Daily Bread

The Temple Area Restored

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city^(A)—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me^(B) and he took me there. ² In visions^(C) of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain,^(D) on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze;^(E) he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod^(F) in his hand. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you,^(G) for that is why you have been brought here. Tell^(H) the people of Israel everything you see.^(I)”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

⁵ I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,^[a] each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured^(J) the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

⁶ Then he went to the east gate.^(K) He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. ⁷ The alcoves^(L) for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits^[b] thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

⁸ Then he measured the portico of the gateway; ⁹ it^[c] was eight cubits^[d] deep and its jambs were two cubits^[e] thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.^{[f] 12} In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits^[g] from one parapet opening to the opposite one. ¹⁴ He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway—sixty cubits.^[h] The measurement was up to the portico^[i] facing the courtyard.^{[j](M) 15} The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.^{[k] 16} The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all around, as was the portico; the openings all around faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.^(N)

The Outer Court

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court.^(O) There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were thirty rooms^(P) along the pavement.^{(Q) 18} It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court;^(R) it was a hundred cubits^[l](S) on the east side as well as on the north.

The North Gate

²⁰ Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. ²¹ Its alcoves^(T)—three on each side—its projecting walls and its portico^(U) had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²² Its openings, its portico^(V) and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.^{(W) 23} There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.^(X)

The South Gate

²⁴ Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements^(Y) as the others. ²⁵ The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.^{(Z) 26} Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side.^{(AA) 27} The inner court^(AB) also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits.^(AC)

The Gates to the Inner Court

²⁸ Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements^(AD) as the others. ²⁹ Its alcoves,^(AE) its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.^{(AF) 30} (The porticoes^(AG) of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.) ³¹ Its portico^(AH) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.^(AI)

³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements^(AJ) as the others. ³³ Its alcoves,^(AK) its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its portico^(AL) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate^(AM) and measured it. It had the same measurements^(AN) as the others, ³⁶ as did its alcoves,^(AO) its projecting walls and its portico, and it had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its portico^[m](AP) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.^(AQ)

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings^(AR) were washed. ³⁹ In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings,^(AS) sin offerings^[n](AT) and guilt offerings^(AU) were slaughtered.^{(AV) 40} By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴² There were also four tables of dressed stone^(AW) for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high.^[o] On them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.^{(AX) 43} And double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth^[p] long, were attached to the wall all around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

The Rooms for the Priests

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms, one^[q] at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the side of the south^[r] gate and facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple,^{(AY) 46} and the room facing north^(AZ) is for the priests who guard the altar.^(BA) These are the sons of Zadok,^(BB) who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.^(BC)”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the court: It was square—a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.^(BD)

The New Temple

⁴⁸ He brought me to the portico of the temple^(BE) and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits^[s] and its projecting walls were^[t] three cubits^[u] wide on either side. ⁴⁹ The portico^(BF) was twenty cubits^[v] wide, and twelve^[w] cubits^[x] from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs,^[y] and there were pillars^(BG) on each side of the jambs.

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall^(BH) and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits^[z] on each side.^{[aa] 2} The entrance was ten cubits^[ab] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits^[ac] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.^[ad](BI)

³ Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits^[ae] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits^[af] wide. ⁴ And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.^(BJ) He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.^(BK)”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits^[ag] wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty^(BL) on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.^{(BM) 7} The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway^(BN) went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

⁸ I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. ⁹ The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple ¹⁰ and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. ¹¹ There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

¹² The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits^[ah] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.^[ai]

¹³ Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits^[aj] long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. ¹⁴ The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.^(BO)

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries^(BP) on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, ¹⁶ as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows^(BQ) and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.^{(BR) 17} In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary ¹⁸ were carved^(BS) cherubim^(BT) and palm trees.^(BU) Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:^{(BV) 19} the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple.^{(BW) 20} From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

²¹ The main hall^(BX) had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. ²² There was a wooden altar^(BY) three cubits^[ak] high and two cubits square^[al]; its corners, its base^[am] and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table^(BZ) that is before the Lord.” ²³ Both the main hall^(CA) and the Most Holy Place had double doors.^{(CB) 24} Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves^(CC) for each door. ²⁵ And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. ²⁶ On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.^(CD)

The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms^(CE) opposite the temple courtyard^(CF) and opposite the outer wall on the north side.^{(CG) 2} The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.^{[an] 3} Both in the section twenty cubits^[ao] from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery^(CH) faced gallery at the three levels.^{(CI) 4} In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits^[ap] long.^[aq] Their doors were on the north.^{(CJ) 5} Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. ⁶ The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. ⁷ There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. ⁸ While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. ⁹ The lower rooms had an entrance^(CK) on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ On the south side^[ar] along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard^(CL) and opposite the outer wall, were rooms^{(CM) 11} with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north ¹² were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north^(CN) and south rooms^(CO) facing the temple courtyard^(CP) are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings,^(CQ) the sin offerings^[as](CR) and the guilt offerings^(CS)—for the place is holy.^{(CT) 14} Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments^(CU) in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.^(CV)”

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate^(CW) and measured the area all around: ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.^{[at][au] 17} He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits^[av] by the measuring rod. ¹⁸ He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ²⁰ So he measured^(CX) the area^(CY) on all four sides. It had a wall around it,^(CZ) five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide,^(DA) to separate the holy from the common.^(DB)