Bible in 90 Days

36 “Son of dust, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Tell them: ‘Listen to this message from the Lord.

² “‘Your enemies have sneered at you and claimed your ancient heights as theirs; ³ they have destroyed you on every side and sent you away as slaves to many lands. You are mocked and slandered. ⁴ Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. He says to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys, and to the ruined farms and the long-deserted cities, destroyed and mocked by heathen nations all around: ⁵ My anger is afire against these nations, especially Edom, for grabbing my land with relish, in utter contempt for me, to take it for themselves.’

⁶ “Therefore prophesy and say to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord God says! I am full of fury because you suffered shame before the surrounding nations. ⁷ Therefore, I have sworn with hand held high that those nations are going to have their turn of being covered with shame, ⁸ but for Israel good times will return. There will be heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people’s return—and they will be coming home again soon! ⁹ See, I am for you, and I will come and help you as you prepare the ground and sow your crops. ¹⁰ I will greatly increase your population throughout all Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. ¹¹ Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, again you will be filled with homes. I will do even more for you than I did before. Then you shall know I am the Lord. ¹² My people will walk upon you once again, and you will belong to them again; and you will no longer be a place for burning their children on idol altars.’”

¹³ The Lord God says: “Now the other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours her people!’ ¹⁴ But they will not say this anymore. Your birthrate will rise, and your infant mortality rate will drop off sharply,” says the Lord. ¹⁵ “No longer will those heathen nations sneer, for you will no longer be a nation of sinners,” the Lord God says.

¹⁶ Then this further word came to me from the Lord:

¹⁷ “Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.^{[a] 18} They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them. ¹⁹ And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived. ²⁰ But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, ‘These are the people of God and he couldn’t protect them from harm!’ ²¹ I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.

²² “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you tarnished among the nations. ²³ I will honor my great name, that you defiled, and the people of the world shall know I am the Lord. I will be honored before their eyes by delivering you from exile among them.^{[b] 24} For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.

²⁵ “‘Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean—your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone. ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.^{[c] 27} And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

²⁸ “‘And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will cleanse away your sins. I will abolish crop failures and famine. ³⁰ I will give you huge harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. ³¹ Then you will remember your past sins and loathe yourselves for all the evils you did. ³² But always remember this: It is not for your own sakes that I will do this, but for mine. O my people Israel, be utterly ashamed of all that you have done!’”

³³ The Lord God says: “When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins. ³⁴ Acreage will be cultivated again that through the years of exile lay empty as a barren wilderness; all who passed by were shocked to see the extent of ruin in your land. ³⁵ But when I bring you back, they will say, ‘This God-forsaken land has become like Eden’s garden! The ruined cities are rebuilt and walled and filled with people!’ ³⁶ Then the nations all around—all those still left—will know that I, the Lord, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the Lord, have promised it, and I will do it.”

^37-38 The Lord God says: “I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings and to grant them their requests. Let them but ask, and I will multiply them like the flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of sacrifice. The ruined cities will be crowded once more, and everyone will know I am the Lord.”

37 ^1-2 The power of the Lord was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them, ³ and then he said to me:

“Son of dust, can these bones become people again?”

I replied, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

⁴ Then he told me to speak to the bones and say: “O dry bones, listen to the words of God, ⁵ for the Lord God says, ‘See! I am going to make you live and breathe again! ⁶ I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I spoke these words from God, just as he told me to; and suddenly there was a rattling noise from all across the valley, and the bones of each body came together and attached to each other as they used to be. ⁸ Then, as I watched, the muscles and flesh formed over the bones, and skin covered them, but the bodies had no breath. ⁹ Then he told me to call to the wind and say: “The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain bodies, that they may live again.” ¹⁰ So I spoke to the winds as he commanded me, and the bodies began breathing; they lived and stood up—a very great army.

¹¹ Then he told me what the vision meant: “These bones,” he said, “represent all the people of Israel. They say: ‘We have become a heap of dried-out bones—all hope is gone.’ ¹² But tell them, ‘The Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again and return to the land of Israel. ¹³ And, then at last, O my people, you will know I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live and return home again to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have done just what I promised you.’”

¹⁵ Again a message from the Lord came to me, saying:

¹⁶ “Take a stick and carve on it these words: ‘This stick represents Judah and her allied tribes.’ Then take another stick and carve these words on it: ‘This stick represents all the other tribes of Israel.’ ¹⁷ Now hold them together in your hand as one stick. ^18-20 Tell these people (holding the sticks so they can see what you are doing), the Lord God says: ‘I will take the tribes of Israel and join them to Judah and make them one stick in my hand.’”

²¹ For the Lord God says: “I am gathering the people of Israel from among the nations and bringing them home from around the world to their own land, ²² to unify them into one nation. One king shall be king of them all; no longer shall they be divided into two nations. ²³ They shall stop polluting themselves with idols and their other sins, for I will save them from all this foulness. Then they shall truly be my people and I their God.

²⁴ “And David, my Servant—the Messiah—shall be their King, their only Shepherd; and they shall obey my laws and all my wishes. ²⁵ They shall live in the land of Israel where their fathers lived, the land I gave my servant Jacob. They and their children after them shall live there, and their grandchildren, for all generations. And my Servant David, their Messiah, shall be their Prince forever. ²⁶ And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting pact. I will bless them and multiply them and put my Temple among them forever. ²⁷ And I will make my home among them. Yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸ And when my Temple remains among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel as my very own.”

38 Here is another message to me from the Lord:

^2-3 “Son of dust, face northward^[d] toward the land of Magog and prophesy against Gog king of Meshech and Tubal. Tell him that the Lord God says: ‘I am against you, Gog. ⁴ I will put hooks into your jaws and pull you to your doom. I will mobilize your troops and armored cavalry and make you a mighty host, all fully armed. ⁵ Peras, Cush, Put shall join you too with all their weaponry, ⁶ and so shall Gomer and all his hordes and the armies of Togarmah from the distant north, as well as many others. ⁷ Be prepared! Stay mobilized. You are their leader, Gog!

⁸ “‘A long time from now you will be called to action. In distant years you will swoop down onto the land of Israel that will be lying in peace after the return of its people from many lands. ⁹ You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down upon them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud. ¹⁰ For at that time an evil thought will have come to your mind. ¹¹ You will have said, “Israel is an unprotected land of unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people living in such confidence! ¹² I will go to those once-desolate cities that are now filled with people again—those who have returned from all the nations—and I will capture vast amounts of loot and many slaves. For the people are rich with cattle now, and the whole earth revolves around them!”’

¹³ “But Sheba and Dedan^[e] and the merchant princes of Tarshish with whom she trades will ask, ‘Who are you to rob them of silver and gold and drive away their cattle and seize their goods and make them poor?’”

¹⁴ The Lord God says to Gog: “When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself. ^15-16 You will come from all over the north with your vast host of cavalry and cover the land like a cloud. This will happen in the distant future—in the latter years of history.^[f] I will bring you against my land, and my holiness will be vindicated in your terrible destruction before their eyes, so that all the nations will know that I am God.”

¹⁷ The Lord God says: “You are the one I spoke of long ago through the prophets of Israel, saying that after many years had passed, I would bring you against my people. ¹⁸ But when you come to destroy the land of Israel, my fury will rise! ¹⁹ For in my jealousy and blazing wrath, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day. ²⁰ All living things shall quake in terror at my presence; mountains shall be thrown down; cliffs shall tumble; walls shall crumble to the earth. ²¹ I will summon every kind of terror against you,” says the Lord God, “and you will fight against yourselves in mortal combat! ²² I will fight you with sword, disease, torrential floods, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone! ²³ Thus will I show my greatness and bring honor upon my name, and all the nations of the world will hear what I have done and know that I am God!

39 “Son of dust, prophesy this also against Gog. Tell him:

“‘I stand against you, Gog, leader of Meshech and Tubal. ² I will turn you and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. And I will destroy 85 percent of your army^[g] in the mountains. ³ I will knock your weapons from your hands and leave you helpless. ⁴ You and all your vast armies will die upon the mountains. I will give you to the vultures and wild animals to devour you. ⁵ You will never reach the cities—you will fall upon the open fields; for I have spoken, the Lord God says. ⁶ And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts, and they shall know I am the Lord.

⁷ “‘Thus I will make known my holy name among my people Israel; I will not let it be mocked at anymore. And the nations, too, shall know I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ That day of judgment will come; everything will happen just as I have declared it.

⁹ “‘The people of the cities of Israel will go out and pick up your shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, javelins and spears, to use for fuel—enough to last them seven years. ¹⁰ For seven years they will need nothing else for their fires. They won’t cut wood from the fields or forests, for these weapons will give them all they need. They will use the possessions of those who abused them.

¹¹ “‘And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog and his armies in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the path of the travelers. There Gog and all his armies will be buried. And they will change the name of the place to “The Valley of Gog’s Army.” ¹² It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies. ¹³ Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel on that day when I demonstrate my glory, says the Lord. ¹⁴ At the end of the seven months, they will appoint men to search the land systematically for any skeletons left and bury them, so that the land will be cleansed. ^15-16 Whenever anyone sees some bones, he will put up a marker beside them so that the buriers will see them and take them to the Valley of Gog’s Army to bury them. A city named “Multitude” is there! And so the land will finally be cleansed.’

¹⁷ “And now, son of dust, call all the birds and animals and say to them: ‘Gather together for a mighty sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel. Come, eat the flesh and drink the blood! ¹⁸ Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes—they are the rams, the lambs, the goats, and the fat young bulls of Bashan for my feast! ¹⁹ Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted, drink blood until you are drunk; this is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you. ²⁰ Feast at my banquet table—feast on horses, riders, and valiant warriors, says the Lord God.’

²¹ “Thus I will demonstrate my glory among the nations; all shall see the punishment of Gog and know that I have done it. ²² And from that time onward the people of Israel will know I am the Lord their God. ²³ And the nations will know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they acted in treachery against their God. Therefore, I turned my face away from them and let their enemies destroy them. ²⁴ I turned my face away and punished them in proportion to the vileness of their sins.

²⁵ “But now,” the Lord God says, “I will end the captivity of my people and have mercy upon them and restore their fortunes, for I am concerned about my reputation! ²⁶ Their time of treachery and shame will all be in the past; they will be home again, in peace and safety in their own land, with no one bothering them or making them afraid. ²⁷ I will bring them home from the lands of their enemies—and my glory shall be evident to all the nations when I do it. Through them I will vindicate my holiness before the nations. ²⁸ Then my people will know I am the Lord their God—responsible for sending them away to exile, and responsible for bringing them home. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations. ²⁹ And I will never hide my face from them again, for I will pour out my Spirit upon them,” says the Lord God.

40 Early in April of the twenty-fifth year of our exile—the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured—the hand of the Lord was upon me, ² and in a vision he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain where I saw what appeared to be a city opposite me. ³ Going nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze, standing beside the Temple gate,^[h] holding in his hand a measuring tape and a measuring stick.

⁴ He said to me: “Son of dust, watch and listen and take to heart everything I show you, for you have been brought here so I can show you many things; and then you are to return to the people of Israel to tell them all you have seen.” ⁵ The man began to measure the wall around the outside of the Temple area with his measuring stick, which was 10-1/2 feet long. He told me, “This wall is 10-1/2 feet high and 10-1/2 feet wide.” ⁶ Then he took me over to the passageway that goes through the eastern wall. We climbed the seven steps into the entrance, and he measured the entry hall of the passage; it was 10-1/2 feet wide.

^7-12 Walking on through the passageway I saw that there were three guardrooms on each side; each of these rooms was 10-1/2 feet square, with a distance of 8-3/4 feet along the wall between them. In front of these rooms was a low barrier 18 inches high and 18 inches wide.^[i] Beyond the guardrooms was a 10-1/2-foot doorway opening into a 14-foot hall with 3-1/2-foot columns. Beyond this hall, at the inner end of the passageway, was a vestibule 22-3/4 feet wide and 17-1/2 feet long.

¹³ Then he measured the entire outside width of the passageway, measuring across the roof from the outside doors of the guardrooms; this distance was 43-3/4 feet. ¹⁴ Then he estimated the pillars on each side of the porch to be about 100 feet high. ¹⁵ The full length of the entrance passage was 87-1/2 feet from one end to the other. ¹⁶ There were windows that narrowed inward through the walls along both sides of the passageway and along the guardroom walls. The windows were also in the exit and in the entrance halls. The pillars were decorated with palm tree decorations.

¹⁷ And so we passed through the passageway to the court inside. A stone pavement ran around the inside of the walls, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto this pavement. ¹⁸ This was called “the lower pavement.” It extended out from the walls into the court the same distance as the passageway did.

¹⁹ Then he measured across to the wall on the other side of this court (which was called “the outer court” of the Temple)^[j] and found that the distance was 175 feet. ²⁰ As I followed, he left the eastern passageway and went over to the passage through the northern wall and measured it. ²¹ Here, too, there were three guardrooms on each side, and all the measurements were the same as for the east passageway—87-1/2 feet long and 43-3/4 feet from side to side across the top of the guardrooms. ²² There were windows, an entry hall, and the palm tree decorations just the same as on the east side. And there were seven steps leading up to the doorway to the entry hall inside.

²³ Here at the north entry, just as at the east, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to an inner wall and a passageway through it to an inner court. The distance between the two passageways was 175 feet. ²⁴ Then he took me around to the south gate and measured the various sections of its passageway and found they were just the same as in the others. ²⁵ It had windows along the walls as the others did, and an entry hall. And like the others, it was 87-1/2 feet long and 43-3/4 feet wide. ²⁶ It, too, had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and there were palm tree decorations along the walls. ²⁷ And here again, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to the inner wall and a passageway through it to the inner court. And the distance between the passageways was 175 feet.

²⁸ Then he took me over to the inner wall and its south passageway. He measured this passageway and found that it had the same measurements as the passageways of the outer wall.^{[k] 29-30} Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance and exit hall were identical to all the others, and so were the windows along its walls and entry. And, like the others, it was 87-1/2 feet long by 43-3/4 feet wide.^{[l] 31} The only difference was that it had eight steps leading up to it instead of seven. It had palm tree decorations on the pillars, just as the others.

³² Then he took me along the court to the eastern entrance of the inner wall, and measured it. It, too, had the same measurements as the others. ³³ Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance hall were the same size as those of the other passageways, and there were windows along the walls and in the entry hall; and it was 87-1/2 feet long by 43-3/4 feet wide. ³⁴ Its entry hall faced the outer court, and there were palm tree decorations on its columns, but there were eight steps instead of seven going up to the entrance.

³⁵ Then he took me around to the north gate of the inner wall, and the measurements there were just like the others: ³⁶ The guardrooms, pillars, and entry hall of this passageway were the same as the others, with a length of 87-1/2 feet and a width of 43-3/4 feet. ³⁷ Its entry hall faced toward the outer court; it had palm tree decorations on the walls of each side of the passageway, and there were eight steps leading up to the entrance.

³⁸ But a door led from its entry hall into a side room where the flesh of the sacrifices was washed before being taken to the altar; ³⁹ on each side of the entry hall of the passageway there were two tables where the animals for sacrifice were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings to be presented in the Temple. ⁴⁰ Outside the entry hall, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, there were two more tables. ⁴¹ So, in all there were eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the sacrifices were cut up and prepared. ⁴² There were also four stone tables where the butchering knives and other implements were laid. These tables were about 2-5/8 feet square and 1-3/4 feet high. ⁴³ There were hooks, 3 or 4 inches long, fastened along the walls of the entry hall, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

⁴⁴ In the inner court there were two one-room buildings, one beside the northern entrance, facing south, and one beside the southern entrance, facing north.

⁴⁵ And he said to me: “The building beside the inner northern gate is for the priests who supervise the maintenance. ⁴⁶ The building beside the inner southern entrance is for the priests in charge of the altar—the descendants of Zadok—for they alone of all the Levites may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the inner court in front of the Temple^[m] and found it to be 175 feet square, and there was an altar in the court, standing in front of the Temple. ^48-49 Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the Temple. Ten steps led up to it from the inner court. Its walls extended up on either side to form two pillars, each of them 8-3/4 feet thick. The entrance was 24-1/2 feet wide with 5-1/4-foot walls. Thus the entry hall was 35 feet wide and 19-1/4 feet long.

41 Afterward he brought me into the nave, the large main room of the Temple, and measured the pillars that formed its doorway. They were 10-1/2 feet square. ² The entrance hall was 17-1/2 feet wide and 8-3/4 feet deep. The nave itself was 70 feet long by 35 feet.

³ Then he went into the inner room at the end of the nave and measured the columns at the entrance and found them to be 3-1/2 feet thick; its doorway was 10-1/2 feet wide, with a hallway 12-1/4 feet deep behind it. ⁴ The inner room was 35 feet square. “This,” he told me, “is the Most Holy Place.”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the Temple and found that it was 10-1/2 feet thick, with a row of rooms along the outside. Each room was 7 feet wide. ⁶ These rooms were in three tiers, one above the other, with thirty rooms in each tier. The whole structure was supported by girders and not attached to the Temple wall for support. ⁷ Each tier was wider than the one below it, corresponding to the narrowing of the Temple wall as it rose higher. A stairway at the side of the Temple led up from floor to floor.

⁸ I noticed that the Temple was built on a terrace and that the bottom row of rooms extended out 10-1/2 feet onto the terrace. ⁹ The outer wall of these rooms was 8-3/4 feet thick, leaving a free space of 8-3/4 feet out to the edge of the terrace, the same on both sides.

¹⁰ Thirty-five feet away from the terrace, on both sides of the Temple, was another row of rooms down in the inner court. ¹¹ Two doors opened from the tiers of rooms to the terrace yard, which was 8-3/4 feet wide; one door faced north and the other south.

¹² A large building stood on the west, facing the Temple yard, measuring 122-1/2 feet wide by 157-1/2 feet long. Its walls were 8-3/4 feet thick. ¹³ Then he measured the Temple and its immediately surrounding yards. The area was 175 feet square. ¹⁴ The inner court at the east of the Temple was also 175 feet wide, ^15-16 and so was the building west of the Temple, including its two walls.

The nave of the Temple and the Holy of Holies and the entry hall were paneled, and all three had recessed windows. The inner walls of the Temple were paneled with wood above and below the windows. ^17-18 The space above the door leading into the Holy of Holies was also paneled. The walls were decorated with carvings of Guardian Angels, each with two faces, and of palm trees alternating with the Guardian Angels. ^19-20 One face—that of a man—looked toward the palm tree on one side, and the other face—that of a young lion—looked toward the palm tree on the other side. And so it was, all around the inner wall of the Temple.

²¹ There were square doorposts at the doors of the nave, and in front of the Holy of Holies was what appeared to be an altar, but it was made of wood. ²² This altar was 3-1/2 feet square and 5-1/4 feet high; its corners, base, and sides were all of wood. “This,” he told me, “is the Table of the Lord.”^[n]

²³ Both the nave and the Holy of Holies had double doors, ²⁴ each with two swinging sections. ²⁵ The doors leading into the nave were decorated with cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls. And there was a wooden canopy over the entry hall. ²⁶ There were recessed windows and carved palm trees on both sides of the entry hall, the hallways beside the Temple, and on the canopy over the entrance.

42 Then he led me out of the Temple, back into the inner court to the rooms north of the Temple yard, and to another building. ² This group of structures was 175 feet long by 87-1/2 feet wide. ³ The rows of rooms behind this building were the inner wall of the court. The rooms were in three tiers, overlooking the outer court on one side, and having a 35-foot strip of inner court on the other. ⁴ A 17-1/2-foot walk ran between the building and the tiers of rooms, extending the entire length, with the doors of the building facing north. ⁵ The upper two tiers of rooms were not as wide as the lower one, because the upper tiers had wider walkways beside them. ⁶ And since the building was not built with girders as those in the outer court were, the upper stories were set back from the ground floor.

^7-8 The north tiers, next to the outer court, were 87-1/2 feet long—only half as long as the inner wing that faced the Temple court, which was 175 feet long. But a wall extended from the end of the shorter wing, parallel to the longer wing. ^9-10 And there was an entrance from the outer court to these rooms from the east. On the opposite side of the Temple a similar building composed of two units of tiers was on the south side of the inner court, between the Temple and the outer court, arranged the same as the other. ¹¹ There was a walk between the two wings of the building, the same as in the other building across the court—the same length and width and the same exits and doors—they were identical units. ¹² And there was a door from the outer court^[o] at the east.

¹³ Then he told me: “These north and south tiers of rooms facing the Temple yard are holy; there the priests who offer up the sacrifices to the Lord shall eat of the most holy offerings and store them—the cereal offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings, for these rooms are holy. ¹⁴ When the priests leave the Holy Place—the nave of the Temple—they must change their clothes before going out to the outer court. The special robes in which they have been ministering must first be removed, for these robes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building open to the public.”

¹⁵ When he had finished making these measurements, he led me out through the east passageway to measure the entire Temple area. ^16-20 He found that it was in the form of a square, 875 feet long on each side, with a wall all around it to separate the restricted area from the public places.^[p]

43 Afterward he brought me out again to the passageway through the outer wall leading to the east. ² And suddenly the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape lighted up with his glory. ³ It was just as I had seen it in the other visions, first by the Chebar Canal, and then later at Jerusalem^[q] when he came to destroy the city. And I fell down before him with my face in the dust. ⁴ And the glory of the Lord came into the Temple through the eastern passageway.

⁵ Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. ⁶ And I heard the Lord speaking to me from within the Temple (the man who had been measuring was still standing beside me).

⁷ And the Lord said to me:

“Son of dust, this is the place of my throne and my footstool, where I shall remain, living among the people of Israel forever. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer through the adulterous worship of other gods or by worshiping the totem poles erected by their kings. ⁸ They built their idol temples beside mine, with only a wall between, and worshiped their idols. Because they sullied my holy name by such wickedness, I consumed them in my anger. ⁹ Now let them put away their idols and the totem poles^[r] erected by their kings, and I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “Son of dust, describe the Temple I have shown you to the people of Israel. Tell them its appearance and its plan so they will be ashamed of all their sins. ¹¹ And if they are truly ashamed of what they have done, then explain to them the details of its construction—its doors and entrances—and everything about it. Write out all the directions and the rules for them to keep. ¹² And this is the basic law of the Temple: Holiness! The entire top of the hill where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the primary law concerning it.

¹³ “And these are the measurements of the altar: The base is 21 inches high, with a 9-inch rim around its edge, and it extends 21 inches beyond the altar on all sides. ¹⁴ The first stage of the altar is a stone platform 3-1/2 feet high. This platform is 21 inches narrower than the base block on all sides. Rising from this is a narrower platform, 21 inches narrower on all sides, and 7 feet high. ¹⁵ From it a still narrower platform rises 7 feet, and this is the top of the altar, with four horns projecting 21 inches up from the corners. ¹⁶ This top platform of the altar is 21 feet square. ¹⁷ The platform beneath it is 24-1/2 feet square with a 10-1/2-inch curb around the edges. The entire platform extends out from the top 21 inches on all sides. On the east side are steps to climb the altar.”

¹⁸ And he said to me:

“Son of dust, the Lord God says: These are the measurements of the altar to be made in the future, when it is erected for the burning of offerings and the sprinkling of blood upon it. ¹⁹ At that time the Zadok family of the Levite tribe, who are my ministers, are to be given a bullock for a sin offering. ²⁰ You shall take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the top platform and in the curb around it. This will cleanse and make atonement for the altar. ²¹ Then take the bullock for the sin offering and burn it at the appointed place outside the Temple area.

²² “The second day, sacrifice a young male goat without any defects—without sickness, deformities, cuts, or scars—for a sin offering. Thus the altar shall be cleansed, as it was by the bullock. ²³ When you have finished this cleansing ceremony, offer another perfect bullock and a perfect ram from the flock. ²⁴ Present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them as a burnt offering.

²⁵ “Every day for seven days a male goat, a bullock, and a ram from the flock shall be sacrificed as a sin offering. None are to have any defects or unhealthiness of any kind. ²⁶ Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus consecrating it. ²⁷ On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and thank offerings of the people, and I will accept you, says the Lord God.”

44 Then the Lord brought me back to the outer wall’s eastern passageway, but it was closed. ² And he said to me:

“This gate shall remain closed; it shall never be opened. No man shall pass through it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, entered here, and so it shall remain shut. ³ Only the prince—because he is the prince—may sit inside the passageway to feast there before the Lord. But he shall go and come only through the entry hall of the passage.”

⁴ Then he brought me through the north passageway to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw that the glory of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord, and I fell to the ground with my face in the dust.

⁵ And the Lord said to me:

“Son of dust, notice carefully; use your eyes and ears. Listen to all I tell you about the laws and rules of the Temple of the Lord. Note carefully who may be admitted to the Temple and who is to be excluded from it. ⁶ And say to these rebels, the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: O Israel, you have sinned greatly ⁷ by letting the uncircumcised into my sanctuary—those who have no heart for God—when you offer me my food, the fat and the blood. Thus you have broken my covenant in addition to all your other sins. ⁸ You have not kept the laws I gave you concerning these holy affairs, for you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.’”

⁹ The Lord God says: “No foreigner of all the many among you shall enter my sanctuary if he has not been circumcised and does not love the Lord. ¹⁰ And the men of the tribe of Levi who abandoned me when Israel strayed away from God to idols must be punished for their unfaithfulness. ¹¹ They may be Temple guards and gatemen; they may slay the animals brought for burnt offerings and be present to help the people. ¹² But because they encouraged the people to worship other gods, causing Israel to fall into deep sin, I have raised my hand and taken oath,” says the Lord God, “that they must be punished. ¹³ They shall not come near me to minister as priests; they may not touch any of my holy things, for they must bear their shame for all the sins they have committed. ¹⁴ They are the Temple caretakers, to do maintenance work and to assist the people in a general way.

¹⁵ “However, the sons of Zadok, of the tribe of Levi, continued as my priests in the Temple when Israel abandoned me for idols. These men shall be my ministers; they shall stand before me to offer the fat and blood of the sacrifices,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall enter my sanctuary and come to my Table to minister to me; they shall fulfill my requirements.

¹⁷ “They must wear only linen clothing when they enter the passageway to the inner court, for they must wear no wool while on duty in the inner court or in the Temple. ¹⁸ They must wear linen turbans and linen trousers; they must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire. ¹⁹ When they return to the outer court, they must take off the clothes they wear while ministering to me, leaving them in the sacred chambers, and put on other clothes lest they harm the people by touching them with this clothing.

²⁰ “They must not let their hair grow too long nor shave it off. Regular, moderate haircuts are all they are allowed. ²¹ No priest may drink wine before coming to the inner court. ²² He may marry only a Jewish maiden, or the widow of a priest; he may not marry a divorced woman.

²³ “He shall teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is secular, what is right and what is wrong.^[s]

²⁴ “They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based upon my laws. And the priests themselves shall obey my rules and regulations at all the sacred festivals, and they shall see to it that the Sabbath is kept a sacred day.

²⁵ “A priest must not defile himself by being in the presence of a dead person, unless it is his father, mother, child, brother, or unmarried sister. In such cases it is all right. ²⁶ But afterward he must wait seven days before he is cleansed and able to perform his Temple duties again. ²⁷ The first day he returns to work and enters the inner court and the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself,” the Lord God says.

²⁸ “As to property, they shall not own any, for I am their heritage! That is enough!^[t]

²⁹ “Their food shall be the gifts and sacrifices brought to the Temple by the people—the cereal offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Whatever anyone gives to the Lord shall be the priests’. ³⁰ The first of the first-ripe fruits and all the gifts for the Lord shall go to the priests. The first samples of each harvest of grain shall be donated to the priests too, so that the Lord will bless your homes. ³¹ Priests may never eat meat from any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that dies after being attacked by other animals.

45 “When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you shall first give a section of it to the Lord as his holy portion. This piece shall be 8-1/3 miles long and 6-2/3 miles wide. It shall all be holy ground.

² “A section of this land, 875 feet square, shall be designated for the Temple. An additional 87-1/2-foot strip all around is to be left empty. ³ The Temple shall be built within the area which is 8-1/3 miles long and 3-1/3 miles wide. ⁴ All this section shall be holy land; it will be used by the priests, who minister in the sanctuary, for their homes and for my Temple.

⁵ “The strip next to it, 8-1/3 miles long and 3-1/3 miles wide, shall be the residence area for the Levites who work at the Temple. ⁶ Adjacent to the holy lands will be a section 8-1/3 miles by 1-2/3 miles for a city open to everyone in Israel.

⁷ “Two special sections of land shall be set apart for the prince—one on each side of the holy lands and city; it is contiguous with them in length, and its eastern and western boundaries are the same as those of the tribal sections. ⁸ This shall be his allotment. My princes shall no longer oppress and rob my people but shall assign all the remainder of the land to the people, giving a portion to each tribe.”

⁹ For the Sovereign Lord says to the rulers: “Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land and expelling them from their homes. Always be fair and honest. ¹⁰ You must use honest scales, honest bushels, honest gallons. ¹¹ A homer (about five bushels) shall be your standard unit of measurement for both liquid and dry measure. Smaller units shall be the ephah (about a half bushel) for dry measure, and the bath (about seventeen quarts) for liquid. ¹² The unit of weight shall be the silver shekel (about half an ounce); it must always be exchanged for twenty gerahs, no less; five shekels shall be valued at five shekels, no less; and ten shekels at ten shekels! Fifty shekels^[u] shall always equal one mina.

¹³ “This is the tax you must give to the prince: a bushel of wheat or barley for every sixty you reap; ¹⁴ and one percent of your olive oil; ¹⁵ from each 200 sheep in all your flocks in Israel, give him one sheep. These are the meal offerings, burnt offerings, and thank offerings to make atonement for those who bring them,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “All the people of Israel shall bring their offerings to the prince.

¹⁷ “The prince shall be required to furnish the people with sacrifices for public worship—sin offerings, burnt offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, and thank offerings—to make reconciliation for the people of Israel. This shall be done at the time of the religious feasts, the new moon ceremonies, the Sabbaths, and all other similar occasions.”

¹⁸ The Lord God says: “On each New Year’s Day^[v] sacrifice a young bull with no blemishes, to purify the Temple. ¹⁹ The priest shall take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, upon the four corners of the base of the altar, and upon the walls at the entry of the inner court. ²⁰ Do this also on the seventh day of that month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance, and so the Temple will be cleansed.

²¹ “On the fourteenth day of the same month, you shall celebrate the Passover. It will be a seven-day feast. Only bread without yeast shall be eaten during those days. ²² On the day of Passover the prince shall provide a young bull for a sin offering for himself and all the people of Israel. ²³ On each of the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord. This daily offering will consist of seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish. A male goat shall also be given each day for a sin offering. ²⁴ And the prince shall provide a half bushel of grain with each bullock and ram for a meal offering, and three quarts of olive oil.

²⁵ “Early in October during each of the seven days of the annual festival of shelters, he shall provide these same sacrifices for the sin offering, burnt offering, meal offering, and oil offering.”

46 The Lord God says: “The inner wall’s eastern entrance shall be closed during the six work days but open on the Sabbath and on the days of the new moon celebrations. ² The prince shall enter the outside entry hall of the passageway and proceed to the inner wall at the other end while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He shall worship inside the passageway and then return back to the entrance, which shall not be closed until evening. ³ The people shall worship the Lord in front of this passageway on the Sabbaths and on the days of the new moon celebrations.

⁴ “The burnt offering that the prince sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbath days shall be six lambs and a ram, all unblemished. ⁵ He shall present a meal offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount he is willing to give with each lamb. And he shall bring three quarts of olive oil for each half bushel of flour. ⁶ At the new moon celebration, he shall bring one young bull in perfect condition, six lambs, and one ram, all without any blemish. ⁷ With the young bull, he must bring a half bushel^[w] of flour for a meal offering. With the ram he must bring a half bushel of flour. With the lamb he is to bring whatever he is willing to give. With each half bushel of grain he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.

⁸ “The prince shall go in at the entry hall of the passageway and out the same way; ⁹ but when the people come in through the north passageway to sacrifice during the religious feasts, they must go out through the south passageway. Those coming in from the south must go out by the north. They must never go out the same way they come in, but must always use the opposite passageway. ¹⁰ The prince shall enter and leave with the common people on these occasions.

¹¹ “To summarize: At the special feasts and sacred festivals the meal offering shall be a half bushel with the young bull; a half bushel with the ram; as much as the prince is willing to give with each lamb; and three quarts of oil with each half bushel of grain. ¹² Whenever the prince offers an extra burnt offering or peace offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the inner eastern gate shall be opened up for him to enter, and he shall offer his sacrifices just as on the Sabbaths. Then he shall turn around and go out, and the passage shall be shut behind him.

¹³ “Each morning a yearling lamb must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^14-15 And there must be a meal offering each morning—five pounds of flour with one quart of oil with which to mix it. This is a permanent ordinance—the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil shall be provided every morning for the daily sacrifice.”

¹⁶ The Sovereign Lord says: “If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him forever. ¹⁷ But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Release (every seventh year) when he is set free; then the land returns to the prince. Only gifts to his sons are permanent. ¹⁸ And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I don’t want my people losing their property and having to move away.”

^19-20 After that, using the door through the wall at the side of the main passageway, he led me through the entrance to the block of sacred chambers that faced north. There, at the extreme west end of these rooms, I saw a place where, my guide told me, the priests boil the meat of the trespass offering and sin offering and bake the flour of the flour offerings into bread. They do it here to avoid the necessity of carrying the sacrifices through the outer court, in case they harm the people.

^21-22 Then he brought me out to the outer court again and led me to each of the four corners of the court. I saw that in each corner there was a room 70 feet long by 52-1/2 feet wide, enclosed by walls. ²³ Around the inside of these walls there ran a line of brick boiling vats with ovens underneath. ²⁴ He said these rooms were where the Temple assistants—the Levites—boil the sacrifices the people offer.

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the Temple. I saw a stream flowing eastward from beneath the Temple and passing to the right of the altar, that is, on its south side. ² Then he brought me outside the wall through the north passageway^[x] and around to the eastern entrance, where I saw the stream flowing along on the south side of the eastern passageway. ³ Measuring as he went, he took me 1,500 feet east along the stream and told me to go across. At that point the water was up to my ankles. ⁴ He measured off another 1,500 feet and told me to cross again. This time the water was up to my knees. ⁵ Fifteen hundred feet after that it was up to my waist. Another 1,500 feet and it had become a river so deep I wouldn’t be able to get across unless I were to swim. It was too deep to cross on foot.

⁶ He told me to keep in mind what I had seen, then led me back along the bank. ⁷ And now, to my surprise,^[y] many trees were growing on both sides of the river!

⁸ He told me: “This river flows east through the desert and the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, where it will heal the salty waters and make them fresh and pure. ⁹ Everything touching the water of this river shall live. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will be healed. Wherever this water flows, everything will live. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea, fishing all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim. The shores will be filled with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea just as they do the Mediterranean! ¹¹ But the marshes and swamps will not be healed; they will still be salty. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow along the riverbanks. The leaves will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit. There will be a new crop every month—without fail! For they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for medicine.”