Ezekiel 40

1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city had been struck down, on that very day the hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me there.

2In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On it, toward the south, was something like the structure of a city.

3He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

4The man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, listen with your ears, and pay close attention to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I may show it to you. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”

5There was a wall all around the outside of the temple. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six cubits long, each cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the thickness of the wall: one rod; and its height: one rod.

6Then he went to the gate that faced east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate: one rod wide; and the other threshold: one rod wide.

7Each alcove was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the alcoves. The threshold of the gate next to the vestibule of the gate, on the temple side, was one rod.

8Then he measured the vestibule of the gate on the temple side: one rod.

9He measured the vestibule of the gate: eight cubits; and its jambs: two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was on the temple side.

10The alcoves of the east gate were three on each side. All three had the same measurement, and the jambs on each side had the same measurement.

11He measured the width of the entrance of the gate: ten cubits; and the length of the gateway: thirteen cubits.

12In front of the alcoves was a barrier one cubit wide on each side, and the alcoves were six cubits on each side.

13Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other: twenty-five cubits wide, from one opening to the opposite opening.

14He also measured the jambs: sixty cubits. The court extended to the jamb, all around the gateway.

15From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits.

16The alcoves and their jambs had narrow windows all around on the inside of the gateway, and so did the vestibules. There were windows all around on the inside, and palm trees were on the jambs.

17Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw chambers and a pavement laid all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement.

18The pavement ran along the sides of the gates, matching the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement.

19Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside: a hundred cubits, on the east side and on the north.

20Then he measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court that faced north.

21Its alcoves, three on each side, its jambs, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

22Its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate that faced east. Seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was in front of them.

23The inner court had a gate opposite the north gate, just as at the east gate. He measured from gate to gate: a hundred cubits.

24Then he led me toward the south, and there was a gate facing south. He measured its jambs and its vestibule, and they had the same measurements as the others.

25The gate and its vestibule had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

26Seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was in front of them. It had palm trees on its jambs, one on each side.

27The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south: a hundred cubits.

28Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate. It had the same measurements as the others.

29Its alcoves, its jambs, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the others. The gate and its vestibule had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

30There were vestibules all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.

31Its vestibule faced the outer court, palm trees were on its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.

32Then he brought me into the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate. It had the same measurements as the others.

33Its alcoves, its jambs, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the others. The gate and its vestibule had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

34Its vestibule faced the outer court, palm trees were on its jambs on each side, and eight steps led up to it.

35Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others.

36It had its alcoves, its jambs, its vestibule, and windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

37Its jambs faced the outer court, palm trees were on its jambs on each side, and eight steps led up to it.

38There was a chamber with its door by the jambs of the gates. There the burnt offering was washed.

39In the vestibule of the gate were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering were to be slaughtered.

40On the outer side, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gate, were two tables, and on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables.

41So there were four tables on each side of the gate, eight tables in all, on which they slaughtered the sacrifices.

42There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. On them they laid the instruments used to slaughter the burnt offering and the other sacrifices.

43Hooks a handbreadth long were fastened all around on the inside, and the flesh of the offering was to be laid on the tables.

44Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were chambers for the singers. One was at the side of the north gate, facing south, and another was at the side of the east gate, facing north.

45He said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,

46and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the ones from among the descendants of Levi who may come near to Yahweh to minister to him.”

47Then he measured the court: a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide, a square. The altar was in front of the temple.

48Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule: five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was three cubits on each side.

49The vestibule was twenty cubits long and eleven cubits wide, and it was reached by steps. There were pillars beside the jambs, one on each side.