Ezekiel 40–41; Psalm 125; Titus 1–3

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Ezekiel 40–41

Vision of the New Temple

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 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. 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. And the man said to me, gSon 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

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. Then he went into lthe gateway facing east, mgoing up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.3 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. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. 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 twhere 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

Then he brought me to mthe nave and measured the njambs. On each side six cubits18 was the breadth of the jambs.19 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,20 oforty cubits, and its breadth, ptwenty cubits. 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 side21 of the entrance, seven cubits. 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.

Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of uthe side chambers, four cubits, uall around the temple. And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, vthirty in each story. There were offsets22 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. 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. 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. The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. zThe free space between the side chambers of the temple 10 and the 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 galleries23 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.24 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.25 Its corners, its base,26 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 canopy27 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.


Psalm 125

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of mAscents.

Those who ftrust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which gcannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so hthe Lord surrounds his people,

from this time forth and forevermore.

For ithe scepter of wickedness shall not jrest

on kthe land allotted to the righteous,

lest the righteous lstretch out

their hands to do wrong.

mDo good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are nupright in their hearts!

But those who oturn aside to their pcrooked ways

the Lord will lead away with qevildoers!

rPeace be upon Israel!


Titus 1–3

Greeting

Paul, a servant1 of God and aan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and btheir knowledge of the truth, cwhich accords with godliness, din hope of eternal life, which God, ewho never lies, fpromised gbefore the ages began2 and hat the proper time manifested in his word3 ithrough the preaching jwith which I have been entrusted kby the command of God our Savior;

To Titus, lmy true child in ma common faith:

nGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

oThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and pappoint elders in every town as I directed you qif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of rdebauchery or insubordination. For an overseer,6 sas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not tbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent uor greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, vand disciplined. He must whold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in xsound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, yempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of zthe circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since athey are upsetting whole families by teaching bfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 cOne of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.10 13 This testimony is true. Therefore drebuke them esharply, that they fmay be sound in the faith, 14 gnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and hthe commands of people iwho turn away from the truth. 15 jTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and kunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ltheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 mThey profess to know God, but they ndeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ounfit for any good work.

Teach Sound Doctrine

But as for you, teach what accords with psound11 doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, psound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. qOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, rnot slanderers sor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, tpure, uworking at home, kind, and vsubmissive to their own husbands, wthat the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge xthe younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be ya model of good works, and in your teaching zshow integrity, adignity, and bsound speech that cannot be condemned, cso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. dBondservants12 are to be submissive to their own masters ein everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, fbut showing all good faith, gso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For hthe grace of God ihas appeared, bringing salvation jfor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and kworldly passions, and lto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in mthe present age, 13 nwaiting for our blessed ohope, the pappearing of the glory of our great qGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 rwho gave himself for us to sredeem us from all lawlessness and tto purify for himself ta people for his own possession who are uzealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and vrebuke with all authority. wLet no one disregard you.

Be Ready for Every Good Work

Remind them xto be submissive to rulers and authorities, yto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, zto speak evil of no one, ato avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and bto show perfect courtesy toward all people. For cwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when dthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, enot because of works done by us in righteousness, but faccording to his own mercy, by gthe washing of regeneration and hrenewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he ipoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that jbeing justified by his grace we might become kheirs laccording to the hope of eternal life. The saying is mtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful nto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But oavoid foolish pcontroversies, qgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for rthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, safter warning him once and then twice, thave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

12 When I send Artemas or uTychicus to you, do your best to come to me vat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and wApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn xto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ybe unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

zGrace be with you all.