Ezekiel 40-44

Ezekiel 40

¹In 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 Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.

²In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

³So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.

⁴“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”

⁵And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.

⁶Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.

⁷Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep.

⁸Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside;

⁹it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰There were three gate chambers on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the gateposts on either side also had the same measurements.

¹¹And he measured the width of the gateway entrance to be ten cubits, and its length was thirteen cubits.

¹²In front of each gate chamber was a wall one cubit high, and the gate chambers were six cubits square.

¹³Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway.

¹⁴Next he measured the gateposts to be sixty cubits high. The gateway extended around to the gatepost of the courtyard.

¹⁵And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.

¹⁶The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees.

¹⁷Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement,

¹⁸which flanked the gateways and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

¹⁹Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.

²⁰He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer court facing north.

²¹Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

²²Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.

²³There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits.

²⁴Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others.

²⁵Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

²⁶Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side.

²⁷The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits.

²⁸Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others.

²⁹Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁰(The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.)

³¹Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it.

³²And he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others.

³³Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁴Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

³⁵Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others,

³⁶as did its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico. It also had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁷Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

³⁸There was a chamber with a doorway by the portico in each of the inner gateways. There the burnt offering was to be washed.

³⁹Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.

⁴⁰Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico.

⁴¹So there were four tables inside the gateway and four outside—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered.

⁴²There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.

⁴³The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables.

⁴⁴Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north.

⁴⁵Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple,

⁴⁶and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.”

⁴⁷Next 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.

⁴⁸Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side.

⁴⁹The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.

Ezekiel 41

¹Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side.

²The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. He also measured the length of the outer sanctuary to be forty cubits, and the width to be twenty cubits.

³And he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the side pillars at the entrance to be two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the walls on each side were seven cubits wide.

⁴Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

⁵Next he measured the wall of the temple to be six cubits thick, and the width of each side room around the temple was four cubits.

⁶The side rooms were arranged one above another in three levels of thirty rooms each. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself.

⁷The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive level, because the structure surrounding the temple ascended by stages corresponding to the narrowing of the temple wall as it rose upward. And so a stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest, through the middle one.

⁸I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits.

⁹The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick, and the open area between the side rooms of the temple

¹⁰and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide all around the temple.

¹¹The side rooms opened into this area, with one entrance on the north and another on the south. The open area was five cubits wide all around.

¹²Now the building that faced the temple courtyard on the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, with a length of ninety cubits.

¹³Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long.

¹⁴The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

¹⁵Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court,

¹⁶as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.

¹⁷In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary on all the walls, spaced evenly around the inner and outer sanctuary,

¹⁸were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:

¹⁹the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple.

²⁰Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.

²¹The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe, and the doorframe of the sanctuary was similar.

²²There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”

²³Both the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary had double doors,

²⁴and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other.

²⁵Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico.

²⁶There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

Ezekiel 42

¹Then the man led me out northward into the outer court, and he brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple courtyard and the outer wall on the north side.

²The building with the door facing north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.

³Gallery faced gallery in three levels opposite the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court.

⁴In front of the chambers was an inner walkway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north.

⁵Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space from the chambers on the lower and middle floors of the building.

⁶For they were arranged in three stories, and unlike the courts, they had no pillars. So the upper chambers were set back further than the lower and middle floors.

⁷An outer wall in front of the chambers was fifty cubits long and ran parallel to the chambers and the outer court.

⁸For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those facing the temple were a hundred cubits long.

⁹And below these chambers was the entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court were chambers adjoining the courtyard and opposite the building,

¹¹with a passageway in front of them, just like the chambers that were on the north. They had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions.

¹²And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, there was a door in front of the walkway that was parallel to the wall extending eastward.

¹³Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy.

¹⁴Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”

¹⁵Now when the man had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and he measured the area all around:

¹⁶With a measuring rod he measured the east side to be five hundred cubits long.

¹⁷He measured the north side to be five hundred cubits long.

¹⁸He measured the south side to be five hundred cubits long.

¹⁹And he came around and measured the west side to be five hundred cubits long.

²⁰So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

Ezekiel 43

¹Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east,

²and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

³The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,

⁴and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east.

⁵Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple,

⁷and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.

⁸When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger.

⁹Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

¹⁰As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan,

¹¹and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

¹²This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

¹³These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

¹⁴The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.

¹⁵The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth.

¹⁶The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.

¹⁷The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

¹⁸Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splattered on it:

¹⁹You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁰You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.

²¹Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

²²On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull.

²³When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock.

²⁴You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

²⁵For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished.

²⁶For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it.

²⁷At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Ezekiel 44

¹The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.

²And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.

³Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

⁴Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

⁵The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

⁶Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.

⁷In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.

⁸And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

⁹This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

¹⁰Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

¹¹Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

¹²Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD.

¹³They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed.

¹⁴Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

¹⁵But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁶They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

¹⁷When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

¹⁸They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

¹⁹When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

²⁰They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.

²¹No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.

²²And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

²³They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

²⁴In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

²⁵A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,

²⁶and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself.

²⁷And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁸In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

²⁹They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.

³⁰The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.

³¹The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.