intent. ¹² "This is the law of the Temple: As it radiates from the top of the mountain, everything around it becomes holy ground. Yes, this is law, the meaning, of the Temple.

¹³ "These are the dimensions of the altar, using the long (twenty-one-inch) ruler. The gutter at its base is twenty-one inches ¹⁴ deep and twenty-one inches wide, with a four-inch lip around its edge. ¹⁵ The altar hearth is another seven feet high. Four horns stick upward from the hearth twenty-one inches high. ¹⁶ "The top of the altar, the hearth, is square, twenty-one by twenty-one feet. ¹⁷ The upper ledge is also square, twenty-four and a half feet on each side, with a ten-and-a-half-inch lip and a twenty-one-inch-wide gutter all the way around. "The steps of the altar ascend from the east." ¹⁸ Then the man said to me, "Son of man, God, the Master, says: 'These are the ordinances for conduct at the altar when it is built, for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood on it. ¹⁹ "'For a sin offering, give a bull to the priests, the Levitical priests who are from the family of Zadok who come into my presence to serve me. ²⁰ Take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar that project from the four corners of the top ledge and all around the lip. That's to purify the altar and make it fit for the sacrifice. ²¹ Then take the bull for the sin offerings and burn it in the place set aside for this in the courtyard outside the Sanctuary. ²² "'On the second day, offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. Purify the altar the same as you purified it for the bull. ²³ Then, when you have purified it, offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. ²⁴ Present them before God. Sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to God. ²⁵ "'For seven days, prepare a goat for a sin offering daily, and also a bull and a ram from the flock, animals without blemish. ²⁶ For seven days the priests are to get the altar ready for its work, purifying it. This is how you dedicate it. ²⁷ "'After these seven days of dedication, from the eighth day on, the priests will present your burnt offerings and your peace offerings. And I'll accept you with pleasure, with delight! Decree of God, the Master.'"

44¹ Then the man brought me back to the outside gate complex of the Sanctuary that faces east. But it was shut. ² God spoke to me: "This gate is shut and it's to stay shut. No one is to go through it because God, the God of Israel, has gone through it. It stays shut. ³ Only the prince, because he's the prince, may sit there to eat in the presence of God. He is to enter the gate complex through the porch and leave by the same way."

⁴ The man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked, and - oh! - the bright Glory of God filling the Temple of God! I fell on my face in worship. ⁵ God said to me, "Son of man, get a grip on yourself. Use your eyes, use your ears, pay careful attention to everything I tell you about the ordinances of this Temple of God, the way all the laws work, instructions regarding it and all the entrances and exits of the Sanctuary. ⁶ "Tell this bunch of rebels, this family Israel, 'Message of God, the Master: No more of these vile obscenities, Israel, ⁷ dragging irreverent and unrepentant outsiders, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, into my Sanctuary, feeding them the sacrificial offerings as if it were the food for a neighborhood picnic. With all your vile obscenities, you've broken trust with me, the solemn covenant I made with you. ⁸ You haven't taken care of my holy things. You've hired out the work to foreigners who care nothing for this place, my Sanctuary. ⁹ No irreverent and unrepentant aliens, uncircumcised in heart or flesh, not even the ones who live among Israelites, are to enter my Sanctuary.'

¹⁰ "The Levites who walked off and left me, along with everyone else - all Israel - who took up with all the no-god idols, will pay for everything they did wrong. ¹¹ From now on they'll do only the menial work in the Sanctuary: guard the gates and help out with the Temple chores - and also kill the sacrificial animals for the people and serve them. ¹² Because they acted as priests to the no-god idols and made my people Israel stumble and fall, I've taken an oath to punish them. Decree of God, the Master. Yes, they'll pay for what they've done. ¹³ They're fired from the priesthood. No longer will they come into my presence and take care of my holy things. No more access to The Holy Place! They'll have to live with what they've done, carry the shame of their vile and obscene lives. ¹⁴ From now on, their job is to sweep up and run errands. That's it. ¹⁵ "But the Levitical priests who descend from Zadok, who faithfully took care of my Sanctuary when everyone else went off and left me, are going to come into my presence and serve me. They are going to carry out the priestly work of offering the solemn sacrifices of worship. Decree of God, the Master. ¹⁶ They're the only ones permitted to enter my Sanctuary. They're the only ones to approach my table and serve me, accompanying me in my work.

¹⁷ "When they enter the gate complex of the inside courtyard, they are to dress in linen. No woolens are to be worn while serving at the gate complex of the inside courtyard or inside the Temple itself. ¹⁸ They're to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes - nothing that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out into the outside courtyard where the people gather, they must first change out of the clothes they have been serving in, leaving them in the sacred rooms where they change to their everyday clothes, so that they don't trivialize their holy work by the way they dress. ²⁰ "They are to neither shave their heads nor let their hair become unkempt, but must keep their hair trimmed and neat. ²¹ "No priest is to drink on the job - no wine while in the inside courtyard. ²² "Priests are not to marry widows or divorcees, but only Israelite virgins or widows of priests. ²³ "Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean. ²⁴ "When there's a difference of opinion, the priests will arbitrate. They'll decide on the basis of my judgments, laws, and statutes. They are in charge of making sure the appointed feasts are honored and my Sabbaths kept holy in the ways I've commanded. ²⁵ "A priest must not contaminate himself by going near a corpse. But when the dead person is his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, he can approach the dead. ²⁶ But after he has been purified, he must wait another seven days. ²⁷ Then, when he returns to the inside courtyard of the Sanctuary to do his priestly work in the Sanctuary, he must first offer a sin offering for himself. Decree of God, the Master. ²⁸ "As to priests owning land, I am their inheritance. Don't give any land in Israel to them. I am their 'land,' their inheritance. ²⁹ They'll take their meals from the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel offered to God in worship is theirs. ³⁰ The best of everything grown, plus all special gifts, comes to the priests. All that is given in worship to God goes to them. Serve them first. Serve from your best and your home will be blessed. ³¹ "Priests are not to eat any meat from bird or animal unfit for ordinary human consumption, such as carcasses found dead on the road or in the field.

New King James Version

The Prophet's Vision of the Temple

40¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me; and He took me there. ² In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. ³ He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. ⁴ And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."

⁵ Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod. ⁶ Then he went to the gateway which faced east; and he went up its stairs and measured the threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold was one rod wide. ⁷ Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide; between the gate chambers was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of the gateway by the vestibule of the inside gate was one rod. ⁸ He also measured the vestibule of the inside gate, one rod. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and the gateposts, two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was on the inside. ¹⁰ In the eastern gateway were three gate chambers on one side and three on the other; the three were all the same size; also the gateposts were of the same size on this side and that side. ¹¹ He measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. ¹² There was a space in front of the gate chambers, one cubit on this side and one cubit on that side; the gate chambers were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the other; the width was twenty-five cubits, as door faces door. ¹⁴ He measured the gateposts, sixty cubits high, and the court all around the gateway extended to the gatepost. ¹⁵ From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits. ¹⁶ There were beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees. ¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court; and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court; thirty chambers faced the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gateways, corresponding to the length of the gateways; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gateway to the front of the inner court exterior, one hundred cubits toward the east and the north. ²⁰ On the outer court was also a gateway facing north, and he measured its length and its width. ²¹ Its gate chambers, three on this side and three on that side, its gateposts and its archways, 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 archways, and also its palm trees, had the same measurements as the gateway facing east; it was ascended by seven steps, and its archway was in front of it. ²³ A gate of the inner court was opposite the northern gateway, just as the eastern gateway; and he measured from gateway to gateway, one hundred cubits. ²⁴ After that he brought me toward the south, and there a gateway was facing south; and he measured its gateposts and archways according to these same measurements. ²⁵ There were windows in it and in its archways all around like those windows; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, and its archway was in front of them; and it had palm trees on its gateposts, one on this side and one on that side.

²⁷ There was also a gateway on the inner court, facing south; and he measured from gateway to gateway toward the south, one hundred cubits. ²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court through the southern gateway; he measured the southern gateway according to these same measurements. ²⁹ Also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways were according to these same measurements; there were windows in it and in its archways all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ There were archways all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its archways faced the outer court, palm trees were on its gateposts, and going up to it were eight steps. ³² And he brought me into the inner court facing east; he measured the gateway according to these same measurements. ³³ Also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways were according to these same measurements; and there were windows in it and in its archways all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its archways faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its gateposts on this side and on that side; and going up to it were eight steps. ³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gateway and measured it according to these same measurements-- ³⁶ also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways. It had windows all around; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. ³⁷ Its gateposts faced the outer court, palm trees were on its gateposts on this side and on that side, and going up to it were eight steps. ³⁸ There was a chamber and its entrance by the gateposts of the gateway, where they washed the burnt offering.

³⁹ In the vestibule of the gateway were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slay the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. ⁴⁰ At the outer side of the vestibule, as one goes up to the entrance of the northern gateway, were two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule of the gateway were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side, by the side of the gateway, eight tables on which they slaughtered the sacrifices. ⁴² There were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, one cubit and a half long, one cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high; on these they laid the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice. ⁴³ Inside were hooks, a handbreadth wide, fastened all around; and the flesh of the sacrifices was on the tables. ⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate were the chambers for the singers in the inner court, one facing south at the side of the northern gateway, and the other facing north at the side of the southern gateway. ⁴⁵ Then he said to me, "This chamber which faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple. ⁴⁶ The chamber which faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who come near the Lord to minister to Him." ⁴⁷ And he measured the court, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, foursquare. The altar was in front of the temple. ⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the doorposts of the vestibule, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and the width of the gateway was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and by the steps which led up to it there were pillars by the doorposts, one on this side and another on that side.

41¹ Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the doorposts, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side--the width of the tabernacle. ² The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits. ³ Also he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴ He measured the length, twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place." ⁵ Next, he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits. The width of each side chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. ⁶ The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in each story; they rested on ledges which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported, but not fastened to the wall of the temple. ⁷ As one went up from story to story, the side chambers became wider all around, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps; therefore the width of the structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle one. ⁸ I also saw an elevation all around the temple; it was the foundation of the side chambers, a full rod, that is, six cubits high. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and so also the remaining terrace by the place of the side chambers of the temple. ¹⁰ And between it and the wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side chambers opened on the terrace, one door toward the north and another toward the south; and the width of the terrace was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that faced the separating courtyard at its western end was seventy cubits wide; 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 separating courtyard with the building and its walls was one hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the width of the eastern face of the temple, including the separating courtyard, was one hundred cubits. ¹⁵ He measured the length of the building behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner temple and the porches of the court, ¹⁶ their doorposts and the beveled window frames. And 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 And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces, ¹⁹ so that the face of a man was toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side; thus it was made throughout the temple all around. ²⁰ From the floor to the space above the door, and on the wall of the sanctuary, cherubim and palm trees were carved. ²¹ The doorposts of the temple were square, as was the front of the sanctuary; their appearance was similar. ²² The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its sides 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 panels apiece, two folding panels: two panels for one door and two panels for the other door. ²⁵ Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the temple just as they were carved on the walls. A wooden canopy was on the front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ There were beveled window frames and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the vestibule--also on the side chambers of the temple and on the canopies.

42¹ Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north; and he brought me into the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and which was opposite the building toward the north. ² Facing the length, which was one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. ³ Opposite the inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the pavement of the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. ⁴ In front of the chambers, toward the inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. ⁷ And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers, at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. ⁸ The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that facing the temple was one hundred cubits. ⁹ At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court. ¹⁰ Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. ¹¹ There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan. ¹² And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the 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 opposite the separating courtyard, 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 trespass offering--for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may approach that which is for the people."

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the east, and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. ¹⁷ He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all around. ¹⁸ He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. ¹⁹ He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod. ²⁰ He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.

The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple

43¹ Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. ² And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. ³ It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw--like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. ⁴ And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. ⁵ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

The Ordinances of the Temple

⁶ Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me.

⁷ And 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 children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. ⁸ When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. ¹⁰ "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 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. ¹² This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

¹³ "These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit. ¹⁵ The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four horns extending upward from the hearth. ¹⁶ The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, square at its four corners; ¹⁷ the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and its steps face toward the east." ¹⁸ And He said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord God: 'These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing burnt offerings on it, and for sprinkling blood on it. ¹⁹ You shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,' says the Lord God. ²⁰ You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. ²¹ Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary. ²² On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. ²³ When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴ When you offer them before the Lord, the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. ²⁶ Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. ²⁷ When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,' says the Lord God."

44¹ Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. ² And 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 God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way."

⁴ Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, mark well, 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. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary. ⁶ Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "O house of Israel, let us have no more of all your abominations. ⁷ When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it--My house--and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you." ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

¹⁰ "And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of 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 raised My hand in an oath against them," says the Lord God, "that they shall bear their iniquity. ¹³ And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it. ¹⁵ "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near 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 My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

¹⁷ And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people. ²⁰ They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. ²¹ No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests. ²³ And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths. ²⁵ They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile themselves. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering in the inner court," says the Lord God. ²⁸ "It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. ²⁹ They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest's; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.

New Living Translation

The Prophet's Vision of the Temple

40¹ On April 28, during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity-fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem-the Lord took hold of me. ² In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city. ³ As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. ⁴ He said to me, "Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen."

⁵ I could see a wall completely surrounding the Temple area. The man took a measuring rod that was 10 feet long and measured the wall, and the wall was 10 feet thick and 10 feet high. ⁶ Then he went over to the eastern gateway. He climbed the steps and measured the threshold of the gateway; it was 10 feet front to back. ⁷ There were guard alcoves on each side built into the gateway passage. Each of these alcoves was 10 feet square, with a distance between them of 8 feet along the passage wall. The gateway's inner threshold, which led to the entry room at the inner end of the gateway passage, was 10 feet front to back. ⁸ He also measured the entry room of the gateway. ⁹ It was 14 feet across, with supporting columns 3 feet thick. This entry room was at the inner end of the gateway structure, facing toward the Temple. ¹⁰ There were three guard alcoves on each side of the gateway passage. Each had the same measurements, and the dividing walls separating them were also identical. ¹¹ The man measured the gateway entrance, which was 17 feet wide at the opening and 22 feet wide in the gateway passage. ¹² In front of each of the guard alcoves was a 21-inch curb. The alcoves themselves were 10 feet on each side. ¹³ Then he measured the entire width of the gateway, measuring the distance between the back walls of facing guard alcoves; this distance was 43 feet. ¹⁴ He measured the dividing walls all along the inside of the gateway up to the entry room of the gateway; this distance was 105 feet. ¹⁵ The full length of the gateway passage was 87 feet from one end to the other. ¹⁶ There were recessed windows that narrowed inward through the walls of the guard alcoves and their dividing walls. There were also windows in the entry room. The surfaces of the dividing walls were decorated with carved palm trees. ¹⁷ Then the man brought me through the gateway into the outer courtyard of the Temple. A stone pavement ran along the walls of the courtyard, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto the pavement. ¹⁸ This pavement flanked the gates and extended out from the walls into the courtyard the same distance as the gateway entrance. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then the man measured across the Temple's outer courtyard between the outer and inner gateways; the distance was 175 feet. ²⁰ The man measured the gateway on the north just like the one on the east. ²¹ Here, too, there were three guard alcoves on each side, with dividing walls and an entry room. All the measurements matched those of the east gateway. The gateway passage was 87 feet long and 43 feet wide between the back walls of facing guard alcoves. ²² The windows, the entry room, and the palm tree decorations were identical to those in the east gateway. There were seven steps leading up to the gateway entrance, and the entry room was at the inner end of the gateway passage. ²³ Here on the north side, just as on the east, there was another gateway leading to the Temple's inner courtyard directly opposite this outer gateway. The distance between the two gateways was 175 feet. ²⁴ Then the man took me around to the south gateway and measured its various parts, and they were exactly the same as in the others. ²⁵ It had windows along the walls as the others did, and there was an entry room where the gateway passage opened into the outer courtyard. And like the others, the gateway passage was 87 feet long and 43 feet wide between the back walls of facing guard alcoves. ²⁶ This gateway also had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and an entry room at the inner end, and palm tree decorations along the dividing walls.

²⁷ And here again, directly opposite the outer gateway, was another gateway that led into the inner courtyard. The distance between the two gateways was 175 feet. ²⁸ Then the man took me to the south gateway leading into the inner courtyard. He measured it, and it had the same measurements as the other gateways. ²⁹ Its guard alcoves, dividing walls, and entry room were the same size as those in the others. It also had windows along its walls and in the entry room. And like the others, the gateway passage was 87 feet long and 43 feet wide. ³⁰ (The entry rooms of the gateways leading into the inner courtyard were 14 feet across and 43 feet wide.) ³¹ The entry room to the south gateway faced into the outer courtyard. It had palm tree decorations on its columns, and there were eight steps leading to its entrance. ³² Then he took me to the east gateway leading to the inner courtyard. He measured it, and it had the same measurements as the other gateways. ³³ Its guard alcoves, dividing walls, and entry room were the same size as those of the others, and there were windows along the walls and in the entry room. The gateway passage measured 87 feet long and 43 feet wide. ³⁴ Its entry room faced into the outer courtyard. It had palm tree decorations on its columns, and there were eight steps leading to its entrance. ³⁵ Then he took me around to the north gateway leading to the inner courtyard. He measured it, and it had the same measurements as the other gateways. ³⁶ The guard alcoves, dividing walls, and entry room of this gateway had the same measurements as in the others and the same window arrangements. The gateway passage measured 87 feet long and 43 feet wide. ³⁷ Its entry room faced into the outer courtyard, and it had palm tree decorations on the columns. There were eight steps leading to its entrance. ³⁸ A door led from the entry room of one of the inner gateways into a side room, where the meat for sacrifices was washed.

³⁹ On each side of this entry room were two tables, where the sacrificial animals were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. ⁴⁰ Outside the entry room, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, were two more tables. ⁴¹ So there were eight tables in all-four inside and four outside-where the sacrifices were cut up and prepared. ⁴² There were also four tables of finished stone for preparation of the burnt offerings, each 31 inches square and 21 inches high. On these tables were placed the butchering knives and other implements for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. ⁴³ There were hooks, each 3 inches long, fastened all around the foyer walls. The sacrificial meat was laid on the tables. ⁴⁴ Inside the inner courtyard were two rooms, one beside the north gateway, facing south, and the other beside the south gateway, facing north. ⁴⁵ And the man said to me, "The room beside the north inner gate is for the priests who supervise the Temple maintenance. ⁴⁶ The room beside the south inner gate is for the priests in charge of the altar-the descendants of Zadok-for they alone of all the Levites may approach the Lord to minister to him." ⁴⁷ Then the man measured the inner courtyard, and it was a square, 175 feet wide and 175 feet across. The altar stood in the courtyard in front of the Temple. ⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the entry room of the Temple. He measured the walls on either side of the opening to the entry room, and they were 8 feet thick. The entrance itself was 24 feet wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were an additional 5 feet long. ⁴⁹ The entry room was 35 feet wide and 21 feet deep. There were ten steps leading up to it, with a column on each side.

41¹ After that, the man brought me into the sanctuary of the Temple. He measured the walls on either side of its doorway, and they were 10 feet thick. ² The doorway was 17 feet wide, and the walls on each side of it were 8 feet long. The sanctuary itself was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide. ³ Then he went beyond the sanctuary into the inner room. He measured the walls on either side of its entrance, and they were 3 feet thick. The entrance was 10 feet wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were 12 feet long. ⁴ The inner room of the sanctuary was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. "This," he told me, "is the Most Holy Place." ⁵ Then he measured the wall of the Temple, and it was 10 feet thick. There was a row of rooms along the outside wall; each room was 7 feet wide. ⁶ These side rooms were built in three levels, one above the other, with thirty rooms on each level. The supports for these side rooms rested on exterior ledges on the Temple wall; they did not extend into the wall. ⁷ Each level was wider than the one below it, corresponding to the narrowing of the Temple wall as it rose higher. A stairway led up from the bottom level through the middle level to the top level. ⁸ I saw that the Temple was built on a terrace, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. This terrace was 10 feet high. ⁹ The outer wall of the Temple's side rooms was 8 feet thick. This left an open area between these side rooms ¹⁰ and the row of rooms along the outer wall of the inner courtyard. This open area was 35 feet wide, and it went all the way around the Temple. ¹¹ Two doors opened from the side rooms into the terrace yard, which was 8 feet wide. One door faced north and the other south.

¹² A large building stood on the west, facing the Temple courtyard. It was 122 feet wide and 157 feet long, and its walls were 8 feet thick. ¹³ Then the man measured the Temple, and it was 175 feet long. The courtyard around the building, including its walls, was an additional 175 feet in length. ¹⁴ The inner courtyard to the east of the Temple was also 175 feet wide. ¹⁵ The building to the west, including its two walls, was also 175 feet wide. The sanctuary, the inner room, and the entry room of the Temple ¹⁶ were all paneled with wood, as were the frames of the recessed windows. The inner walls of the Temple were paneled with wood above and below the windows. ¹⁷ The space above the door leading into the inner room, and its walls inside and out, were also paneled. ¹⁸ All the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces, and there was a carving of a palm tree between each of the cherubim. ¹⁹ One face-that of a man-looked toward the palm tree on one side. The other face-that of a young lion-looked toward the palm tree on the other side. The figures were carved all along the inside of the Temple, ²⁰ from the floor to the top of the walls, including the outer wall of the sanctuary. ²¹ There were square columns at the entrance to the sanctuary, and the ones at the entrance of the Most Holy Place were similar. ²² There was an altar made of wood, 5 feet high and 3 feet across. Its corners, base, and sides were all made of wood. "This," the man told me, "is the table that stands in the Lord 's presence." ²³ Both the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place had double doorways, ²⁴ each with two swinging doors. ²⁵ The doors leading into the sanctuary were decorated with carved cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls. And there was a wooden roof at the front of the entry room to the Temple. ²⁶ On both sides of the entry room were recessed windows decorated with carved palm trees. The side rooms along the outside wall also had roofs.

42¹ Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms against the north wall of the inner courtyard. ² This structure, whose entrance opened toward the north, was 175 feet long and 87 feet wide. ³ One block of rooms overlooked the 35-foot width of the inner courtyard. Another block of rooms looked out onto the pavement of the outer courtyard. The two blocks were built three levels high and stood across from each other. ⁴ Between the two blocks of rooms ran a walkway 17 feet wide. It extended the entire 175 feet of the complex, and all the doors faced north. ⁵ Each of the two upper levels of rooms was narrower than the one beneath it because the upper levels had to allow space for walkways in front of them. ⁶ Since there were three levels and they did not have supporting columns as in the courtyards, each of the upper levels was set back from the level beneath it. ⁷ There was an outer wall that separated the rooms from the outer courtyard; it was 87 feet long. ⁸ This wall added length to the outer block of rooms, which extended for only 87 feet, while the inner block-the rooms toward the Temple-extended for 175 feet. ⁹ There was an eastern entrance from the outer courtyard to these rooms. ¹⁰ On the south side of the Temple there were two blocks of rooms just south of the inner courtyard between the Temple and the outer courtyard. These rooms were arranged just like the rooms on the north. ¹¹ There was a walkway between the two blocks of rooms just like the complex on the north side of the Temple. This complex of rooms was the same length and width as the other one, and it had the same entrances and doors. The dimensions of each were identical. ¹² So there was an entrance in the wall facing the doors of the inner block of rooms, and another on the east at the end of the interior walkway. ¹³ Then the man told me, "These rooms that overlook the Temple from the north and south are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. And because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings-the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. ¹⁴ When the priests leave the sanctuary, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building complex open to the public."

¹⁵ When the man had finished measuring the inside of the Temple area, he led me out through the east gateway to measure the entire perimeter. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with his measuring rod, and it was 875 feet long. ¹⁷ Then he measured the north side, and it was also 875 feet. ¹⁸ The south side was also 875 feet, ¹⁹ and the west side was also 875 feet. ²⁰ So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.

The Glory of the LORD Fills the Temple

43¹ After this, the man brought me back around to the east gateway. ² Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory. ³ This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came to destroy Jerusalem. I fell face down on the ground. ⁴ And the glory of the Lord came into the Temple through the east gateway. ⁵ Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple.

The Ordinances of the Temple

⁶ And I heard someone speaking to me from within the Temple, while the man who had been measuring stood beside me.

⁷ The Lord said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer by their adulterous worship of other gods or by honoring the relics of their kings who have died. ⁸ They put their idol altars right next to mine with only a wall between them and me. They defiled my holy name by such detestable sin, so I consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them stop worshiping other gods and honoring the relics of their kings, and I will live among them forever. ¹⁰ "Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, ¹¹ and they will be ashamed of what they have done. Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple-including its entrances and exits-and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them. ¹² And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.

¹³ "These are the measurements of the altar : There is a gutter all around the altar 21 inches deep and 21 inches wide, with a curb 9 inches wide around its edge. And this is the height of the altar: ¹⁴ From the gutter the altar rises 3 feet to a lower ledge that surrounds the altar and is 21 inches wide. From the lower ledge the altar rises 7 feet to the upper ledge that is also 21 inches wide. ¹⁵ The top of the altar, the hearth, rises another 7 feet higher, with a horn rising up from each of the four corners. ¹⁶ The top of the altar is square, measuring 21 feet by 21 feet. ¹⁷ The upper ledge also forms a square, measuring 24 feet by 24 feet, with a 21-inch gutter and a 10 -inch curb all around the edge. There are steps going up the east side of the altar." ¹⁸ Then he said to me, "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for the burning of offerings and the sprinkling of blood when the altar is built. ¹⁹ At that time, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who minister before me, are to be given a young bull for a sin offering, says the Sovereign Lord . ²⁰ You will take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the upper ledge, and the curb that runs around that ledge. This will cleanse and make atonement for the altar. ²¹ Then take the young bull for the sin offering and burn it at the appointed place outside the Temple area. ²² "On the second day, sacrifice as a sin offering a young male goat that has no physical defects. Then cleanse and make atonement for the altar again, just as you did with the young bull. ²³ When you have finished the cleansing ceremony, offer another young bull that has no defects and a perfect ram from the flock. ²⁴ You are to present them to the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord . ²⁵ "Every day for seven days a male goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock will be sacrificed as a sin offering. None of these animals may have physical defects of any kind. ²⁶ Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus setting it apart for holy use. ²⁷ On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the people. Then I will accept you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!"

44¹ Then the man brought me back to the east gateway in the outer wall of the Temple area, but it was closed. ² And the Lord said to me, "This gate must remain closed; it will never again be opened. No one will ever open it and pass through, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered here. Therefore, it must always remain shut. ³ Only the prince himself may sit inside this gateway to feast in the Lord 's presence. But he may come and go only through the entry room of the gateway."

⁴ Then the man brought me through the north gateway to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw that the glory of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord, and I fell face down on the ground. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, take careful notice. Use your eyes and ears, and listen to everything I tell you about the regulations concerning the Lord 's Temple. Take careful note of the procedures for using the Temple's entrances and exits. ⁶ And give these rebels, the people of Israel, this message from the Sovereign Lord : O people of Israel, enough of your detestable sins! ⁷ You have brought uncircumcised foreigners into my sanctuary-people who have no heart for God. In this way, you defiled my Temple even as you offered me my food, the fat and blood of sacrifices. In addition to all your other detestable sins, you have broken my covenant. ⁸ Instead of safeguarding my sacred rituals, you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary. ⁹ "So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigners, including those who live among the people of Israel, will enter my sanctuary if they have not been circumcised and have not surrendered themselves to the Lord .

¹⁰ And the men of the tribe of Levi who abandoned me when Israel strayed away from me to worship idols must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness. ¹¹ They may still be Temple guards and gatekeepers, and they may slaughter the animals brought for burnt offerings and be present to help the people. ¹² But they encouraged my people to worship idols, causing Israel to fall into deep sin. So I have taken a solemn oath that they must bear the consequences for their sins, says the Sovereign Lord . ¹³ They may not approach me to minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things or the holy offerings, for they must bear the shame of all the detestable sins they have committed. ¹⁴ They are to serve as the Temple caretakers, taking charge of the maintenance work and performing general duties. ¹⁵ "However, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok continued to minister faithfully in the Temple when Israel abandoned me for idols. These men will serve as my ministers. They will stand in my presence and offer the fat and blood of the sacrifices, says the Sovereign Lord . ¹⁶ They alone will enter my sanctuary and approach my table to serve me. They will fulfill all my requirements.

¹⁷ "When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard, they must wear only linen clothing. They must wear no wool while on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple itself. ¹⁸ They must wear linen turbans and linen undergarments. They must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire. ¹⁹ When they return to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must take off the clothes they wear while ministering to me. They must leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes so they do not endanger anyone by transmitting holiness to them through this clothing. ²⁰ "They must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow too long. Instead, they must trim it regularly. ²¹ The priests must not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard. ²² They may choose their wives only from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They may not marry other widows or divorced women. ²³ They will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is common, what is ceremonially clean and unclean. ²⁴ "They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based on my regulations. And the priests themselves must obey my instructions and decrees at all the sacred festivals, and see to it that the Sabbaths are set apart as holy days. ²⁵ "A priest must not defile himself by being in the presence of a dead person unless it is his father, mother, child, brother, or unmarried sister. In such cases it is permitted. ²⁶ Even then, he can return to his Temple duties only after being ceremonially cleansed and then waiting for seven days. ²⁷ The first day he returns to work and enters the inner courtyard and the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself, says the Sovereign Lord . ²⁸ "The priests will not have any property or possession of land, for I alone am their special possession. ²⁹ Their food will come from the gifts and sacrifices brought to the Temple by the people-the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Whatever anyone sets apart for the Lord will belong to the priests. ³⁰ The first of the ripe fruits and all the gifts brought to the Lord will go to the priests. The first batch of dough must also be given to the priests so the Lord will bless your homes. ³¹ The priests may not eat meat from any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that dies after being attacked by another animal.