Ezekiel 40-42

Tree of Life Version

Measurements of a New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day—the hand of Adonai was on me, and He brought me there. ² In visions God brought me to the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain. On it, toward the south, was something like the construction of a city. ³ He brought me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze.^[a] He had a linen cord in his hand and a measuring rod.^[b] He was standing in the gateway.

⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, set your heart on all that I show you—for I brought you here in order to show you—and report all that you see to the house of Israel.”

⁵ Behold, an outer wall was all around the House. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six cubits long,^[c] each of which was a normal cubit and a handbreadth. When he measured the thickness of the wall structure, it was one rod, and the height was one rod.

⁶ Then he went to the gate that faced east and went up its steps. When he measured the threshold of the gate, it was one rod wide. Also the other threshold was one rod wide. ⁷ Each guard chamber was one rod long and one rod wide. The space between the chambers was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate, facing the House, measured one rod. ⁸ When he measured the porch of the gate toward the House, it was one rod. ⁹ When he measured the porch of the gate, it was eight cubits; its pillars were two cubits. The porch of the gate faced the House. ¹⁰ Now the guard chambers of the east gate were three on this side, and three on the other side—the three had the same measurement. The side pillars had the same measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ When he measured the width of the entrance of the gate, it was ten cubits, and the length of the gate was 13 cubits. ¹² A barrier wall was in front of the guard chambers, one cubit on each side. Each chamber was six cubits on each side. ¹³ When he measured the gate from the roof of the one chamber to the roof of the other, the width was 25 cubits, door facing door. ¹⁴ Then he did the pillars—60 cubits. A gateway extended all around to the pillar of the courtyard. ¹⁵ Now from the front of the gate of the entrance to the front of the inner porch of the gate measured 50 cubits. ¹⁶ There were shuttered windows toward the chambers and toward their pillars within the surrounding gate, and likewise the porches had windows all around inside. On each pillar were palm trees.

¹⁷ Then he brought me to the outer court.^[d] Behold, there were rooms and pavement, made for the surrounding court, with 30 rooms along the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gates, as wide as the gates were long. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ He measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the exterior front of the inner court—it was 100 cubits, to the east and to the north.

²⁰ Next he measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court facing toward the north. ²¹ Its guard chambers were three on this side and three on that side. Its pillars and its porches had the same measurements as the first gate—50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²² Its windows, porches and palm trees were the same measurements as the gate facing toward the east. Its stairway had seven steps, and its porch was in front of them. ²³ A gate to the inner court was opposite the other gate, northward and eastward. He measured 100 cubits from gate to gate.

²⁴ Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its pillars and its porches. They had the same measurements. ²⁵ The gate and its porch had windows all around, like the other windows, 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²⁶ Its stairway had seven steps, and its porches were in front of them. It had palm-trees on its pillars, one on this side and another on that side. ²⁷ There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured from gate to gate toward the south—100 cubits.

²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate. When he measured the south gate, it had the same measurements. ²⁹ Its chambers, pillars and porch had the same measurements. There were windows in it and in the surrounding porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁰ There were porches all around, 25 cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its porch was toward the outer court. Palm-trees were on its pillars. Its stairway had eight steps.

³² Then he brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured it with the same measurements. ³³ Its chambers, pillars and porch had the same measurements. There were windows in it and in its surrounding porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁴ Its porch was toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its pillars on this side and on that side. Its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵ He brought me to the north gate. He measured it with the same measurements: ³⁶ its chambers, pillars and porch. There were windows in it all around. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁷ Its pillars were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its pillars, on this side and on that side. Its stairway had eight steps. ³⁸ A chamber with its entry was by the pillars at the gates; there they rinse the burnt offering. ³⁹ In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. ⁴⁰ Off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables. On the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on one side and four tables were on the other side, by the side of the gate—eight tables, on which they would slaughter. ⁴² There were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. The instruments for the slaughter of the burnt offering and the sacrifice were laid on them. ⁴³ Hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened in the House all around. The flesh of the offering was to be placed upon the tables.

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate in the inner court were chambers for the singers, one of which was at the side of the north gate, facing south. The one at the side of the east gate faced north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This chamber that faces toward the south is for the kohanim who keep charge of the House. ⁴⁶ The chamber that faces toward the north is for the kohanim who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, those from the sons of Levi who come near to Adonai to minister to Him.”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the court. It was 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide, a square. The altar was in front of the House. ⁴⁸ He brought me to the porch of the House. He measured each pillar of the porch, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the porch was 20 cubits and the width 11 cubits. It was ascended by way of steps, where pillars stood, one on each side.

The Inner Sanctuary

41 Then he brought me to the Temple, and measured the pillars—six cubits wide on one side, six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tent. ² The width of the entrance was ten cubits. The sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side and five cubits on the other side. He measured its length, 40 cubits and its width, 20 cubits. ³ He went to the inner room and measured each pillar of the entrance, two cubits; the doorway, six cubits; and the width of the doorway, seven cubits. ⁴ When he measured the inner room’s length, it was 20 cubits, and the width was 20 cubits, in front of the Temple. He said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”

⁵ When he measured the wall of the House, it was six cubits, and the width of every side chamber was four cubits, surrounding the House on every side. ⁶ There were 33 side chambers. There were supports in the wall, which belonged to the House for the side chambers all around, so that they were not supported by the wall of the House. ⁷ The side chambers were wider as they wound about higher and higher. Because the winding about of the House went higher and higher round about the house, therefore the width of the House expanded. One went up from the lowest row to the highest by way of the middle. ⁸ I saw also that the House had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full rod of six cubits up to the joint. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The space between the side chambers of the House ¹⁰ and the outer chambers was 20 cubits wide all around the House on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side chambers were toward the space, one door toward the north and another door toward the south. The width of the space was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that was before the separate area at the side toward the west was 70 cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around and its length was 90 cubits. ¹³ When he measured the House, it was 100 cubits long; the separate area and the building with its walls, was 100 cubits long; ¹⁴ and the width of the face of the House and the separate area toward the east was also 100 cubits.

¹⁵ When he measured the length of the building facing the separate area behind it, with its galleries on each side, it was 100 cubits. Now the inner Sanctuary and the porches of the court— ¹⁶ the thresholds, the shuttered windows, and the galleries all around in three stories opposite the thresholds—were paneled with wood all around, from the ground up to the windows (even the windows were covered), ¹⁷ over the space above the door, as far as the inner House, and on all the wall outside all around inside and outside, by measurement. ¹⁸ It was made with cheruvim and palm trees. A palm tree was between cheruv and cheruv. Every cheruv had two faces: ¹⁹ the face of a man toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made on all the House all around. ²⁰ The cheruvim and palm trees were made from the ground up to above the door and on the wall of the Temple.

²¹ The Temple’s doorposts were square. Now the front of the Sanctuary had something resembling ²² an altar—three cubits high and two cubits long, made of wood. Its corners, its base and its sides were also of wood. He said to me, “This is the table of the Presence of Adonai.”

²³ The Temple and the inner Sanctuary each had double doors. ²⁴ The doors each had two turning leaves—two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. ²⁵ Cheruvim and palm trees were made on them, on the doors of the Temple, just like those made on the walls. There were thick beams of wood on the face of the porch outside. ²⁶ There were shuttered windows and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch, the side chambers of the House and the thick beams.

The Outer Courtyard

42 He led me out to the outer courtyard toward the north. He brought me to the chamber that was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. ² The length of the building with the door on the north was 100 cubits and the width was 50 cubits. ³ Opposite the 20 cubit space belonging to the inner court and opposite the pavement belonging to the outer court was gallery by gallery in three stories. ⁴ In front of the chambers was a walkway ten cubits wide and 100 cubits long. Their doorways were toward the north. ⁵ The upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and the middle ones in the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courtyards; therefore more space was taken away than from the lower and the middle floors, in comparison with the ground. ⁷ A wall that was outside by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court in front of the chambers, was 50 cubits in length. ⁸ For the chambers that were toward the outer court were 50 cubits long while those facing the Temple were 100 cubits. ⁹ Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer courtyard.

¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the courtyard toward the east, in front of the separate area and in front of the building, there were chambers. ¹¹ The passageway in front of them were similar to the chambers on the north, as long and wide as them, with all their exits and similar arrangements and doors. ¹² Corresponding to the doorways of the chambers on the south, there was a doorway at the head of the passageway—a way directly in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate area, they are the holy chambers, where the kohanim who are near to Adonai eat the most holy things. There they will put the most holy things—the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. ¹⁴ Once the kohanim enter, they are not to go out of the holy place into the outer court without leaving there their garments in which they minister—for they are holy. They will put on other garments and approach the area for the people.”

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring the inner House, he brought me out by way of the gate facing east and measured all around. ¹⁶ When he measured the east side with the measuring rod, it was 500 rods, with the measuring rod round about. ¹⁷ When he measured the north side, it was 500 rods by the measuring rod. ¹⁸ When he measured the south side, it was 500 rods, with the measuring rod. ¹⁹ Then he turned about to the west side and measured 500 rods with the measuring rod. ²⁰ So he measured the four sides. It had a wall all around—the length was 500 and the width was 500—to make a distinction between the holy and the profane.