Vision of the New Temple

40 ^wIn the twenty-fifth year ^xof our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, ^yin the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, ^zthe hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.¹ 2 In ^avisions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on ^ba very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. 3 When he brought me there, behold, there was ^ca man whose appearance was ^dlike bronze, with ^ea linen cord and ^fa measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. 4 And the man said to me, ^g“Son of man, ^hlook with your eyes, and ^hhear 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. ⁱDeclare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

5 And behold, there was ^ja 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, ^keach being a cubit and a handbreadth² in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. 6 Then he went into ^lthe gateway facing east, ^mgoing up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.³ 7 And ⁿthe 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; ^oand 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. ^pThe 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 ^qthe vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.⁴ 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 ^rwindows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their ^sjambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were ^tpalm trees.

The Outer Court

17 Then he brought me into ^uthe outer court. And behold, there were ^vchambers and a ^wpavement, all around the court. ^xThirty 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,⁵ a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.⁶

The North Gate

20 As for ^ythe gate that faced toward the north, belonging to ^uthe outer court, he measured its length and its breadth. 21 Its ⁿside rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of ^zthe first gate. Its length was ^afifty cubits, and its breadth ^btwenty-five cubits. 22 And ^cits windows, its vestibule, and ^cits palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps ^dpeople 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 ^ethe inner court. And ^fhe measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

The South Gate

24 And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south. And ^ghe measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the others. 25 Both it and its vestibule ^hhad 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 ⁱpalm trees on its jambs, one on either side. 27 And there was a gate on the south of ^jthe inner court. And he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

The Inner Court

28 Then he brought me to ^jthe inner court through the south gate, and ^khe measured the south gate. It was of the same size as the others. 29 Its ^lside rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others, and both it and its vestibule ^mhad windows all around. ^mIts 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 ⁱpalm trees were on its jambs, and ⁿits stairway had eight steps.

32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and ^ohe 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 ^pIts 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 ^qthe north gate, and ^rhe 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,⁷ and it had windows all around. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. 37 Its vestibule⁸ faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

38 There was ^sa chamber with its door in the vestibule of the gate,^{9 t}where the burnt offering was to be washed. 39 And in the vestibule of the gate were two ^utables on either side, on which the ^vburnt offering and the ^wsin offering and the ^xguilt 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 ^yFour tables were on either side of the gate, eight tables, ^zon which to slaughter. 42 And there were four tables ^aof 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 ^vburnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered. 43 And hooks,¹⁰ a handbreadth long, were fastened all around within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

Chambers for the Priests

44 On the outside of the inner gateway there were two ^bchambers¹¹ in the ^cinner court, one¹² at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south¹³ gate facing north. 45 And he said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests ^dwho have charge of the temple, 46 and the chamber that faces north is for the priests ^ewho have charge of the altar. These are ^fthe sons of Zadok, who alone¹⁴ among the sons of Levi may come ^gnear to the Lord to minister to him.” 47 And he measured the court, ^ha hundred cubits long and ^ha hundred cubits broad, a square. And ⁱthe altar was in front of the temple.

The Vestibule of the Temple

48 Then he brought me to ^jthe vestibule of the temple and measured the ^kjambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate¹⁵ were three cubits on either side. 49 ^lThe length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve¹⁶ cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps.¹⁷ And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side.

The Inner Temple

41 Then he brought me to ^mthe nave and measured the ⁿjambs. On each side six cubits¹ was the breadth of the jambs.² 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,^{3 o}forty cubits, and its breadth, ^ptwenty cubits. 3 Then he went ^qinto the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side⁴ of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 And he measured ^rthe length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across ^sthe nave. And he said to me, “This is ^tthe Most Holy Place.”

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of ^uthe side chambers, four cubits, ^uall around the temple. 6 And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, ^vthirty in each story. There were offsets⁵ all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, ^wso 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 ^xso 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 ^ysix long cubits. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. ^zThe free space between the side chambers of the temple and the 10 ^aother chambers was a breadth of ^btwenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11 And the doors of the ^cside chambers opened on ^dthe 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 ^ethe 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, ^fa 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 ^gthe building facing the yard that was at the back and ^hits galleries⁶ on either side, a hundred cubits.

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, 16 ⁱthe thresholds and ^jthe 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.⁷ 18 It was carved of ^kcherubim and ^lpalm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: 19 ^ma 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 ⁿthe nave were squared, and in front of ^othe Holy Place was something resembling 22 ^pan altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.⁸ Its corners, its base,⁹ and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is ^qthe table that is before the Lord.” 23 The nave and the Holy Place had each ^ra double door. 24 The double doors had two leaves apiece, ^stwo swinging leaves for each door. 25 And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, ^tsuch as were carved on the walls. And there was ^ua canopy¹⁰ of wood in front of ^vthe vestibule outside. 26 And there were ^jnarrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, ^wthe side chambers of the temple, and the ^ucanopies.

The Temple’s Chambers

42 Then he led me out into ^xthe outer court, ^ytoward the north, and he brought me to ^xthe chambers that were opposite ^zthe separate yard and opposite ^athe building on the north. 2 The length of the building whose door faced north was ^ba hundred cubits,¹ and ^cthe breadth fifty cubits. 3 Facing ^dthe twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing ^ethe pavement that belonged to the outer court, was ^fgallery² against gallery in three stories. 4 And ^gbefore the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and ^ha hundred cubits long,³ and ^gtheir 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 ⁱthere was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, ^jfifty cubits long. 8 For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite ^kthe nave⁴ were ^la hundred cubits long. 9 Below these chambers was ^man entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

10 In the thickness of ⁿthe wall of the court, on the south⁵ also, opposite ^othe yard and opposite ^othe building, there were ^pchambers 11 with ^qa passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits⁶ and arrangements and ^qdoors, 12 as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before ⁿthe corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.⁷

13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite ^othe yard are the holy chambers, ^rwhere the priests who approach the Lord ^sshall eat the ^tmost holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—^tthe grain offering, ^uthe sin offering, and ^uthe 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 ^vwithout laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. ^vThey 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 ^wthe gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. 16 He measured the east side with ^xthe 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 ^ya wall around it, ^z500 cubits long and ^z500 cubits broad, ^ato make a separation between the holy and the common.

The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

43 Then he led me to ^bthe gate, the gate facing east. 2 And behold, ^cthe glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And ^dthe sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and ^ethe earth shone with his glory. 3 And ^fthe vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen ^gwhen he¹ came to destroy the city, and just like ^hthe vision that I had seen ⁱby the Chebar canal. And ^jI fell on my face. 4 As ^cthe glory of the Lord ^kentered the temple by the gate facing east, 5 ^lthe Spirit lifted me up and brought me into ^mthe inner court; and behold, ⁿthe glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 ^oWhile the man was standing beside me, ^pI heard one speaking to me out of the temple, 7 and he said to me, ^q“Son of man, this is ^rthe place of my throne and ^sthe place of the soles of my feet, ^twhere I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more ^udefile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies² of their kings at their high places,³ 8 by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with ^vonly a wall between me and them. They have ^wdefiled 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, ^tand I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 “As for you, ^qson of man, ^xdescribe 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, ^xmake known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, ^yits 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 ^zin 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 ^athe mountain ^ball around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 “These are the measurements of ^cthe altar by cubits (the cubit being ^da cubit and a handbreadth):⁴ its base shall be one cubit high⁵ and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span⁶ 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, ^efour horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be ^fsquare, 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. ^gThe steps of the altar shall face east.”

18 And he said to me, ^h“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 ⁱfor throwing blood against it, 19 you shall give to ^jthe Levitical priests ^kof the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, ^la bull from the herd for a sin offering. 20 And ^myou shall take some of its blood and put it on ^ethe four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon ⁿthe rim all around. ^oThus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ^pit 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 ^opurifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ^qa ram from the flock without blemish. 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests ^rshall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 ^sFor 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.⁷ 27 And when they have completed these days, then ^tfrom the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ^upeace offerings, and ^vI will accept you, declares the Lord God.”