Bible in 90 Days

A Prophecy of Hope for the Mountains of Israel

36 “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Tell them, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message. ² The Lord and King says, “Your enemies made fun of you. They bragged, ‘The hills you lived in for a long time belong to us now.’ ” ’ ³ Ezekiel, prophesy. Say, ‘The Lord and King says, “Your enemies destroyed you. They crushed you from every side. So the rest of the nations took over your land. People talked about you. They told lies about you.” ’ ” ⁴ Mountains of Israel, listen to the message of the Lord and King. He speaks to you mountains, hills, canyons and valleys. He speaks to you destroyed cities and deserted towns. The rest of the nations around you took away from you everything of value. They made fun of you. ⁵ So the Lord and King says, “I am very angry with those nations. I have spoken against them and the whole land of Edom. They were very happy when they took over my land. Deep down inside them, they hated Israel. They wanted to take its grasslands. ⁶ Ezekiel, prophesy about the land of Israel. Speak to the mountains, hills, canyons and valleys. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “I have a jealous anger against the nations. They have laughed at you.” ⁷ So the Lord and King says, “I raise my hand and make a promise. I promise that the nations around you will also be laughed at.

⁸ “ ‘ “Mountains of Israel, you will produce branches and bear fruit for my people Israel. They will come home soon. ⁹ I am concerned about you. I will do good things for you. Farmers will plow your ground. They will plant seeds in it. ¹⁰ I will cause many people to live in Israel. The towns will no longer be empty. Their broken-down houses will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will cause many people and animals to live in you, Israel. They will have many babies. I will cause people to make their homes in your towns, just as I did in the past. I will help you succeed more than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will let my people Israel live there again. They will possess you. They will receive you as their own. You will never take their children away from them again.” ’ ”

¹³ The Lord and King says, “People say to you mountains, ‘You destroy people. You let your nation’s children be taken away.’ ¹⁴ But I will not let you destroy people anymore. I will no longer let your nation’s children be taken away,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁵ “You will not have to listen to the nations laughing at you anymore. People will no longer make fun of you. You will not let your nation fall,” announces the Lord and King.

Israel Will Surely Be Rebuilt

¹⁶ Another message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ¹⁷ “Son of man, the people of Israel used to live in their own land. But they made it ‘unclean’ because of how they acted and the way they lived. To me they were ‘unclean’ like a woman having her monthly period. ¹⁸ They spilled people’s blood in the land. They made the land ‘unclean’ by worshiping other gods. So I poured out my great anger on them. ¹⁹ I scattered them among the nations. I sent them to other countries. I judged them based on how they acted and on how they lived. ²⁰ They treated my name as if it were not holy. They did it everywhere they went among the nations. People said about them, ‘They are the Lord’s people. But they were forced to leave his land.’ ²¹ I was concerned about my holy name. The people of Israel treated it as if it were not holy. They did it everywhere they went among the nations.

²² “So tell the Israelites, ‘The Lord and King speaks. He says, “People of Israel, I will not take action for your benefit. Instead, I will act for the honor of my holy name. You have treated it as if it were not holy. You did it everywhere you went among the nations. ²³ But I will show everyone how holy my great name is. You have treated it as if it were not holy. So I will use you to prove to the nations how holy I am. Then they will know that I am the Lord,” announces the Lord and King.

²⁴ “ ‘ “I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you together from all the countries. I will bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle pure water on you. Then you will be ‘clean.’ I will make you completely pure and ‘clean.’ I will take all the statues of your gods away from you. ²⁶ I will give you new hearts. I will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me. I will remove your stubborn hearts from you. I will give you hearts that obey me. ²⁷ I will put my Spirit in you. I will make you want to obey my rules. I want you to be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your people of long ago. You will be my people. And I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your ‘uncleanness.’ I will give you plenty of grain. You will have more than enough. So you will never be hungry again. ³⁰ I will multiply the fruit on your trees. I will increase the crops in your fields. Then the nations will no longer make fun of you because you are hungry. ³¹ You will remember your evil ways and the sinful things you have done. You will hate yourselves because you have sinned so much. I also hate your evil practices. ³² I want you to know that I am not doing those things for your benefit,” announces the Lord and King. “People of Israel, you should be ashamed of yourselves! Your conduct has brought dishonor to you.” ’ ”

³³ The Lord and King says, “I will make you pure from all your sins. On that day I will give you homes in your towns again. Your broken-down houses will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The dry and empty land will be farmed again. Everyone who passes through it will see that it is no longer empty. ³⁵ They will say, ‘This land was completely destroyed. But now it’s like the Garden of Eden. The cities were full of broken-down buildings. They were destroyed and empty. But now they have high walls around them. And people live in them.’ ³⁶ Then the nations that remain around you will know that I have rebuilt what was once destroyed. I have planted again the fields that were once empty. I have spoken. And I will do this. I am the Lord.”

³⁷ The Lord and King says, “Once again I will answer Israel’s prayer. Here is what I will do for them. I will multiply them as if they were sheep. ³⁸ Large flocks of animals are sacrificed at Jerusalem during the appointed feasts there. In the same way, the destroyed cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The power of the Lord came on me. His Spirit brought me away from my home. He put me down in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them. I saw a huge number of bones in the valley. The bones were very dry. ³ The Lord asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Lord and King, you are the only one who knows.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones. Tell them, ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message. ⁵ The Lord and King speaks to you. He says, “I will put breath in you. Then you will come to life again. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you. I will put flesh on you. I will cover you with skin. So I will put breath in you. And you will come to life again. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

⁷ So I prophesied just as the Lord commanded me to. As I was prophesying, I heard a noise. It was a rattling sound. The bones came together. One bone connected itself to another. ⁸ I saw tendons and flesh appear on them. Skin covered them. But there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell it, ‘The Lord and King says, “Breath, come from all four directions. Go into these people who have been killed. Then they can live.” ’ ” ¹⁰ So I prophesied just as he commanded me to. And breath entered them. Then they came to life again. They stood up on their feet. They were like a huge army.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, these bones stand for all the people of Israel. The people say, ‘Our bones are dried up. We’ve lost all hope. We are destroyed.’ ¹² So prophesy. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “My people, I am going to open up your graves. I am going to bring you out of them. I will take you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ So I will open up your graves and bring you out of them. Then you will know that I am the Lord. You are my people. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you. And you will live again. I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I have spoken. I have done it,” announces the Lord.’ ”

Israel Will Be One Nation Under One King

¹⁵ A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ¹⁶ “Son of man, get a stick of wood. Write on it, ‘Belonging to the tribe of Judah and the Israelites who are connected with it.’ Then get another stick. Write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick. Belonging to the tribes of Joseph and all the Israelites connected with them.’ ¹⁷ Join them together into one stick in your hand.

¹⁸ “Your people will ask you, ‘What do you mean by this?’ ¹⁹ Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “I am going to get the stick of Joseph and the Israelites connected with it. That stick is in Ephraim’s hand. I am going to join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them a single stick of wood in my hand.” ’ ²⁰ Show them the sticks you wrote on. ²¹ Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them together from all around. I will bring them back to their own land. ²² There I will make them one nation. They will live on the mountains of Israel. All of them will have one king. They will never be two nations again. They will never again be separated into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer make themselves ‘unclean’ by worshiping any of their evil gods. They will not do wrong things anymore. They always turn away from me. But I will save them from that sin. I will make them pure and ‘clean.’ They will be my people. And I will be their God.

²⁴ “ ‘ “A man who belongs to the family line of my servant David will be their king. All of them will have one shepherd. They will obey my laws. And they will be careful to keep my rules. ²⁵ They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob. That is where your people of long ago lived. They, their children, their children’s children, and their children after them will live there forever. And my servant from David’s family line will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant with them. It promises to give them peace. The covenant will last forever. I will make them my people. And I will cause there to be many of them. I will put my temple among them forever. ²⁷ I will live with them. I will be their God. And they will be my people. ²⁸ My temple will be among them forever. Then the nations will know that I make Israel holy. I am the Lord.” ’ ”

The Lord Will Have Great Victory Over the Nations

38 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ² “Son of man, turn your attention to Gog. He is from the land of Magog. He is the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. Prophesy against him. ³ Tell him, ‘The Lord and King says, “Gog, I am against you. You are the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. ⁴ But I will turn you around. I will put hooks in your jaws. I will bring you out of your land along with your whole army. Your horses will come with you. Your horsemen will be completely armed. Your huge army will carry large and small shields. All of them will be ready to use their swords. ⁵ The men of Persia, Cush and Put will march out with them. All of them will have shields and helmets. ⁶ Gomer and all its troops will be there too. Beth Togarmah from the far north will also come with all its troops. Many nations will help you.

⁷ “ ‘ “Get ready. Be prepared. Take command of the huge armies gathered around you. ⁸ After many years you will be called together to fight. Later, you will march into a land that has not had war for a while. Its people were gathered together from many nations. They came to the mountains of Israel. No one had lived in those mountains for a long time. So the people had been brought back from other nations. Now all the people live in safety. ⁹ You, all your troops and the many nations with you will march up to attack them. All of you will advance like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering their land.”

¹⁰ “ ‘The Lord and King says, “At that time some ideas will come to you. You will make evil plans. ¹¹ You will say, ‘I will march out against a land whose villages don’t have walls around them. I’ll attack those peaceful people. I’ll do this when they aren’t expecting it. None of their villages has walls or gates with metal bars on them. ¹² I will rob those people. I’ll steal everything they have. Then I’ll turn my attention to the destroyed houses where people are living again. They have returned there from other nations. Now they are rich. They have plenty of livestock and all kinds of goods. They are living in Israel. It is the center of the earth.’ ¹³ The people of Sheba and Dedan will speak to you. So will the traders of Tarshish and all its villages. They will say, ‘Have you come to rob us? Have you gathered your huge army together to steal our silver and gold? Are you going to take away from us our livestock and goods? Do you plan to carry off everything we have?’ ” ’

¹⁴ “Son of man, prophesy. Tell Gog, ‘The Lord and King says, “A time is coming when my people Israel will be living in safety. You will see that it is a good time to attack them. ¹⁵ So you will come from your place in the far north. Many nations will join you. All their men will be riding on horses. You will have a huge and mighty army. ¹⁶ They will advance against my people Israel. They will be like a cloud covering their land. Gog, in days to come I will bring you against my land. Then the nations will know me. I will use you to prove to them how holy I am.”

¹⁷ “ ‘Here is what the Lord and King says to Gog. “In the past I spoke about you through my servants, the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. ¹⁸ Here is what will happen in days to come. You will attack the land of Israel. That will stir up my burning anger,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁹ “At that time my burning anger will blaze out at you. There will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and the wild animals will tremble with fear. They will tremble with fear because of what I will do. So will every creature that moves along the ground. And so will all the people on earth. The mountains will come crashing down. The cliffs will break into pieces. Every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ I will punish you on all my mountains,” announces the Lord and King. “Your men will use their swords against one another. ²² I will judge you. I will send a plague against you. A lot of blood will be spilled. I will send heavy rain, hailstones and burning sulfur down to the earth. They will fall on you and your troops. They will also come down on the many nations that are helping you. ²³ That will show how great and holy I am. I will make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

39 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Tell him, ‘The Lord and King says, “Gog, I am against you. You are the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. ² But I will turn you around. I will drag you along. I will bring you from the far north. I will send you against the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will knock your bow out of your left hand. I will make your arrows drop from your right hand. ⁴ You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel. You and all your troops will die there. So will the nations that join you. I will feed you to all kinds of birds that eat dead bodies. So they and the wild animals will eat you up. ⁵ You will fall dead in the open fields. I have spoken,” announces the Lord and King. ⁶ “I will send fire on the land of Magog. It will burn up the people who live in safety on the coast. So they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷ “ ‘ “I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I will no longer let them treat my name as if it were not holy. Then the nations will know that I am the Holy One in Israel. I am the Lord. ⁸ The day I will judge you is coming. You can be sure of it,” announces the Lord and King. “It is the day I have spoken about.

⁹ “ ‘ “At that time those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and light a fire. They will use it to burn up the weapons. That includes small and large shields. It also includes bows and arrows, war clubs and spears. It will take seven years to burn all of them up. ¹⁰ People will not gather wood from the fields. They will not cut down the forests. Instead, they will burn the weapons. And they will rob those who robbed them. They will steal from those who stole from them,” announces the Lord and King.

¹¹ “ ‘ “Gog, at that time I will bury you in a grave in Israel. It will be in the valley where people travel east of the Dead Sea. It will block the path of travelers. That’s because you and your huge armies will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Gog’s Armies.

¹² “ ‘ “It will take seven months for the Israelites to bury the bodies. They will do this to make the land ‘clean’ again. ¹³ All the people in the land will bury them. The day that I show how glorious I am will be a time to remember.” This is what the Lord and King announces. ¹⁴ “People will keep being hired to make the land ‘clean’ again. They will go all through it. They and others will bury any bodies lying on the ground.

“ ‘ “After the seven months they will search even more carefully. ¹⁵ As they go through the land here is what they’ll do. When anyone sees a bone, they will put a marker beside it. Then those who dig the graves will take the bone to the Valley of Gog’s Armies. There they will bury it. ¹⁶ That is how they will make the land ‘clean’ again.” ’ ” Also a town called Gog’s Armies is near there.

¹⁷ The Lord and King said to me, “Son of man, speak to every kind of bird. Call out to all the wild animals. Tell them, ‘Gather together. Come from everywhere. Gather around the sacrifice I am preparing for you. It is the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat human bodies and drink human blood. ¹⁸ You will eat the bodies of mighty men. You will drink the blood of the princes of the earth. You will eat their bodies and drink their blood. You will do this as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls. You will enjoy it as if you were eating the fattest animals from Bashan. ¹⁹ So I am preparing a sacrifice for you. You will eat fat until you are completely full. You will drink blood until you are drunk. ²⁰ At my table you will eat horses, riders, mighty men and soldiers until you are full,’ announces the Lord and King.

²¹ “ ‘I will show all the nations my glory. They will see how I punish them when I use my power against them. ²² From that time on, the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. ²³ The nations will know that the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners because they sinned against me. They were not faithful to me. So I turned my face away from them. I handed them over to their enemies. All of them were killed by swords. ²⁴ I punished them because they were “unclean.” They did many things that were wrong. So I turned my face away from them.’ ”

²⁵ The Lord and King says, “I will now cause the people of Jacob to recover from my judgment. I will show my tender love for all the people of Israel. I will make sure that my name is kept holy. ²⁶ My people will forget the shameful things they have done. They will not remember all the ways they were unfaithful to me. They used to live in safety in their land. At that time no one made them afraid. ²⁷ So I will bring them back from the nations. I will gather them from the countries of their enemies. And I will use them to prove to many nations how holy I am. ²⁸ Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. I let the nations take my people away as prisoners. But now I will bring them back to their own land. I will not leave anyone behind. ²⁹ I will no longer turn my face away from the people of Israel. I will pour out my Spirit on them,” announces the Lord and King.

The New Temple Area

40 It was the 14th year after Jerusalem had been captured. We had been brought to Babylon as prisoners. It was the tenth day of a month near the beginning of the 25th year after that. On that day the power of the Lord came on me. He took me back to my land. ² In visions God gave me, he brought me to the land of Israel. He set me on a very high mountain. Some buildings were on the south side of it. They looked like a city. ³ He took me there. I saw a man who appeared to be made out of bronze. He was standing at the gate of the outer courtyard. He was holding a linen measuring tape and a measuring rod. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely. Pay attention to everything I show you. That is why the Lord brought you here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate to the Outer Courtyard

⁵ I saw a wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was 11 feet long. He measured the wall with it. The wall was as thick and as high as one measuring rod.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gate. He climbed its steps. He measured the gateway. It was one rod wide. ⁷ The rooms where the guards stood were one rod long and one rod wide. The walls between the rooms were almost nine feet thick. The gateway next to the porch was one rod wide. The porch faced the front of the temple.

⁸ Then the man measured the porch of the gateway. ⁹ It was 14 feet wide. Each of its doorposts was three and a half feet thick. The porch of the gateway faced the front of the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three rooms on each side. All the rooms were the same size. The walls on each side of the rooms had the same thickness. ¹¹ Then the man measured the entrance of the gateway. It was 18 feet wide and 23 feet long. ¹² In front of each room was a wall. It was 21 inches high. The rooms measured 11 feet on each side. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across from it. It was 44 feet from the top of one wall to the top of the other. ¹⁴ He measured along the front of the side walls all around the inside of the gateway. The total was 105 feet. That didn’t include the porch that faced the courtyard. ¹⁵ It was 88 feet from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its porch. ¹⁶ The rooms and their side walls inside the gateway had narrow openings on top of them. So did the porch. All the openings faced the inside. The front of each side wall was decorated with a palm tree.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me into the outer courtyard. There I saw some rooms and a sidewalk. They had been built all around the courtyard. Along the sidewalk were 30 rooms. ¹⁸ The sidewalk went all the way up to the sides of the gateways. It was as wide as they were long. This was the lower sidewalk. ¹⁹ Then he measured from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner courtyard. The east side measured 175 feet. So did the north side.

The North Gate

²⁰ Then the man measured the north gate. He wanted to show me how long and wide it was. The gate led into the outer courtyard. ²¹ It had three rooms on each side. Their side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the first gateway. They measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ²² Its openings, porch and palm tree decorations measured the same as the ones at the east gate. Seven steps led up to the north gate. Its porch was across from them. ²³ The inner courtyard had a gate. It faced the gate on the north. It was just like the east gate. He measured from one gate to the one across from it. The total was 175 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴ Then the man led me to the south side of the courtyard. There I saw the south gate. He measured its doorposts and porch. They measured the same as the others. ²⁵ The gateway and its porch had narrow openings all around. The openings were the same as the others had. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it. Its porch was across from them. The front of each side wall was decorated with a palm tree. ²⁷ The inner courtyard also had a gate that faced south. The man measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side. The total was 175 feet.

The Gates to the Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man brought me into the inner courtyard. We went through the south gate. He measured it. It was the same size as the others. ²⁹ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. The gateway and its porch had openings all around. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁰ The porches of the gateways around the inner courtyard were 44 feet wide and nine feet long. ³¹ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees decorated its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it.

³² Then the man brought me to the east side of the inner courtyard. There he measured the gateway. It was the same size as the others. ³³ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. The gateway and its porch had openings all around. The side walls and porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁴ Its porch faced the outer courtyard. Each doorpost was decorated with a palm tree. Eight steps led up to the porch.

³⁵ Then the man brought me to the north gate. He measured it. It was the same size as the others. ³⁶ Its rooms, side walls and porch measured the same as the ones at the other gateways. It had openings all around. The side walls and the porch measured 88 feet long and 44 feet wide. ³⁷ The porch faced the outer courtyard. Each doorpost was decorated with a palm tree. Eight steps led up to the porch.

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ A room with a doorway was by the porch of each inner gateway. The burnt offerings were washed there. ³⁹ On each side of the porch of the gateway were two tables. The burnt offerings were killed on them. So were the sin offerings and guilt offerings. ⁴⁰ Two more tables were by the outer wall of the gateway porch. They were near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway. Two more tables were on the other side of the steps. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on each side of the gateway. The total number of tables was eight. Animals for sacrifice were killed on all of them. ⁴² There were also four other tables for the burnt offerings. They were made out of blocks of stone. Each table was two and a half feet long and two and a half feet wide. And each was almost two feet high. The tools for killing the burnt offerings and other sacrifices were placed on them. ⁴³ Large hooks hung on the walls all around. Each was three inches long. The meat of the offerings was placed on the tables.

The Rooms for the Priests

⁴⁴ Near the inner gates were two rooms. They were in the inner courtyard. One room was next to the north gate. It faced south. The other one was next to the south gate. It faced north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room that faces south is for the priests who guard the temple. ⁴⁶ The one that faces north is for the priests who guard the altar. All these priests are the sons of Zadok. They are the only Levites who can approach the Lord to serve him.”

⁴⁷ Then the man measured the courtyard. It was square. It measured 175 feet long and 175 feet wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.

The New Temple

⁴⁸ The man brought me to the porch of the temple. He measured the doorposts of the porch. Each of them was almost nine feet wide. The entrance was 24 and a half feet wide. Each of the side walls was a little over five feet wide. ⁴⁹ The porch was 35 feet wide. It was 21 feet from front to back. It was reached by some stairs. Pillars were on each side of the doorposts.

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall. There he measured the doorposts. Each of them was 11 feet wide. ² The entrance was 18 feet wide. Each of its side walls was almost nine feet wide. He also measured the main hall. It was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.

³ Then he went into the Most Holy Room. There he measured the doorposts at the entrance. Each one of them was three and a half feet wide. The entrance itself was 11 feet wide. Each of its side walls was a little over 12 feet wide. ⁴ He also measured the Most Holy Room. It was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Room.” It was beyond the back wall of the main hall.

⁵ Then the man measured the wall of the temple. It was 11 feet thick. Each side room around the temple was seven feet wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three floors. There were 30 rooms on each floor. Ledges had been built all around the wall of the temple. So the floor beams of the side rooms rested on the ledges. The beams didn’t go into the temple wall. ⁷ The side rooms of the temple were wider as we went up floor by floor. A stairway went from the lowest floor all the way up to the top floor. It passed through the middle floor.

⁸ I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it. The base formed the foundation of the side rooms. It was as long as one measuring rod. So it was 11 feet long. ⁹ The outer wall of each side room was almost nine feet thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple ¹⁰ and the priests’ rooms was 35 feet wide. It went all around the temple. ¹¹ The side rooms had entrances from the open area. One was on the north side. Another was on the south. The base next to the open area was almost nine feet wide all around.

¹² There was a large building right behind the temple. It was on the west side of the outer courtyard. It was 123 feet wide. Its wall was almost nine feet thick all around. And it was 158 feet long.

¹³ Then the man measured the temple. It was 175 feet long. The open area and the large building behind the temple also measured 175 feet. ¹⁴ The east side of the inner courtyard was 175 feet wide. That included the front of the temple.

¹⁵ Then the man measured the building that was on the west side of the outer courtyard. It was behind the temple. It was 175 feet long. That included the walkways of the building on each side.

The main hall and the Most Holy Room were covered with wood. ¹⁶ And the porch that faced the inner courtyard was covered with wood. So were the gateways, narrow openings and walkways around these three places. The gateways and everything beyond them were covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the openings, and the openings themselves were also covered. ¹⁷ The area above the outside of the entrance to the Most Holy Room was decorated. There were also decorations all around the walls of the Most Holy Room. ¹⁸ Carved cherubim and palm trees were used in the decorations. Each cherub had a palm tree next to it. And each palm tree had a cherub next to it. Each cherub had two faces. ¹⁹ One was the face of a human being. It looked toward the palm tree on one side. The other was the face of a lion. It looked toward the palm tree on the other side. The decorations were carved all around the whole temple. ²⁰ Cherubim and palm trees decorated the wall of the main hall. They were carved from the floor all the way up to the area above the entrance.

²¹ The main hall had a doorframe shaped like a rectangle. So did the Most Holy Room. ²² A wooden altar stood in the main hall. It was a little over five feet high. It was three and a half feet long and three and a half feet wide. Its corners, base and sides were made out of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that stands in front of the Lord.” ²³ The main hall had double doors. So did the Most Holy Room. ²⁴ Each door had two parts that could swing back and forth. ²⁵ Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the main hall. The decorations were like the ones on the walls. A wooden roof went out beyond the front of the porch. ²⁶ The side walls of the porch had narrow openings on top of them. Palm trees were carved on each side. A wooden roof went out beyond the entrance to each side room of the temple.

The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me north into the outer courtyard of the temple. He brought me to the rooms that were across from the inner courtyard. They were across from the outer wall of the temple on the north side. ² The rooms were in a building north of the temple. The building had a door that faced north. It was 175 feet long. It was 88 feet wide. ³ One row of rooms was next to the inner courtyard. The other row was across from the sidewalk of the outer courtyard. Each room was 35 feet long. Walkways in front of each row faced each other on all three floors. ⁴ Between the two rows was an inner sidewalk. It was 18 feet wide and 175 feet long. Each of the rooms had a door on the north side. ⁵ The rooms on the top floor were narrower than the others. The walkways took up more space from these rooms. The walkways took up less space from the rooms on the other two floors. ⁶ The courtyards had pillars. But the rooms on the top floor didn’t. So their floor space was smaller than the space in the rooms on the other floors. ⁷ The building had an outer wall. It was even with the outer row of rooms and with the outer courtyard. The wall continued east of the outer row for 88 feet. ⁸ So there were two rows of rooms. The row next to the outer courtyard was 88 feet long. The one closest to the temple was 175 feet long. ⁹ The first floor of the building had an entrance on the east side. It led to the outer courtyard.

¹⁰ There were also two rows of rooms in a building next to the south side of the inner courtyard. The building was across from the south wall of the outer courtyard. ¹¹ Between the two rows was an inner sidewalk. The rooms were like the ones in the north building. They were as long and wide as the rooms on the north. The doorways of the rooms on the south were like the ones on the north. ¹² People entered the south rooms through the doorway at the east end of the inner sidewalk. The south wall continued east of the outer row of rooms.

¹³ The man said to me, “The north and south rooms face the inner courtyard. They are the priests’ rooms. That is where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the very holy offerings. They will also store them there. That includes the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. This place is holy. ¹⁴ The priests who enter these holy rooms must leave behind the clothes they served in. Then they can go into the outer courtyard. The clothes they served in are holy. So the priests must put other clothes on. They have to do that before they go near the places where other people go.”

¹⁵ The man finished measuring what was inside the temple area. Then he led me out through the east gate. He measured all around the area. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with his measuring rod. It was 875 feet long. ¹⁷ He measured the north side. It was 875 feet long. ¹⁸ He measured the south side. It was 875 feet long. ¹⁹ Finally, he turned and measured the west side. It was 875 feet long. ²⁰ So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it. The wall was 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. It separated what was holy from what was not.

The Glory of God Returns to the Temple

43 Then the man brought me to the east gate. ² There I saw the glory of the God of Israel. He was coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters. His glory made the land shine brightly. ³ The vision I saw was like the one I had when he came to destroy the city. It was also like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River. I fell with my face toward the ground. ⁴ The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the east gate. ⁵ Then the Spirit lifted me up. He brought me into the inner courtyard. The glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶ The man was standing beside me. I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. ⁷ He said, “Son of man, this is the place where my throne is. The stool for my feet is also here. I will live here among the people of Israel forever. They will never again treat my name as if it were not holy. They and their kings will not serve other gods anymore. The people will no longer make funeral offerings for their kings. ⁸ The people of Israel placed their own doorway next to my holy doorway. They put their doorposts right beside mine. Nothing but a thin wall separated us. They treated my name as if it were not holy. I hated it when they did that. So I became angry with them and destroyed them. ⁹ Now let them stop serving other gods. Let them stop making funeral offerings for their kings. If they obey me, I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “Son of man, tell the people of Israel about the temple. Then they will be ashamed of their sins. Let them think carefully about how perfect it is. ¹¹ What if they are ashamed of everything they have done? Then show them all the plans of the temple. Explain to them how it is laid out. Tell them about its exits and entrances. Show them exactly what it will look like. Give them all its rules and laws. Write everything down so they can see it. Then they will be faithful to its plan. And they will obey all its rules.

¹² “Here is the law of the temple. The whole area on top of Mount Zion will be very holy. That is the law of the temple.”

The Great Altar Is Rebuilt

¹³ The man said, “Here is the size of the altar. The standard measurement I am using is 21 inches. The altar has a drain on the ground. The drain is 21 inches deep and 21 inches wide. It has a rim that is nine inches wide around the edge. Here is how high the altar is. ¹⁴ From the drain to the lower ledge is three and a half feet. The lower ledge goes around the altar and is 21 inches wide. From the lower ledge to the upper ledge is seven feet. The upper ledge also goes around the altar and is 21 inches wide. ¹⁵ The top part of the altar is where the sacrifices are burned. It is seven feet high. A horn sticks out from each of its four corners. ¹⁶ The top part of the altar is square. It is 21 feet long and 21 feet wide. ¹⁷ The upper ledge is also square. It is 25 feet long and 25 feet wide. The drain goes all the way around the altar. The rim of the drain is 11 inches wide. The steps leading up to the top of the altar face east.”

¹⁸ Then the man said to me, “Son of man, the Lord and King speaks. He says, ‘Here are the rules for the altar when it is built. Follow them when you sacrifice burnt offerings and splash blood against it. ¹⁹ Give a young bull to the priests as a sin offering. They are Levites from the family of Zadok. They approach me to serve me,’ announces the Lord and King. ²⁰ ‘Get some of the bull’s blood. Put it on the four horns of the altar. Also put it on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and all around the rim. That will make the altar pure and “clean.” ²¹ Use the bull for the sin offering. Burn it in the proper place outside the temple.

²² “ ‘On the second day offer a male goat. It must not have any flaws. It is a sin offering to make the altar pure and “clean.” So do the same thing with the goat that you did with the bull. ²³ When you finish making the altar pure, offer a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must not have any flaws. ²⁴ Offer them to me. The priests must sprinkle salt on them. Then they must sacrifice them as a burnt offering to me.

²⁵ “ ‘Provide a male goat each day for seven days. It is a sin offering. Also provide a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must not have any flaws. ²⁶ For seven days the priests must make the altar pure and “clean.” That is how they will set it apart to me. ²⁷ From the eighth day on, the priests must bring your burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They must sacrifice them on the altar. Then I will accept you,’ announces the Lord and King.”

The Priesthood Will Be Established Again

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the temple. It was the one that faced east. It was shut. ² The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain shut. It must not be opened. No one can enter through it. It must remain shut because I have entered through it. I am the God of Israel. ³ The prince is the only one who can sit in the gateway. There he can eat in front of me. He must enter through the porch of the gateway. And he must go out the same way.”

⁴ Then the man brought me through the north gate. He took me to the front of the temple. I looked up and saw the glory of the Lord. It filled his temple. I fell with my face toward the ground.

⁵ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention. Look carefully. Listen closely to everything I tell you. I’m telling you about all the rules and instructions concerning my temple. Pay attention to the entrance to the temple and to all its exits. ⁶ Speak to the people of Israel. They refuse to obey me. Tell them, ‘Here is what the Lord and King says. “People of Israel, I have had enough of your evil practices. I hate them. ⁷ You brought outsiders into my temple. They were not circumcised. Their hearts were stubborn. You made my temple ‘unclean.’ But you offered me food, fat and blood anyway. When you did all these things, you broke the covenant I made with you. I hated all the evil things you did. ⁸ You did not do what I told you to. You did not take care of my holy things. Instead, you put other people in charge of my temple.” ’ ” ⁹ The Lord and King says, “No outsider whose heart is stubborn can enter my temple. They have not been circumcised. Even if they live among the people of Israel they can’t enter my temple.

¹⁰ “Some Levites wandered far away from me when Israel went astray. They worshiped the statues of their gods. So they will be punished because they have sinned. ¹¹ They might serve in my temple. They might be in charge of its gates. They might kill the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people. And they might stand in front of the people and serve them in other ways. ¹² But these Levites served the people of Israel. They served while the Israelites were worshiping the statues of their gods. They made the people fall into sin. So I raised my hand and made a promise. I warned them that I would punish them because of their sin,” announces the Lord and King. ¹³ “They must not approach me to serve me as priests. They must not come near any of my holy things. They must stay away from my very holy offerings. They did many things they should have been ashamed of. I hated those things. ¹⁴ But I will still appoint them to guard the temple. They will guard it for all the work that has to be done there.

¹⁵ “But the priests must approach me to serve me. They are Levites from Zadok’s family line. They guarded my temple when the people of Israel turned away from me. These priests must serve me by offering sacrifices of fat and blood,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁶ “They are the only ones who can enter my temple. Only they can come near to serve me as guards.

¹⁷ “They will enter the gates of the inner courtyard. When they do, they must wear linen clothes. They will serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. When they do, they must not wear any clothes made out of wool. ¹⁸ They must have linen turbans on their heads. They must wear linen underwear around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ They will go into the outer courtyard where the people are. When they do, they must take off the clothes they have been serving in. They must leave them in the sacred rooms. And they must put other clothes on. Then the people will not be made holy if they happen to touch the priests’ clothes.

²⁰ “The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short. ²¹ No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. ²² They must not get married to widows or divorced women. They may only marry Israelite virgins or the widows of priests. ²³ The priests must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not. They must show them how to tell the difference between what is ‘clean’ and what is not.

²⁴ “When people do not agree, the priests must serve as judges between them. They must make their decisions based on my laws. They must obey my laws and rules for all my appointed feasts. And they must keep my Sabbath days holy.

²⁵ “A priest must not make himself ‘unclean’ by going near a dead person. But suppose the dead person was his father or mother. Or suppose it was his son or daughter or brother or unmarried sister. Then the priest may make himself ‘unclean.’ ²⁶ After he is pure and ‘clean’ again, he must wait seven days. ²⁷ Then he may go to the inner courtyard to serve in the temple. But when he does, he must sacrifice a sin offering for himself,” announces the Lord and King.

²⁸ “The priests will not receive any part of the land of Israel. I myself will be their only share. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is set apart to me in a special way will belong to them. ³⁰ The best of every first share of the people’s crops will belong to the priests. So will all their special gifts. The people must give the priests the first share of their ground meal. Then I will bless my people’s families. ³¹ The priests must not eat any bird or animal that is found dead. They must not eat anything that wild animals have torn apart.

The Lord Establishes Israel Again

45 “People of Israel, you will divide up the land you will receive. When you do, give me my share of it. It will be a sacred area. It will be eight miles long and six and a half miles wide. The entire area will be holy. ² The temple area in it will be 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. An 88-foot strip around it will be open land. ³ In the sacred area, measure off a large strip of land. It will be eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The temple will be in it. It will be the most holy place of all. ⁴ The large strip will be the sacred share of land for the priests. There they will serve in the temple. And they will approach me to serve me there. Their houses will be built on that land. The holy temple will also be located there. ⁵ So the Levites will serve in the temple. They will have an area eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The towns they live in will be located there.

⁶ “Give the city an area one and two-thirds miles wide and eight miles long. It will be right next to the sacred area. It will belong to all the people of Israel.

⁷ “The prince will have land on both sides of the sacred area and the city. Its border will run east and west along the land of one of the tribes. ⁸ The prince will own this land in Israel. And my princes will not crush my people anymore. Instead, they will allow the people of Israel to receive their own share of land. It will be divided up based on their tribes.”

⁹ The Lord and King says, “Princes of Israel, you have gone far enough! Stop hurting others. Do not crush them. Do what is fair and right. Stop taking my people’s land away from them,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁰ “Use weights and measures that are honest and exact. ¹¹ Use the same standard to measure dry and liquid products. Use a 6-bushel measure for dry products. And use a 60-gallon measure for liquids. ¹² Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights.

¹³ “You must offer a special gift. It must be six pounds out of every six bushels of grain. ¹⁴ Give two and a half quarts out of every 60 gallons of olive oil. ¹⁵ Also give one sheep from every flock of 200 sheep. Get them from the grasslands of Israel that receive plenty of water. Use them for grain offerings, burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They will be used to pay for the sin of the people,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁶ “All the people in the land will be required to give this special gift. They must give it to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ He must provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings. They will be for the yearly feasts, New Moon feasts and Sabbath days. So they will be for all the appointed feasts of the people of Israel. The prince will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They will be used to pay for the sin of the Israelites.”

¹⁸ The Lord and King says, “Get a young bull. It must not have any flaws. Use it to make the temple pure and ‘clean.’ Do this on the first day of the first month. ¹⁹ The priest must get some of the blood from the sin offering. He must put some on the doorposts of the temple. He must apply some to the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar. He must put the rest on the gateposts of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ Do the same thing on the seventh day of the month. Do this for those who sin without meaning to. And do this for those who sin without realizing what they are doing. So you will make the temple pure and ‘clean.’

²¹ “Keep the Passover Feast on the 14th day of the first month. It will last for seven days. During that time you must eat bread made without yeast. ²² The prince must provide a bull as a sin offering. It will be for him and all the people of the land. ²³ For each of the seven days of the feast he must provide seven bulls and seven rams. They must not have any flaws. They will be a burnt offering to me. The prince must also provide a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁴ He must bring 35 pounds for each bull or ram. He must also provide four quarts of olive oil for each of them.

²⁵ “The seven days of the feast begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. During those days the prince must provide the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and olive oil.”

46 The Lord and King says, “On the six working days of each week you must keep the east gate of the inner courtyard of the temple shut. But open it on Sabbath days and during New Moon feasts. ² The prince must enter the temple area through the porch of the gateway. He must stand by the gatepost. The priests must sacrifice his burnt offering and friendship offerings. He must bow down in worship at the entrance of the gateway. Then he must leave. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ On Sabbath days and during New Moon feasts the people of the land must gather together. They must gather at the entrance of the temple gateway. That is where they must worship me. ⁴ The prince must bring a burnt offering to me on the Sabbath day. It will be six male lambs and a ram. They must not have any flaws. ⁵ He must offer 35 pounds of grain along with the ram. The grain he offers along with the lambs can be as much as he wants to give. He must also offer four quarts of olive oil for every 35 pounds of grain. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon feast the prince must make another offering. He must offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram. They must not have any flaws. ⁷ He must offer 35 pounds of grain along with the bull or ram. The grain he offers along with the lambs can be as much as he wants to give. He must also offer four quarts of olive oil for every 35 pounds of grain. ⁸ Here is how the prince must enter the temple area. He must go in through the porch of the gateway. And he must leave the same way.

⁹ “The people of the land must worship me at the appointed feasts. Those who enter through the north gate must leave through the south gate. Those who enter through the south gate must leave through the north gate. They must not leave through the same gate they entered. Each one must go out the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince must be among them. He must go in when they go in. And he must leave when they leave. ¹¹ At the yearly feasts and other appointed feasts there must be grain offerings. The prince must offer 35 pounds of grain along with a bull or ram. The grain he offers along with the lambs can be as much as he wants to give. He must also offer four quarts of olive oil for every 35 pounds of grain.

¹² “He may also bring another offering to me because he chooses to. It might be a burnt offering or friendship offering. When he brings it, the east gate must be opened for him. He will bring his offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will leave. After he has gone out, the gate must be shut.

¹³ “Every day you must provide a lamb that is a year old. It must not have any flaws. It is a burnt offering to me. You must provide it every morning. ¹⁴ You must also offer grain along with it every morning. Bring six pounds of grain. Also bring one and a half quarts of olive oil to make the flour a little wet. So you will give the grain offering to me. That will be a law that will last for all time to come. ¹⁵ Provide the lamb, grain offering and oil every morning. They will be used for a regular burnt offering.”

¹⁶ The Lord and King says, “Suppose the prince makes a gift from his share of land. And he gives it to one of his sons. Then the property will also belong to his sons after him. It will be handed down to them. ¹⁷ But suppose he makes a gift from his share of land to one of his servants. Then the servant may keep it until the Year of Jubilee. After that, it will be returned to the prince. His property may be handed down only to his sons. It belongs to them. ¹⁸ The prince must not take any share of land that belongs to the people. He must not drive them off their property. He must give his sons their share out of his own property. Then not one of my people will be separated from their property.”

¹⁹ The man brought me through the entrance at the side of the north building. That’s where the priests’ sacred rooms were located. He showed me a place west of the building. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is where the priests must cook the guilt offerings and sin offerings. They must also bake the grain offerings here. Then they will not have to bring the offerings into the outer courtyard. That will keep the people from touching the offerings and becoming holy.”

²¹ Then the man brought me to the outer courtyard. He led me around to its four corners. In each corner I saw another smaller courtyard. ²² So in the four corners of the outer courtyard were walled courtyards. Each one was 70 feet long and 53 feet wide. All of them were the same size. ²³ Around the inside of each of the four courtyards was a stone ledge. Places for fire were built all around under each ledge. ²⁴ The man said to me, “These are the kitchens. Those who serve at the temple must cook the people’s sacrifices here.”

A River Will Flow From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple. I saw water flowing east from under a temple gateway. The temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple. It was flowing south of the altar. ² Then he brought me out through the north gate of the outer courtyard. He led me around the outside to the outer gate that faced east. The water was flowing from the south side of the east gate.

³ Then the man went toward the east. He had a measuring line in his hand. He measured off 1,700 feet. He led me through water that was up to my ankles. ⁴ Then he measured off another 1,700 feet. He led me through water that was up to my knees. Then he measured off another 1,700 feet. He led me through water that was up to my waist. ⁵ Then he measured off another 1,700 feet. But now it was a river that I could not go across. The water had risen so high that it was deep enough to swim in. ⁶ He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw many trees. They were on both sides of the river. ⁸ The man said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern territory. It goes down into the Arabah Valley. There it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into it, the salt water there becomes fresh. ⁹ Many creatures will live where the river flows. It will have many schools of fish. This water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows everything will live. ¹⁰ People will stand along the shore to fish. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading fishnets. The Dead Sea will have many kinds of fish. They will be like the fish in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But none of the swamps will have fresh water in them. They will stay salty. ¹² Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not dry up. The trees will always have fruit on them. Every month they will bear fruit. The water from the temple will flow to them. Their fruit will be used for food. And their leaves will be used for healing.”