Bible in 90 Days

God's Blessing on Israel

36 The Lord said, “Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I, ² the Sovereign Lord, have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, ‘Now those ancient hills are ours!’

³ “Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel. ⁴ So now listen to what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to you mountains and hills, to you brooks and valleys, to you places that were left in ruins, and to you deserted cities which were plundered and mocked by all the surrounding nations.

⁵ “I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken out in the heat of my anger against the surrounding nations, and especially against Edom. With glee and contempt they captured my land and took possession of its pastures.

⁶ “So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them. ⁷ I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly promise that the surrounding nations will be humiliated. ⁸ But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon. ⁹ I am on your side, and I will make sure that your land is plowed again and crops are planted on it. ¹⁰ I will make your population grow. You will live in the cities and rebuild everything that was left in ruins. ¹¹ I will make people and cattle increase in number. There will be more of you than ever before, and you will have many children. I will let you live there as you used to live, and I will make you more prosperous than ever. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve.

¹³ “I, the Sovereign Lord, say: It is true that people say that the land eats people and that it robs the nation of its children. ¹⁴ But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. ¹⁵ The land will no longer have to listen to the nations making fun of it or see the peoples sneer at it. The land will no longer rob the nation of its children. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

Israel's New Life

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to me. ¹⁷ “Mortal man,” he said, “when the Israelites were living in their land, they defiled it by the way they lived and acted. I regarded their behavior as being as ritually unclean as a woman is during her monthly period.^{[a] 18} I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it. ¹⁹ I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries. ²⁰ Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, ‘These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.’ ²¹ That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went.

²² “Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone. ²³ When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name—the name you disgraced among them—then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy. ²⁴ I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. ^26 (A)I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. ²⁷ I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from everything that defiles you. I will command the grain to be plentiful, so that you will not have any more famines. ³⁰ I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations. ³¹ You will remember your evil conduct and the wrongs that you committed, and you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your sins and your iniquities. ³² Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

³³ The Sovereign Lord says, “When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins. ³⁴ Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again. ³⁵ Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified. ³⁶ Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the Lord, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the Lord, have promised that I would do this—and I will.”

³⁷ The Sovereign Lord says, “I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep. ³⁸ The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. ² He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!”

⁴ He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. ⁵ Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. ⁶ I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. ⁸ While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.

⁹ God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind.^[b] Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”

^10 (B)So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.

¹¹ God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. ¹² So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. ¹³ When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Judah and Israel in One Kingdom

¹⁵ The Lord spoke to me again. ¹⁶ “Mortal man,” he said, “take a wooden stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Judah.’ Then take another stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Israel.’ ¹⁷ Then hold the two sticks end to end in your hand so that they look like one stick. ¹⁸ When your people ask you to tell them what this means, ¹⁹ tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand.

²⁰ “Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them. ²¹ Then tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. ²² I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms. ²³ They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God. ^24 (C)A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully. ²⁵ They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land. ^27 (D)I will live there with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people.”

Gog as the Instrument of God

38 The Lord spoke to me. ^2 (E)“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Gog, chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Denounce him ³ and tell him that I, the Sovereign Lord, am his enemy. ⁴ I will turn him around, put hooks in his jaws, and drag him and all his troops away. His army, with its horses and uniformed riders, is enormous, and every soldier carries a shield and is armed with a sword. ⁵ Troops from Persia, Ethiopia,^[c] and Libya are with him, and all have shields and helmets. ⁶ All the fighting men of the lands of Gomer and Beth Togarmah in the north are with him, and so are men from many other nations. ⁷ Tell him to get ready and have all his troops ready at his command. ⁸ After many years I will order him to invade a country where the people were brought back together from many nations and have lived without fear of war. He will invade the mountains of Israel, which were desolate and deserted so long, but where all the people now live in safety. ⁹ He and his army and the many nations with him will attack like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.”

¹⁰ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Gog: “When that time comes, you will start thinking up an evil plan. ¹¹ You will decide to invade a helpless country where the people live in peace and security in unwalled towns that have no defenses. ¹² You will plunder and loot the people who live in cities that were once in ruins. They have been gathered from the nations, and now they have livestock and property and live at the crossroads of the world. ¹³ The people of Sheba and Dedan and the merchants from the towns of Spain will ask you, ‘Have you assembled your army and attacked in order to loot and plunder? Do you intend to get silver and gold, livestock and property, and march off with all those spoils?’”

¹⁴ So the Sovereign Lord sent me to tell Gog what he was saying to him: “Now while my people Israel live in security, you will set out^{[d] 15} to come from your place in the far north, leading a large, powerful army of soldiers from many nations, all of them on horseback. ¹⁶ You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land in order to show the nations who I am, to show my holiness by what I do through you. ¹⁷ You are the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through my servants, the prophets of Israel, that in days to come I would bring someone to attack Israel.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

God's Punishment of Gog

¹⁸ The Sovereign Lord says, “On the day when Gog invades Israel, I will become furious. ¹⁹ I declare in the heat of my anger that on that day there will be a severe earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ Every fish and bird, every animal large and small, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble for fear of me. Mountains will fall, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will collapse. ²¹ I will terrify Gog with all sorts of calamities.^[e] I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. His men will turn their swords against one another. ²² I will punish him with disease and bloodshed. Torrents of rain and hail, together with fire and sulfur, will pour down on him and his army and on the many nations that are on his side. ²³ In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord.”

The Defeat of Gog

39 The Sovereign Lord said, “Mortal man, denounce Gog, the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and tell him that I am his enemy. ² I will turn him in a new direction and lead him out of the far north until he comes to the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will knock his bow out of his left hand and his arrows out of his right hand. ⁴ Gog and his army and his allies will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, and I will let their bodies be food for all the birds and wild animals. ⁵ They will fall dead in the open field. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. ⁶ I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the seacoasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord. ⁷ I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel.”

⁸ The Sovereign Lord said, “The day I spoke about is certain to come. ⁹ The people who live in the cities of Israel will go out and collect the abandoned weapons for firewood. They will build fires with the shields, bows, arrows, spears, and clubs, and have enough to last for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not have to gather firewood in the fields or cut down trees in the forest, because they will have the abandoned weapons to burn. They will loot and plunder those who looted and plundered them.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

The Burial of Gog

¹¹ The Lord said, “When all this happens, I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, in Travelers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea.^[f] Gog and all his army will be buried there, and the valley will be called ‘The Valley of Gog's Army.’ ¹² It will take the Israelites seven months to bury all the corpses and make the land clean again. ¹³ Everyone in the land will help bury them, and they will be honored for this on the day of my victory. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. ¹⁴ After the seven months are over, men will be chosen to travel through the land in order to find and bury those bodies^[g] remaining on the ground, so that they can make the land clean. ¹⁵ As they go up and down the country, every time they find a human bone, they will put a marker beside it so that the gravediggers can come and bury it in the Valley of Gog's Army. ¹⁶ (There will be a town nearby named after the army.) And so the land will be made clean again.”

^17 (F)The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, call all the birds and animals to come from all around to eat the sacrifice I am preparing for them. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel, where they can eat meat and drink blood. ¹⁸ They are to eat the bodies of soldiers and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, all of whom will be killed like rams or lambs or goats or fat bulls. ¹⁹ When I kill these people like sacrifices, the birds and animals are to eat all the fat they can hold and to drink blood until they are drunk. ²⁰ At my table they will eat all they can hold of horses and their riders and of soldiers and fighting men. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

The Restoration of Israel

²¹ The Lord said, “I will let the nations see my glory and show them how I use my power to carry out my just decisions. ²² The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. ²³ And the nations will know that the Israelites went into exile because of the sins which they committed against me. I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them and kill them in battle. ²⁴ I gave them what they deserved for their uncleanness and their wickedness, and I turned away from them.”

²⁵ The Sovereign Lord said, “But now I will be merciful to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel, and make them prosperous again. I will protect my holy name. ²⁶ When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me. ²⁷ In order to show to the many nations that I am holy, I will bring my people back from all the countries where their enemies live. ²⁸ Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind. ²⁹ I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

A VISION OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE (40.1— 48.35)

Ezekiel Is Taken to Jerusalem

40 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away. ^2 (G)In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me^[h] a group of buildings that looked like a city. ^3 (H)He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

⁴ He said to me, “Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate

^5 (I)What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. ⁶ Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.^{[i] 7} Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. ^8-9 He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick. (¹⁰ These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

¹¹ Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. ¹² In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) ¹³ Then he measured the distance from the back wall^[j] of one room to the back wall^[k] of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. ¹⁴ The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.^{[l] 15} The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. ¹⁶ There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, ¹⁸ which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

¹⁹ There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.^[m]

The North Gate

²⁰ Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. ²¹ The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²² The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. ²³ Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴ Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. ²⁵ There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. ²⁷ Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.

The Inner Courtyard: The South Gate

²⁸ The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. ^29-30 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³¹ Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The East Gate

³² The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. ³³ Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³⁴ The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The North Gate

³⁵ Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. ³⁶ Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. ³⁷ The entrance room^[n] faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Buildings Near the North Gate

³⁸ In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. ³⁹ In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. ⁴⁰ Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. ⁴¹ Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. ⁴² The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. ⁴³ Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.^[o]

⁴⁴ Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.^{[p] 45} The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, ⁴⁶ and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him.

The Inner Courtyard and the Temple Building

⁴⁷ The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar. ⁴⁸ Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide,^[q] with walls 5 feet thick on either side. ⁴⁹ Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep.^[r] There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

41 Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep^{[s] 2} and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide.

³ Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick.^{[t] 4} He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

The Rooms Built against the Temple Walls

⁵ The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide. ⁶ These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it. ⁷ And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories.^{[u] 8-11} The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple.

The Building on the West

¹² At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around.

The Total Measurements of the Temple Building

¹³ The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet. ¹⁴ The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet. ¹⁵ He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet.

Details of the Temple Building

The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place ¹⁶ were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered.^{[v] 17} The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings^{[w] 18} of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: ¹⁹ a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, ²⁰ from the floor to above the doors. ²¹ The doorposts of the Holy Place were square.

The Wooden Altar

In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like ²² a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base,^[x] and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table which stands in the presence of the Lord.”

The Doors

²³ There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place. ²⁴ They were double doors that swung open in the middle. ²⁵ There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room. ²⁶ At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.^[y]

Two Buildings Near the Temple

42 Then the man took me into the outer courtyard and led me to a building on the north side of the Temple, not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ² This building was 168 feet long and 84 feet wide. ³ On one side it faced the space 34 feet wide which was alongside the Temple, and on the other side it faced the pavement of the outer courtyard. It was built on three levels, each one set further back than the one below it. ⁴ Along the north side of this building was a passageway 16 feet wide and 168 feet long,^[z] with entrances on that side. ⁵ The rooms at the upper level of the building were narrower than those at the middle and lower levels because they were set further back. ⁶ The rooms at all three levels were on terraces and were not supported by columns like the other buildings in the courtyard. ^7-8 At the lower level the outer wall of the building was solid for 84 feet, half its length; and there were rooms in the remaining 84 feet. At the top level there were rooms in the entire length of the building. ^9-10 Below these rooms at the east end of the building, where the wall of the courtyard began,^[aa] there was an entrance into the outer courtyard.

At the south^[ab] side of the Temple there was an identical building not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ¹¹ In front of the rooms there was a passageway just like the one on the north side. It had the same measurements, the same design, and the same kind of entrances. ¹² There was a door under the rooms on the south side of the building, at the east end where the wall began.

¹³ The man said to me, “Both these buildings are holy. In them the priests who enter the Lord's presence eat the holiest offerings. Because the rooms are holy, the priests will place the holiest offerings there: the offerings of grain and the sacrifices offered for sin or as repayment offerings. ¹⁴ When priests have been in the Temple and want to go to the outer courtyard, they must leave in these rooms the holy clothing they wore while serving the Lord. They must put on other clothes before going out to the area where the people gather.”

The Measurements of the Temple Area

¹⁵ When the man had finished measuring inside the Temple area, he took me out through the east gate and then measured the outside of the area. ¹⁶ He took the measuring rod and measured the east side, and it was 840 feet. ^17-19 Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side; each side had the same length, 840 feet,^{[ac] 20} so that the wall enclosed a square 840 feet on each side. The wall served to separate what was holy from what was not.

The Lord Returns to the Temple

43 The man took me to the gate that faces east, ^2 (J)and there I saw coming from the east the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel. God's voice sounded like the roar of the sea, and the earth shone with the dazzling light. ³ This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem, and the one I saw by the Chebar River. Then I threw myself face downward on the ground. ⁴ The dazzling light passed through the east gate and went into the Temple.

⁵ The Lord's spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. ⁶ The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: ⁷ “Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule them forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshiping other gods or by burying the corpses of^[ad] their dead kings. ⁸ The kings built the doorsills and doorposts of their palace right against the doorsills and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. ⁹ Now they must stop worshiping other gods and remove the corpses of^[ae] their kings. If they do, I will live among them forever.”

¹⁰ And the Lord continued, “Mortal man, tell the people of Israel about the Temple, and let them study its plan. Make them ashamed of their sinful actions. ¹¹ Then if they are ashamed of what they have done, explain the plan of the Temple to them: its design, its entrances and exits, its shape, the arrangement of everything, and all its rules and regulations. Write all this down for them so that they can see how everything is arranged and can carry out all the rules. ¹² This is the law of the Temple: All the area surrounding it on the top of the mountain is sacred and holy.”

The Altar

^13 (K)These are the measurements of the altar, using the same unit of measure as in measuring the Temple. All around the base of the altar there was a gutter 20 inches deep and 20 inches wide, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. ¹⁴ The lowest section of the altar, from the top of the base, was 4 feet high. The next section was set back from the edge 20 inches all around, and was 7 feet high. The section after that was also set back from the edge 20 inches all around. ¹⁵ This top section, on which the sacrifices were burned, was also 7 feet high. The projections on the four corners were higher than the rest of the top. ¹⁶ The top of the altar was a square, 20 feet on each side. ¹⁷ The middle section was also a square, 24 feet on each side, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. (The gutter was 20 inches wide.) The steps going up the altar were on the east side.

The Consecration of the Altar

^18 (L)The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. When the altar is built, you are to dedicate it by burning sacrifices on it and by sprinkling on it the blood of the animals that were sacrificed. ¹⁹ Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok are the only ones who are to come into my presence to serve me. I, the Sovereign Lord, command this. You will give them a young bull to offer as a sacrifice for sin. ²⁰ You are to take some of its blood and put it on the projections on the top corners of the altar, on the corners of the middle section of the altar, and all around its edges. In this way you will purify the altar and consecrate it. ²¹ You are to take the bull that is offered as a sacrifice for sin and burn it at the specified place outside the Temple area. ²² The next day you are to take a male goat without any defects and offer it as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood the same way you did with the bull. ²³ When you have finished doing that, take a young bull and a young ram, both of them without any defects, ²⁴ and bring them to me. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and burn them as an offering to me. ²⁵ Each day for seven days you are to offer a goat, a bull, and a ram as sacrifices for sin. All of them must be without any defects. ²⁶ For seven days the priests are to consecrate the altar and make it ready for use. ²⁷ When the week is over, the priests are to begin offering on the altar the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings of the people. Then I will be pleased with all of you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

The Use of the East Gate

44 The man led me to the outer gate at the east side of the Temple area. The gate was closed, ² and the Lord said to me, “This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed. ³ The ruling prince, however, may go there to eat a holy meal in my presence. He is to enter and leave the gateway through the entrance room at the inner end.”

Rules for Admission to the Temple

⁴ Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw that the Temple of the Lord was filled with the dazzling light of his presence. I threw myself face downward on the ground, ⁵ and the Lord said to me, “Mortal man, pay attention to everything you see and hear. I am going to tell you the rules and regulations for the Temple. Note carefully which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Temple, and which persons are not allowed.

⁶ “Tell those rebellious people of Israel that I, the Sovereign Lord, will no longer tolerate the disgusting things that they have been doing. ⁷ They have profaned my Temple by letting uncircumcised foreigners, people who do not obey me, enter the Temple when the fat and the blood of the sacrifices are being offered to me. So my people have broken my covenant by all the disgusting things they have done. ⁸ They have not taken charge of the sacred rituals in my Temple, but instead have put foreigners in charge.

⁹ “I, the Sovereign Lord, declare that no uncircumcised foreigner, no one who disobeys me, will enter my Temple, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel.”

The Levites Are Excluded from the Priesthood

¹⁰ The Lord said to me, “I am punishing those Levites who, together with the rest of the people of Israel, deserted me and worshiped idols. ¹¹ They may serve me in the Temple by taking charge of the gates and by performing the work of the Temple. They may kill the animals which the people offer for burnt offerings and for sacrifices, and they are to be on duty to serve the people. ¹² But because they conducted the worship of idols for the people of Israel and in this way led the people into sin, I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly swear that they must be punished. ¹³ They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place. This is the punishment for the disgusting things they have done. ¹⁴ I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the Temple.”

The Priests

¹⁵ The Sovereign Lord said, “Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me faithfully in the Temple when the rest of the people of Israel turned away from me. So now they are the ones who are to serve me and come into my presence to offer me the fat and the blood of the sacrifices. ¹⁶ They alone will enter my Temple, serve at my altar, and conduct the Temple worship. ^17 (M)When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard of the Temple, they are to put on linen clothing. They must not wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple. ¹⁸ So that they won't perspire, they are to wear linen turbans and linen trousers, but no belt. ^19 (N)Before they go to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must first take off the clothes they wore on duty in the Temple and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothing in order to keep their sacred clothing from harming the people.^[af]

^20 (O)“Priests must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They are to keep it a proper length. ^21 (P)Priests must not drink any wine before going into the inner courtyard. ^22 (Q)No priest may marry a divorced woman; he is to marry only an Israelite virgin or the widow of another priest.

^23 (R)“The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is ritually clean and what is not. ²⁴ When a legal dispute arises, the priests are to decide the case according to my laws. They are to keep the religious festivals according to my rules and regulations, and they are to keep the Sabbaths holy.

^25 (S)“A priest is not to become ritually unclean by touching a corpse, unless it is one of his parents, one of his children or a brother or an unmarried sister. ²⁶ After he has become clean again, he must wait seven days ²⁷ and then go into the inner courtyard of the Temple and offer a sacrifice for his purification, so that he can serve in the Temple again. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

^28 (T)“The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given Israel to be handed down from one generation to another. They are not to hold property in Israel; I am all they need. ^29 (U)The grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings will be the priests' food, and they are to receive everything in Israel that is set apart for me. ³⁰ The priests are to have the best of all the first harvest and of everything else that is offered to me. Each time the people bake bread, they are to give the priests the first loaf as an offering, and my blessing will rest on their homes. ^31 (V)The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or is killed by another animal.”

The Lord's Portion of the Country

45 When the land is divided to give each tribe a share, one part is to be dedicated to the Lord. It is to be 10 miles long by 8 miles^[ag] wide. The entire area will be holy. ² In this area there is to be a square plot of land for the Temple, 840 feet on each side, entirely surrounded by an open space 84 feet wide. ³ Half of this area, a section 10 miles by 4 miles, is to be measured off; it will contain the Temple, the holiest place of all. ⁴ It will be a holy part of the country, set aside for the priests who serve the Lord in his Temple. It will contain their houses and the section of land for the Temple. ⁵ The other half of the area is to be set aside as the possession of the Levites, who do the work in the Temple. There will be towns there for them to live in.^[ah]

⁶ Next to the holy area, another section, 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, is to be set aside for a city where any of the people of Israel may live.

Land for the Prince

⁷ Land is also to be set aside for the ruling prince. From the west boundary of the holy area it will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea; and from the east boundary it will extend to the eastern border of the country, so that its length will be the same as the length of one of the areas allotted to the tribes of Israel. ⁸ This area will be the share the ruling prince will have in the land of Israel, so that he will no longer oppress the people, but will let the rest of the country belong to the tribes of Israel.

Rules for the Prince

⁹ The Sovereign Lord said, “You have sinned too long, you rulers of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression. Do what is right and just. You must never again drive my people off their land. I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you this.

^10 (W)“Everyone must use honest weights and measures:

¹¹ “The ephah for dry measure is to be equal to the bath for liquid measure. The standard is the homer.^[ai] The resulting measures are as follows:

¹² “Your weights are to be as follows:

^13-15 “This is the basis on which you are to make your offerings:

“You are to bring grain offerings, animals to be burned whole, and animals for fellowship offerings, so that your sins will be forgiven. I, the Sovereign Lord, command it.

¹⁶ “All the people of the land must take^[ak] these offerings to the ruling prince of Israel. ¹⁷ It will be his duty to provide the animals to be burned whole, the grain offerings, and the wine offerings for the whole nation of Israel at the New Moon Festivals, the Sabbaths, and the other festivals. He is to provide the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the offerings to be burned whole, and the fellowship offerings, to take away the sins of the people of Israel.”

The Festivals^(X)

¹⁸ The Sovereign Lord said, “On the first day of the first month you are to sacrifice a bull without any defects and purify the Temple. ¹⁹ The priest will take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the altar, and on the posts of the gateways to the inner courtyard. ²⁰ On the seventh day of the month you are to do the same thing on behalf of anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will keep the Temple holy.

^21 (Y)“On the fourteenth day of the first month you will begin the celebration of the Passover Festival. For seven days everyone will eat bread made without yeast. ²² On the first day of the festival the ruling prince must offer a bull as a sacrifice for his sins and for those of all the people. ²³ On each of the seven days of the festival he is to sacrifice to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without any defects and burn them whole. He is also to sacrifice a male goat each day as a sin offering. ²⁴ For each bull and each ram that is sacrificed, there is to be an offering of half a bushel of grain and three quarts of olive oil.

^25 (Z)“For the Festival of Shelters, which begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the prince will offer on each of the seven days the same sacrifice for sin, the same offerings to be burned whole, and the same offerings of grain and olive oil.”

The Prince and the Festivals

46 The Sovereign Lord says, “The east gateway to the inner courtyard must be kept closed during the six working days, but it is to be opened on the Sabbath and at the New Moon Festival. ² The ruling prince will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway and stand beside the posts of the gate while the priests burn his sacrifices whole and offer his fellowship offerings. There at the gate he must worship and then go back out. The gate must not be shut until evening. ³ Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the Lord in front of the gate. ⁴ On the Sabbath the prince is to bring to the Lord, as sacrifices to be burned whole, six lambs and one ram, all without any defects. ⁵ With each ram he is to bring an offering of half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb he is to bring whatever he wants to give. For each half-bushel of grain offering he is to bring three quarts of olive oil. ⁶ At the New Moon Festival he will offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram, all without any defects. ⁷ With each bull and each ram the offering is to be half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb the offering is to be whatever the prince wants to give. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain. ⁸ The prince must leave the entrance room of the gateway and go out by the same way he went in.

⁹ “When the people come to worship the Lord at any festival, those who enter by the north gate are to leave by the south gate after they have worshiped, and those who enter by the south gate are to leave by the north gate. No one may go out by the same way he entered, but must leave by the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince is to come in when the people come, and leave when they leave. ¹¹ On the feast days and at the festivals the grain offering will be half a bushel with each bull or ram, and whatever the worshiper wants to give with each lamb. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain.

¹² “When the ruling prince wants to make a voluntary offering to the Lord, either an offering to be burned whole or a fellowship offering, the east gate to the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He is to make the offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath, and the gate is to be closed after he goes back out.”

The Daily Offering

¹³ The Lord says, “Every morning a one-year-old lamb without any defects is to be burned whole as an offering to the Lord. This offering must be made every day. ¹⁴ Also an offering of five pounds of flour is to be made every morning, along with one quart of olive oil for mixing with the flour. The rules for this offering to the Lord are to be in force forever. ¹⁵ The lamb, the flour, and the olive oil are to be offered to the Lord every morning forever.”

The Prince and the Land

¹⁶ The Sovereign Lord commands: “If the ruling prince gives any of the land he owns to one of his sons as a present, it will belong to that son as a part of his family property. ^17 (AA)But if the ruling prince gives any of his land to anyone who is in his service, it will become the prince's property again when the Year of Restoration^[al] comes. It belongs to him, and only he and his sons can own it permanently. ¹⁸ The ruling prince must not take any of the people's property away from them. Any land he gives to his sons must be from the land that is assigned to him, so that he will not oppress any of my people by taking their land.”

The Temple Kitchens

¹⁹ Then the man took me to the entrance of the rooms facing north near the gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. These are holy rooms for the priests. He pointed out a place on the west side of the rooms ²⁰ and said, “This is the place where the priests are to boil the meat offered as sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings, and to bake the offerings of flour, so that nothing holy is carried to the outer courtyard, where it might harm the people.”^[am]

^21-22 Then he led me to the outer courtyard and showed me that in each of its four corners there was a smaller^[an] courtyard, 68 feet long and 48 feet wide. ²³ Each one had a stone wall around it, with fireplaces built against the wall. ²⁴ The man told me, “These are the kitchens where the Temple servants are to boil the sacrifices the people offer.”

The Stream Flowing from the Temple

47 ^(AB)The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar. ² The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small stream of water was flowing out at the south side of the gate. ³ With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream to the east and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only to my ankles. ⁴ Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist. ⁵ He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming. ⁶ He said to me, “Mortal man, note all this carefully.”

Then the man took me back to the riverbank, ⁷ and when I got there, I saw that there were very many trees on each bank. ⁸ He said to me, “This water flows through the land to the east and down into the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When it flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of that sea with fresh water. ⁹ Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life. ¹⁰ From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the sea, and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a source of salt. ^12 (AC)On each bank of the stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the stream that flows from the Temple. The trees will provide food, and their leaves will be used for healing people.”