27 The inner courtyard had a gate facing south; he measured southward from gate to gate, and the distance was 100 cubits. 28 Next he brought me into the inner courtyard through the south gate; when he measured the south gate, it was the same size as the others. 29 Its guard chambers, its side pillars, and its porch were the same size as the others. There were windows on each side of it and its porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide.+ 30 There were porches all around; they were 25 cubits long and 5 cubits wide. 31 Its porch faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm-tree figures on its side pillars,+ and eight steps led up to it.+
32 When he brought me into the inner courtyard from the east, he measured the gate, and it was the same size as the others. 33 Its guard chambers, its side pillars, and its porch were the same size as the others, and there were windows on each side of it and its porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. 34 Its porch faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm-tree figures on both of its side pillars, and eight steps led up to it.
35 He then brought me into the north gate+ and measured it; it was the same size as the others. 36 Its guard chambers, its side pillars, and its porch were the same as the others. It had windows on each side. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. 37 Its side pillars faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm-tree figures on both of its side pillars, and eight steps led up to it.
38 A dining room with its entrance was near the side pillars of the gates, where the whole burnt offerings were washed.+
39 There were two tables on each side of the porch of the gate on which to slaughter the whole burnt offerings,+ the sin offerings,+ and the guilt offerings.+ 40 On the way up to the north gate, there were two tables outside the entrance. There were also two tables on the other side of the porch of the gate. 41 There were four tables on each side of the gate—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. 42 The four tables for the whole burnt offering were of hewn stone. They were one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high. On them were kept the implements used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices. 43 Shelves, one handbreadth wide, were attached all around the interior walls; and the flesh of the gift offerings would be placed on the tables.
44 Outside the inner gate were the dining rooms for the singers;+ they were in the inner courtyard near the north gate, facing south. Another dining room was near the east gate, facing north.
45 He said to me: “This dining room that faces south is for the priests who are responsible for the services in the temple.+ 46 The dining room that faces north is for the priests who are responsible for the service of the altar.+ They are the sons of Zaʹdok,+ those from the Levites who are assigned to approach Jehovah to minister to him.”+
47 Then he measured the inner courtyard. It was 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide, foursquare. The altar was in front of the temple.
48 Then he brought me into the porch of the temple,+ and he measured the side pillar of the porch, and it was five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other side. The width of the gate was three cubits on one side and three cubits on the other side.
49 The porch was 20 cubits long and 11* cubits wide. People would reach it by climbing the steps. There were pillars by the side posts, one on each side.+
41 Then he brought me into the outer sanctuary,* and he measured the side pillars; they were six cubits* wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side. 2 The entrance was ten cubits wide, and the sidewalls* of the entrance were five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other side. He measured its length, which was 40 cubits, and its width, 20 cubits.
3 He then went inside* and measured the side pillar of the entrance, and it was two cubits thick, and the entrance was six cubits wide. The sidewalls of the entrance were* seven cubits. 4 Next he measured the room facing the outer sanctuary, and it was 20 cubits long and 20 cubits wide.+ And he said to me: “This is the Most Holy.”+
5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, and it was six cubits thick. The side chambers around the temple were four cubits wide.+ 6 The side chambers were three stories high, one on top of the other, with 30 chambers on each story. There were ledges around the wall of the temple that served as supports for the side chambers, so that the supports did not go into the wall of the temple itself.+ 7 On both sides of the temple was a winding passage* that widened as it ascended to the upper chambers.+ The width increased from story to story as one ascended from the lowest story to the uppermost story by passing through the middle story.
8 I saw that there was a raised platform all around the temple, and the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six cubits to the corner. 9 The width of the outside wall of the side chambers was five cubits. There was an open space* alongside the structure of the side chambers that was part of the temple.
10 Between the temple and the dining rooms*+ was an area that was 20 cubits wide on each side. 11 There was an entrance between the side chambers and the open space on the north side and another entrance on the south side. The width of the open space was five cubits all around.
12 The building that was on the west facing the open area was 70 cubits wide and 90 cubits long; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around.
13 He measured the temple, and it was 100 cubits long. The open area, the building,* and its walls were also 100 cubits long. 14 The width of the front of the temple facing east and the open area was 100 cubits.
15 He measured the length of the building that faced the open area in the rear, along with its galleries on both sides, and it was 100 cubits.
He also measured the outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary,+ and the porches of the courtyard, 16 as well as the thresholds, the windows with narrowing frames,+ and the galleries that were in those three areas. Near the threshold were wood panels+ from the floor up to the windows; and the windows were covered. 17 Measurements were taken above the entrance and in the inner temple and on the outside and on the entire wall all around. 18 It had carved cherubs+ and palm-tree figures,+ with each palm tree between two cherubs, and each cherub had two faces. 19 The human face was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion* was toward the palm tree on the other side.+ They were carved this way throughout the entire temple. 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance were carved cherubs and palm-tree figures on the wall of the sanctuary.
21 The doorposts* of the sanctuary were square.+ In front of the holy place* was something like 22 a wooden altar+ that was three cubits high and two cubits long. It had corner posts, and its base* and its sides were made of wood. He then said to me: “This is the table that is before Jehovah.”+
23 The outer sanctuary and the holy place each had two doors.+ 24 The doors had two swinging leaves, two leaves for each door. 25 There were carved cherubs and palm-tree figures on the doors of the sanctuary, like those on the walls.+ There was also a wooden overhang* on the front of the porch on the outside. 26 There were also windows with narrowing frames+ and palm-tree figures along both sides of the porch, as well as along the side chambers of the temple and the overhangs.
42 Then he led me to the outer courtyard toward the north.+ And he brought me to the dining-room block that was next to the open area,+ north of the adjoining building.+ 2 Its length at the north entrance was 100 cubits,* and it was 50 cubits wide. 3 It was located between the inner courtyard, which was 20 cubits wide,+ and the pavement of the outer courtyard. Its galleries faced each other and were three stories high. 4 Before the dining rooms* was an inner walkway+ 10 cubits wide and 100 cubits long,* and their entrances were to the north. 5 The upper dining rooms of the building were narrower than those in the lower and middle stories, because the galleries took up more of their space. 6 For they were three stories high, but they had no pillars like the pillars of the courtyards. That is why more floor space was taken away from them than from the lower and middle stories.
7 The outer stone wall near the dining rooms toward the outer courtyard that faced the other dining rooms was 50 cubits long. 8 For the length of the dining rooms that were toward the outer courtyard was 50 cubits, but for those facing the sanctuary, it was 100 cubits. 9 The dining rooms had an entryway on the east side leading up to them from the outer courtyard.
10 There were also dining rooms inside* the stone wall of the courtyard toward the east, near the open area and the building.+ 11 There was a walkway before them like that of the northern dining rooms.+ They were the same length and width, and they had the same exits and layouts. Their entrances 12 were like the entrances of the dining rooms that were toward the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the walkway, before the adjacent stone wall toward the east, where one could enter.+
13 Then he said to me: “The dining rooms of the north and the dining rooms of the south that are next to the open area+ are the holy dining rooms where the priests who are approaching Jehovah eat the most holy offerings.+ There they place the most holy offerings, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy.+ 14 When the priests enter, they should not go out of the holy place to the outer courtyard without first removing the garments in which they minister,+ for these are holy. They will clothe themselves with other garments in order to approach the areas permitted to the people.”
15 When he finished measuring the inner temple area,* he led me out by way of the gate that faces east,+ and he measured the entire area.
16 He measured the eastern side with the measuring reed.* According to the measuring reed, it was 500 reed lengths from one side to the other.
17 He measured the northern side, and according to the measuring reed, it was 500 reed lengths.
18 He measured the southern side, and according to the measuring reed, it was 500 reed lengths.
19 He went around to the western side. He measured 500 reed lengths with the measuring reed.
20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall all around it+ that was 500 reeds long and 500 reeds wide,+ to make a division between what is holy and what is for common use.+
43 Then he led me to the gate that is facing east.+ 2 There I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east,+ and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters;+ and the earth was illuminated by his glory.+ 3 What I saw was like the vision I had seen when I* came to bring the city to ruin, and it appeared to be like what I had seen near the river Cheʹbar;+ and I fell with my face to the ground.
4 Then the glory of Jehovah entered the temple* through the gate facing the east.+ 5 A spirit then raised me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and I saw that the temple had become full of the glory of Jehovah.+ 6 Then I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple, and the man came and stood beside me.+ 7 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 people of Israel forever.+ The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name,+ they and their kings, by their spiritual prostitution and by the carcasses of their kings at their death. 8 By putting their threshold next to my threshold and their doorpost beside my doorpost, with only a wall between me and them,+ they defiled my holy name by the detestable things they did, so I exterminated them in my anger.+ 9 Now let them put their spiritual prostitution and the carcasses of their kings far away from me, and I will dwell among them forever.+
10 “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel,+ so that they will feel ashamed because of their errors,+ and they should study its plan.* 11 If they feel ashamed of all they have done, you should make known to them the ground plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits, and its entrances.+ Show them all its ground plans and its statutes, its ground plans and its laws, and write them down before their eyes, so that they may observe all its ground plan and carry out its statutes.+ 12 This is the law of the temple. The entire territory all around the top of the mountain is most holy.+ Look! This is the law of the temple.
13 “These are the measurements of the altar in cubits+ (to each cubit a handbreadth was added).* Its base is a cubit, and it is a cubit wide. It has a border all around the edge that is one span* in width. This is the base of the altar. 14 From the base on the floor to the lower surrounding ledge is two cubits, and its width is one cubit. From the small surrounding ledge to the big surrounding ledge is four cubits, and its width is a cubit. 15 The altar hearth is four cubits high, and projecting up from the altar hearth are the four horns.+ 16 The altar hearth is square, 12 cubits long and 12 cubits wide.+ 17 The four sides of the surrounding ledge are 14 cubits long and 14 cubits wide; and the surrounding border is half a cubit, and its base is a cubit on all sides.
“And its steps are facing east.”
18 He then said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘These are the directions to follow when the altar is made, so that whole burnt offerings may be offered and blood may be sprinkled on it.’+
19 “‘You are to give a young bull of the herd as a sin offering+ to the Levitical priests of the offspring of Zaʹdok,+ who approach me to minister to me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. 20 ‘You should take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the surrounding ledge, and on the border all around, in order to purify it from sin and to make atonement for it.+ 21 Then take the young bull, the sin offering, in order to burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.+ 22 On the second day you will offer a sound male goat as a sin offering; and they will purify the altar from sin just as they purified it from sin with the young bull.’
23 “‘When you finish purifying it from sin, you will offer a sound young bull of the herd and a sound ram from the flock. 24 You are to present them to Jehovah, and the priests must throw salt on them+ and offer them up as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. 25 For seven days you will offer a male goat as a daily sin offering,+ as well as a young bull of the herd and a ram of the flock; you will offer unblemished* animals. 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar, and they must cleanse it and install it. 27 When the days are completed, on the eighth day+ and thereafter, the priests will offer your* whole burnt offerings and communion sacrifices on the altar; and I will find pleasure in you,’+ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”