The Temple Area Restored

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the cityf—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on meg and he took me there. 2 In visionsh of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain,i on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze;j he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rodk in his hand. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you,l for that is why you have been brought here. Tellm the people of Israel everything you see.n”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

5 I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,a each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measuredo the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

6 Then he went to the east gate.p He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. 7 The alcovesq for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubitsb thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

8 Then he measured the portico of the gateway; 9 itc was eight cubitsd deep and its jambs were two cubitse thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

10 Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements. 11 Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.f 12 In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubitsg from one parapet opening to the opposite one. 14 He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway—sixty cubits.h The measurement was up to the porticoi facing the courtyard.j r 15 The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.k 16 The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all around, as was the portico; the openings all around faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.s

The Outer Court

17 Then he brought me into the outer court.t There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were thirty roomsu along the pavement.v 18 It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court;w it was a hundred cubitsl x on the east side as well as on the north.

The North Gate

20 Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. 21 Its alcovesy—three on each side—its projecting walls and its porticoz had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22 Its openings, its porticoa and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.b 23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.c

The South Gate

24 Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurementsd as the others. 25 The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.e 26 Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side.f 27 The inner courtg also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits.h

The Gates to the Inner Court

28 Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurementsi as the others. 29 Its alcoves,j its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.k 30 (The porticoesl of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.) 31 Its porticom faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.n

32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurementso as the others. 33 Its alcoves,p its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34 Its porticoq faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

35 Then he brought me to the north gater and measured it. It had the same measurementss as the others, 36 as did its alcoves,t its projecting walls and its portico, and it had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 37 Its porticom u faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.v

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

38 A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offeringsw were washed. 39 In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings,x sin offeringsn y and guilt offeringsz were slaughtered.a 40 By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. 41 So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. 42 There were also four tables of dressed stoneb for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high.o On them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.c 43 And double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadthp long, were attached to the wall all around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

The Rooms for the Priests

44 Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms, oneq at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the side of the southr gate and facing north. 45 He said to me, “The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple,d 46 and the room facing northe is for the priests who guard the altar.f These are the sons of Zadok,g who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.h”

47 Then he measured the court: It was square—a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.i

The New Temple

48 He brought me to the portico of the templej and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubitss and its projecting walls weret three cubitsu wide on either side. 49 The porticok was twenty cubitsv wide, and twelvew cubitsx from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs,y and there were pillarsl on each side of the jambs.

41 Then the man brought me to the main hallm and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubitsa on each side.b 2 The entrance was ten cubitsc wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubitsd wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.e n

3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubitsf wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubitsg wide. 4 And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.o He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.p”

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubitsh wide. 6 The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirtyq on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.r 7 The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairways went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

8 I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. 9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubitsi wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.j

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubitsk long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple …