Ezekiel 40

1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, on the tenth day of the first month, fourteen years after the city was taken, the Lord’s hand came on me and brought me away. 2 In a vision from God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain. Before me stood something like the structure of a city. 3 He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance shone like bronze. He stood at the gate holding a builder’s line and a measuring rod. 4 The man told me, 4 “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely, and take to heart everything I show you. You were brought here so I could show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.” 5 A wall surrounded the outside of the temple. The man’s measuring rod was 10½ feet long, with each of its six divisions measuring 21 inches. He measured the wall: it was 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high. [a] 6 He climbed seven steps and entered the east-facing gate. He measured across the gate’s porch: it was 10½ feet. 7 Each side room was 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide. The space between the rooms was 10½ feet. The second room was also 10½ feet long and wide, and its porch was 8¾ feet. 8 The third room was also 10½ feet long and 10½ feet wide. 9 The gateway’s porch, near the gate’s porch, was 14 feet wide. Its posts were 3½ feet wide, and the porch faced inward. 10 The gateway had three rooms on each side. All six had the same measurements, and the porches on both sides also matched. 11 He measured the gateway’s entrance. It was 17½ feet wide, and the gateway itself was about 23 feet wide. 12 The barrier in front of the side rooms extended 21 inches on each side. Each room was 10½ feet by 10½ feet. 13 He measured from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room opposite it. The distance was about 44 feet, from one door to the other. 14 The open area of the gateway’s porch was 105 feet, with twenty rooms surrounding the gate. 15 From the outer entrance of the gate to the inner edge of its porch was 87½ feet. 16 The rooms and porches inside the court’s gateway had recessed windows all around. The porches also had windows all around their interiors, with palm trees on each side. 17 He brought me into the inner court. I saw rooms and colonnades all around it, with thirty rooms along the rows of columns. [b] 18 The lower colonnade ran behind the gates for the full length of the gateways. 19 He measured the court from the inside edge of the outer gate to the outside edge of the inner gate. The distance to the east-facing gate was 175 feet. Then he brought me north. 20 There I saw the north-facing gate of the outer court. He measured its length and width. 21 It had three rooms on each side, along with posts, porches, and palm trees. Its measurements matched the east-facing gate: it was 87½ feet long and about 44 feet wide. 22 Its windows, porches, and palm trees matched those of the east-facing gate. Seven steps led up to it, and its porches faced inward. 23 A gate to the inner court stood opposite the north gate, just as one stood opposite the east gate. He measured 175 feet from gate to gate. 24 He brought me to the south side, where I saw a south-facing gate. He measured its rooms, posts, and porches, and their dimensions matched the others. 25 Its windows and surrounding porches matched the other porch windows. The gate was 87½ feet long and about 44 feet wide. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its porches faced inward. Palm trees decorated the posts on both sides. 27 A gate to the inner court stood opposite the south gate. He measured 175 feet southward from gate to gate. 28 He brought me into the inner court through the south gate and measured it. Its measurements matched the others. 29 Its side rooms and posts followed the same measurements. 30 Its porches and the windows all around also followed these measurements. It was 87½ feet long and about 44 feet wide. 31 Its porch faced the outer court. Palm trees decorated its posts, and eight steps led up to it. 32 Then he brought me to the east-facing gate and measured it in the same way. 33 Its rooms, posts, and porches followed the same measurements. Windows and porches surrounded it. It was 87½ feet long and about 44 feet wide. 34 Its porches opened into the inner court. Palm trees decorated the posts on each side, and eight steps led up to it. 35 He brought me through the north gate and measured it. Its measurements matched the others. 36 Its rooms, posts, porches, and surrounding windows matched the others. It was 87½ feet long and about 44 feet wide. 37 Its porches faced the outer court. Palm trees decorated the posts on each side, and eight steps led up to it. 38 The rooms, doorways, and porches at the second gate served as a drain. 39 There the offerings for sin and the offerings for ignorance could be killed. 40 Behind the drain for the whole burnt offerings at the north gate were two tables east of the second gate, and two more east of the gate’s porch. 41 There were four tables on each side behind the gate, eight tables in all, and the sacrifices were killed on them. 42 There were also four tables of cut stone for the whole burnt offerings. Each was about 2½ feet wide, about 4½ feet long, and 21 inches high. The instruments used to kill the whole burnt offerings and other sacrifices were laid on them. 43 A three-inch border of cut stone ran all around the inside. Shelters above the tables protected them from rain and heat. 44 He brought me into the inner court. I saw two rooms there: one behind the north-facing gate and turned toward the south, and one behind the south gate but facing north. [c] 45 He told me, 45 “The room facing south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.” 46 “The room facing north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. They are Zadok’s descendants, the Levites who draw near to serve the Lord.” 47 He measured the square court. It was 175 feet long and 175 feet wide, with the altar in front of the temple. 48 He brought me to the temple’s porch and measured its posts. Each post was 8¾ feet wide. The doorway was 24½ feet wide, with a 5¼-foot side wall on each side. 49 The porch was 35 feet long and 21 feet wide. Ten steps led up to it, and a pillar stood on each side. [d]