Ezekiel 40

1 In the twenty-fifth year of our transmigration, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck, on this very day, the hand of the Lord was placed upon me, and he brought me to that place.

At the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month of the twenty-fifth year of our exile, (fourteenth years after Jerusalem had been captured), was the exact day that the Lord's power came over me and he took me there to the city.

2 In the visions of God, he brought me into the land of Israel, and he released me on an exceedingly high mountain, on which there was something like the edifice of a city, verging toward the south.

God took me to the country of Israel in vision and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side of the mountain there were buildings that seemed to be a city.

3 And he led me into that place. And behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a linen rope in his hand, and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing at the gate.

When he took me there I saw a man who looked like shining bronze. He was holding a linen cord and a measuring rod as he stood in the entrance way.

4 And the same man said to me: “Son of man, look with your eyes, and listen with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I will reveal to you. For you have been brought to this place, so that these things may be revealed to you. Announce all that you see to the house of Israel.”

“Son of man,” he told me, “watch with your eyes, listen with your ears. Concentrate on everything I'm about to show you, because that's the reason you were brought here. You are to explain to the people of Israel what you've been shown, everything you see.”

5 And behold, there was a wall outside of the house, encircling it all around, and in the man’s hand was a measuring reed of six cubits and a palm. And he measured the width of the edifice with one reed; likewise, the height with one reed.

I could see a wall that surrounded the Temple. The measuring rod the man was holding was six long cubits in length (a long cubit is a cubit plus a handbreadth). He measured the wall as six cubits thick and six cubits high.

6 And he went to the gate which looked toward the east, and he ascended by its steps. And he measured the width of the threshold of the gate as one reed, that is, one threshold was one reed in width.

Then he went up the steps of the east-facing gate. He measured the gate's threshold as six cubits deep.

7 And a chamber was one reed in length and one reed in width. And between the chambers, there were five cubits.

Beyond that were alcoves that measured six cubits by six cubits, with five cubits between the alcoves. The threshold of the inside entrance facing the porch measured six cubits.

8 And the threshold of the gate, next to the inner vestibule of the gate, was one reed.

Then he measured the entrance porch.

9 And he measured the vestibule of the gate as eight cubits, and its front as two cubits. But the vestibule of the gate was inside.

It was eight cubits deep, and its posts were two cubits thick. The entrance porch faced the Temple.

10 Moreover, the chambers of the gate, toward the way of the east, were three from one side to the other. The three were of one measure, and the fronts were of one measure, on both sides.

There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate entrance that all measured the same. The posts on each side also measured the same.

11 And he measured the width of the threshold of the gate as ten cubits, and the length of the gate as thirteen cubits.

He measured the width of the entrance gateway as ten cubits. It was thirteen cubits long.

12 And before the chambers, the border was one cubit. And on both sides, the border was one cubit. But the chambers were six cubits, from one side to the other.

A wall one cubit high was in front of alcove, and the alcoves measured six cubits by six cubits.

13 And he measured the gate, from the roof of one chamber to the roof of another, twenty-five cubits in width, from door to door.

Then he measured the entrance gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the one opposite. It was twenty-five cubits from one doorway to the opposite doorway.

14 And he found the fronts to be sixty cubits. And at the front, there was a court for the gate on every side all around.

Then he measured the distance between the posts as sixty cubits. The gateway led all the way around to the courtyard.

15 And before the face of the gate, which extended even to the face of the vestibule of the gate of the interior, there were fifty cubits.

It was fifty cubits from the gateway entrance to the far side of the inside porch.

16 And there were slanting windows in the chambers and at their fronts, which were within the gate on every side all around. And similarly, there were also windows in the vestibules all around the interior, and there were images of palm trees before the fronts.

The alcoves and their pillars had narrow windows on all of the inside of the gateway. The porches also had windows on all of the inside. All the posts were decorated with palm tree designs.

17 And he led me away to the outer court, and behold, there were storerooms and a layer of pavement stones throughout the court. Thirty storerooms encircled the pavement.

He took me into the outer courtyard. I saw rooms and a pavement had been constructed around the courtyard. There were thirty rooms facing the pavement.

18 And the pavement in front of the gates, along the length of the gates, was lower.

This was termed the lower pavement and it extended along the sides of the gateways and was the same length as them.

19 And he measured the width, from the face of the lower gate to the front of the outer part of the inner court, to be one hundred cubits, to the east and to the north.

He measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the far side of the inner courtyard as one hundred cubits, both to the east side and the north.

20 Likewise, he measured the gate of the outer court, which looked to the way of the north, to be as much in length as in width.

He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer courtyard that faced north.

21 And its chambers were three from one side to the other. And its front and its vestibule, in accord with the measure of the former gate, were fifty cubits in its length and twenty-five cubits in width.

Its three alcoves on both sides, its posts, and its porch all measured the same as the first gateway and was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

22 Now its windows, and the vestibule, and the engravings were in accord with the measure of the gate which looked to the east. And its ascent was by seven steps, and a vestibule was before it.

Its windows, porch, and palm tree decorations were the same as those of the east-facing gate. It had seven steps leading up to it, with its porch facing them.

23 And the gate of the inner court was opposite the gate of the north, and that of the east. And he measured from gate to gate as one hundred cubits.

There was an entrance to the inner courtyard facing the north gate, just like the east gate. He measured the distance from the entrance to the gate as a hundred cubits.

24 And he led me to the way of the south, and behold, there was a gate which looked toward the south. And he measured its front and its vestibule to be the same as the measures above.

He took me to the south side, and I saw a gateway that faced south. He measured its posts and its porch, and they measured the same as those previously.

25 And its windows and the vestibule all around were like the other windows: fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in width.

Both the gateway and its porch had windows all around it that were like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

26 And there were seven steps to ascend to it, and a vestibule before its doors. And there were engraved palm trees, one on each side, at its front.

It had seven steps leading up to it, and its porch faced them. It had one post on each side with palm tree designs on them.

27 And there was a gate at the inner court, on the way to the south. And he measured from one gate to another, on the way to the south, to be one hundred cubits.

The inner courtyard also had an entrance facing south, and he measured the distance from the entrance to the south gate as a hundred cubits.

28 And he led me into the inner court, to the south gate. And he measured the gate to be in accord with the measures above.

He took me into the inner courtyard through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It measured the same as those previously.

29 Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule had the same measures. And its windows and its vestibule all around were fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width.

Its alcoves, posts, and porch had the same measurements as those previously. The gateway and its porch had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

30 And the vestibule all around was twenty-five cubits in length, and five cubits in width.

(The other surrounding porches measured twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.)

31 And its vestibule was toward the outer court, and its palm trees were at the front. And there were eight steps to ascend to it.

Its porch faced the outer courtyard, and its pillars were decorated with palm tree designs. It had eight steps leading up to it.

32 And he led me into the inner court, along the way of the east. And he measured the gate to be in accord with the measures above.

He took me to the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the gateway and it measured the same as those previously.

33 Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule were as above. And its windows and its vestibules all around were fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width.

Its alcoves, posts, and porch measured the same as those previously. The gateway and its porch had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

34 And it had a vestibule, that is, at the outer court. And the engraved palm trees at its front were on one side and the other. And its ascent was by eight steps.

Its porch faced the outer courtyard, and its posts were decorated with palm tree designs. It had eight steps leading up to it.

35 And he led me to the gate which looked toward the north. And he measured it to be in accord with the measures above.

He took me to the north gate and measured it. It measured the same as those previously,

36 Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, and its windows all around were fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in width.

including its alcoves, posts, and porch. The gateway and its porch had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

37 And its vestibule looked toward the outer court. And an engraving of palm trees at its front was on one side and the other. And its ascent was by eight steps.

Its porch faced the outer courtyard, and its posts were decorated with palm tree designs on all sides. It had eight steps leading up to it.

38 And at each one of the storerooms, there was a door at the front of the gates. There, they washed the holocaust.

A room with a doorway stood beside by the porch of the inner gateways. This was where the burnt offering was washed.

39 And at the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables on one side, and two tables on the other side, so that the holocaust, and the offering for sin, and the offering for transgression could be immolated upon them.

Inside the gateway porch were two tables on both sides, where the sacrificial animals were slaughtered for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings.

40 And at the outer side, which ascends to the door of the gate that goes toward the north, there were two tables. And at the other side, before the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables.

Outside, on the way up to the entrance of the north gateway, were two tables on one side of the gate's porch and two tables on the other side.

41 Four tables were on one side, and four tables were on the other side; along the sides of the gate, there were eight tables, upon which they immolated.

So there were four tables on the inside the of gateway and another four outside, making a total of eight tables. This is where the sacrifices were slaughtered.

42 Now the four tables for the holocausts were constructed of square stones: one and a half cubit in length, and one and a half cubits in width, and one cubit in height. Upon these, they placed the vessels, in which the holocaust and the victim were immolated.

There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering. They each measured one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and a cubit high. The tools used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices were placed on these tables.

43 And their edges were one palm in width, turned inward all around. And the flesh of the oblation was on the tables.

Hooks measuring the width of a hand were attached to the walls inside the room. The meat of the offering was to be placed on the tables.

44 And outside the interior gate, there were storerooms for the cantors, in the inner court, which was beside the gate that looks toward the north. And their face was opposite the way to the south; one was beside the east gate, which looked toward the way of the north.

Outside the inner gate but inside the inner courtyard were two rooms. One was beside the north gate and faced south; the other beside the south gate and faced north.

45 And he said to me: “This is the storeroom that looks toward the south; it shall be for the priests who keep watch for the protection of the temple.

The man told me: “The room that faces south is for the priests in charge of the Temple,

46 Moreover, the storeroom that looks toward the north will be for the priests who keep watch over the ministry of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, those among the sons of Levi who may draw near to the Lord, so that they may minister to him.”

and the room that faces north is for the priests in charge of the altar. These priests are the descendants of Zadok and are the only Levites who are allowed to come near to the Lord and minister before him.”

47 And he measured the court to be one hundred cubits in length, and one hundred cubits in width, with four equal sides. And the altar was before the face of the temple.

He measured the square courtyard: a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. The altar stood in the courtyard in front of the Temple.

48 And he led me into the vestibule of the temple. And he measured the vestibule to be five cubits on one side, and five cubits on the other side. And the width of the gate was three cubits on one side, and three cubits on the other side.

He took me to the Temple porch and measured the pillars of the porch as five cubits on each side. The gateway was fourteen cubits wide and its sides measured three cubits.

49 Now the length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the width was eleven cubits, and there were eight steps to ascend to it. And there were pillars at the front, one on this side and another on that side.

The porch was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and had ten steps leading up to it. There were columns by the posts, one on both sides.