Bible in 90 Days

Comfort to the Land of Israel

36 “You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Adonai. ² Thus says Adonai Elohim: “The enemy has said against you, ‘Aha! Even the ancient high places have become our possession!’ ³ Therefore prophesy and say, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Because they ravaged and crushed you from every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and you became the talk and evil gossip of people,’ ⁴ therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of Adonai, thus says Adonai Elohim to the mountains, the hills, the streams and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the cities that are forsaken, which have become prey and derision to the rest of the surrounding nations. ⁵ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Surely in the fire of My wrath I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, that have taken My land for themselves as a possession with the joy of all their heart and contempt in their souls, in order to seize it as plunder.’ ⁶ Therefore, prophesy to the land of Israel and say to the mountains and the hills, the streams and the valleys, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I have spoken in My wrath and in My fury, because you have suffered the scorn of the nations.’ ⁷ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘I have lifted My hand. Surely the nations that surround you will themselves suffer scorn.

⁸ “‘But you, mountains of Israel, you will shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit for My people Israel; for their return is near. ⁹ For behold, I am for you. I will turn to you. You will be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ I will settle a large population upon you—the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be inhabited. The desolate places will be built up. ¹¹ I will multiply man and beast upon you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before. I will do better for you than at your beginnings. You will know that I am Adonai. ¹² I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance. You will no longer deprive them of children.’”

¹³ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men and you deprive your nation of children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour men and you will no longer deprive your nation of children.” It is a declaration of Adonai. ¹⁵ “I will no longer let the scorn of the nations be heard against you. You will no longer bear disgrace from the peoples. You will no longer cause your nation to stumble.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁶ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their deeds. Their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her niddah. ¹⁸ So I poured out My fury on them for the blood which they had shed upon the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹ I scattered them among the nations, so they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and their deeds I judged them. ²⁰ Wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy Name, since it was said about them, ‘These are the people of Adonai, yet they had to leave His land.’ ²¹ But I had concern for My holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for My holy Name, which you profaned among the nations wherever you went. ²³ I will sanctify My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations—which you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am Adonai’”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“‘when I am sanctified in you before their eyes.’”

New Heart, New Spirit

²⁴ “‘For I will take you from the nations, gather you out of all the countries and bring you back to your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. ²⁶ Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ^{[a] 27} I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be My people and I will be your God.

²⁹ “So I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful. I will not bring a famine upon you. ³⁰ I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will no longer bear the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ When you remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, you will be disgusted with yourselves because of your iniquities and your abominations. ³² Not for your sake will I do this”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel!”

³³ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “In the day that I pronounce you clean from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a wasteland in the sight of all that passed by. ³⁵ They will say, ‘This land that was a wasteland has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations that are left all around you will know that I, Adonai, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted what was desolate. I, Adonai, have spoken it. So I will do it.”

³⁷ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “I will again be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them—I will populate them with people like a flock. ³⁸ Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem during her moadim, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of people.^[b] Then they will know that I am Adonai.”

Dry Bones Live

37 The hand of Adonai was upon me. The Ruach Adonai carried me out and set me down in the middle of the valley. It was full of bones. ² He led me all around them. Behold, there were very many on the floor of the valley. Behold, they were very dry. ³ Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”^[c]

I answered, “Adonai Elohim, You know.”

⁴ “Prophesy over these bones,” He said to me. “Say to them: ‘Dry bones, hear the word of Adonai!’ ⁵ Thus says Adonai Elohim to these bones: “Behold, I will cause Ruach^[d] to enter you, so you will live. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you, bring flesh on you and cover you with skin. Then I will put breath in you. You will live. You will know that I am Adonai.”

⁷ So I prophesied just as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake. Then the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ I saw, and behold, there were tendons on them, flesh came up and skin covered them above, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the Ruach. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Ruach, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Come from the four winds, Ruach! Breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰ So I prophesied just as He commanded me. The Ruach came into them and they lived. They stood up on their feet, a vast army.

¹¹ Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say: ‘Our bones are dried up; our hope is lost; we are cut off—by ourselves.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I will open your graves. I will bring you up out of your graves, My people. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ You will know that I am Adonai, when I have opened your graves and brought you up out of your graves, My people. ¹⁴ I will put My Ruach in you and you will live. I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I, Adonai, have spoken and that I have done it.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Reunification of Southern and Northern Kingdoms

¹⁵ The word of Adonai came to me saying: ¹⁶ “You, son of man, take one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah’—for Bnei-Yisrael joined with him. Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph’—the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel joined with him. ¹⁷ Join them one to another for yourself, as one stick, so they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸ “When the children of your people speak to you saying, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by these?’ ¹⁹ say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph—which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel joined with him—and I will put them together with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick. They will be one in My hand.’ ²⁰ The sticks that you write on will be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹ “Then say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I will take Bnei-Yisrael from among the nations, where they have gone. I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king to them all. They will no longer be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will never again be defiled with their idols, their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. I will save them out of all their dwellings in which they sinned. I will purify them. Then they will be My people and I will be their God. ²⁴ My servant David will be king over them. They will all have One Shepherd. They will walk in My ordinances and observe My rulings and do them. ²⁵ They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your ancestors lived. They will live there—they, their children and their children’s children, forever, and My servant David will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will cut a covenant of shalom with them—it will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will give to them and multiply them. I will set up My Sanctuary among them forever. ^{[e] 27} My dwelling-place will be over them. I will be their God and they will be My people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I am Adonai who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever.’”

Gog’s Alliance Invades Israel

38 The word of Adonai came to me saying: ² “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.^[f] Prophesy against him ³ and say, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴ I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws. I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen—all of them splendidly dressed—a vast assembly with breastplate and shield, all of them wielding swords. ⁵ With them will be Persia, Cush and Put, all of them with shield and helmet, ⁶ Gomer and all his troops, the house of Togarmah from the extreme north and all his troops—many peoples with you.

⁷ “‘Be prepared, prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you. Be a guard for them. ⁸ After many days you will be summoned. In the latter years, you will come against the land that has been brought back from the sword and regathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. But they were brought out from the peoples. When all of them are dwelling securely, ⁹ you will come up, you will come like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land—you and all your troops and many peoples with you.’”

¹⁰ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “It will come to pass in that day that things will come into your heart and you will devise an evil plan. ¹¹ You will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who live securely, all of them living without walls, having no bars or gates, ¹² in order to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places now inhabited and against the people gathered from the nations, who have been acquiring livestock and property, who live in the center of the world.’

¹³ “Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its young lions will say to you: ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your company to plunder? To carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and property, to make off with immense spoils?’

¹⁴ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, say to Gog, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘In that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know? ¹⁵ You will come from your place out of the extreme north—you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and mighty army. ¹⁶ You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the last days. I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me—when I am sanctified through you, Gog, before their eyes.’”

¹⁷ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “Are you the one that I spoke about in former times through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸ In that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“My fury will rise up in My nostrils. ¹⁹ In My jealousy and the fire of My wrath I have spoken! Surely in that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep upon the ground and all humans upon the face of the earth will shake at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down. The steep places will fall. Every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“every man’s sword will be against his brother. ²² I will punish him with pestilence and blood. I will pour out rain on him, on his troops and on the many peoples with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. ²³ So I will magnify and sanctify Myself. I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Adonai.”

Destruction of Gog

39 “You, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. ² I will turn you around, drive you along, and lead you up from the extreme north. I will bring you upon the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. ⁴ You will fall on the mountains of Israel—you, all your troops and the people that are with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of birds of prey and to the beasts of the field. ⁵ You will fall on an open field, for I have spoken.’” It is a declaration of Adonai.

⁶ “I will send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the islands. Then they will know that I am Adonai. ⁷ So I will make My holy Name known among My people Israel. I will not let My holy Name be profaned anymore. The nations will know that I am Adonai, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ Behold, it is coming. It will be done”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“this is the day that I have spoken about.

⁹ “The inhabitants of Israel’s cities will go out and kindle fires with the weapons—shields and breastplates, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears. They will make fires with them for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not take wood out of the field or cut anything from the forests, for they will make fire from the weapons. They will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹¹ “On that day, I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of the travelers east of the sea. It will block those who travel through, since they will bury Gog and all his multitude there. Then they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. ^{[g] 12} The house of Israel will bury them for seven months, in order to cleanse the land. ¹³ All the people of the land will bury them. It will be memorable for them, a day when I am glorified.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁴ “Men will be continually set apart to travel through the land and bury the travelers remaining on the face of the land, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make their search. ¹⁵ When they travel through the land, if any sees a man’s bone, he will set up a sign by it, until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. ¹⁶ Hamonah will also be the name of the city. So they will cleanse the land.

¹⁷ “You, son of man”—thus says Adonai Elohim—“say to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. You will eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—as rams, lambs, goats, bulls—all of them fatlings of Bashan. ¹⁹ So you will eat fat until you are gorged and you will drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you. ²⁰ You will be filled at My table with horses and horsemen, with mighty men and all the warriors.’” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Israel Will Know Adonai

²¹ “I will put My glory among the nations. All the nations will see My judgment that I will execute and My hand that I will lay on them. ²² The house of Israel will know that I am Adonai their God, from that day onward. ²³ The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they broke faith with Me. So I hid My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies. All of them fell by the sword. ²⁴ I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions. I hid My face from them.”

²⁵ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “Now I will restore Jacob from exile, when I have compassion on the whole house of Israel. I will be zealous for My holy Name. ²⁶ They will bear their shame and all their disloyalty by which they broke faith with Me, when they were living securely in their land, with no one making them afraid. ²⁷ When I have brought them back from the peoples and have gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, I will be sanctified in them in the eyes of many nations. ²⁸ Then they will know that I am Adonai their God, since it was I who caused them to go into exile among the nations and I who will gather them back to their own land. I will never again leave them there. ²⁹ I will never again hide My face from them. For I have poured out My Ruach upon the house of Israel.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Measurements of a New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day—the hand of Adonai was on me, and He brought me there. ² In visions God brought me to the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain. On it, toward the south, was something like the construction of a city. ³ He brought me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze.^[h] He had a linen cord in his hand and a measuring rod.^[i] He was standing in the gateway.

⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, set your heart on all that I show you—for I brought you here in order to show you—and report all that you see to the house of Israel.”

⁵ Behold, an outer wall was all around the House. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six cubits long,^[j] each of which was a normal cubit and a handbreadth. When he measured the thickness of the wall structure, it was one rod, and the height was one rod.

⁶ Then he went to the gate that faced east and went up its steps. When he measured the threshold of the gate, it was one rod wide. Also the other threshold was one rod wide. ⁷ Each guard chamber was one rod long and one rod wide. The space between the chambers was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate, facing the House, measured one rod. ⁸ When he measured the porch of the gate toward the House, it was one rod. ⁹ When he measured the porch of the gate, it was eight cubits; its pillars were two cubits. The porch of the gate faced the House. ¹⁰ Now the guard chambers of the east gate were three on this side, and three on the other side—the three had the same measurement. The side pillars had the same measure on this side and on that side. ¹¹ When he measured the width of the entrance of the gate, it was ten cubits, and the length of the gate was 13 cubits. ¹² A barrier wall was in front of the guard chambers, one cubit on each side. Each chamber was six cubits on each side. ¹³ When he measured the gate from the roof of the one chamber to the roof of the other, the width was 25 cubits, door facing door. ¹⁴ Then he did the pillars—60 cubits. A gateway extended all around to the pillar of the courtyard. ¹⁵ Now from the front of the gate of the entrance to the front of the inner porch of the gate measured 50 cubits. ¹⁶ There were shuttered windows toward the chambers and toward their pillars within the surrounding gate, and likewise the porches had windows all around inside. On each pillar were palm trees.

¹⁷ Then he brought me to the outer court.^[k] Behold, there were rooms and pavement, made for the surrounding court, with 30 rooms along the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was by the side of the gates, as wide as the gates were long. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ He measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the exterior front of the inner court—it was 100 cubits, to the east and to the north.

²⁰ Next he measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court facing toward the north. ²¹ Its guard chambers were three on this side and three on that side. Its pillars and its porches had the same measurements as the first gate—50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²² Its windows, porches and palm trees were the same measurements as the gate facing toward the east. Its stairway had seven steps, and its porch was in front of them. ²³ A gate to the inner court was opposite the other gate, northward and eastward. He measured 100 cubits from gate to gate.

²⁴ Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its pillars and its porches. They had the same measurements. ²⁵ The gate and its porch had windows all around, like the other windows, 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²⁶ Its stairway had seven steps, and its porches were in front of them. It had palm-trees on its pillars, one on this side and another on that side. ²⁷ There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured from gate to gate toward the south—100 cubits.

²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court through the south gate. When he measured the south gate, it had the same measurements. ²⁹ Its chambers, pillars and porch had the same measurements. There were windows in it and in the surrounding porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁰ There were porches all around, 25 cubits long and five cubits wide. ³¹ Its porch was toward the outer court. Palm-trees were on its pillars. Its stairway had eight steps.

³² Then he brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured it with the same measurements. ³³ Its chambers, pillars and porch had the same measurements. There were windows in it and in its surrounding porch. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁴ Its porch was toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its pillars on this side and on that side. Its stairway had eight steps.

³⁵ He brought me to the north gate. He measured it with the same measurements: ³⁶ its chambers, pillars and porch. There were windows in it all around. It was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁷ Its pillars were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its pillars, on this side and on that side. Its stairway had eight steps. ³⁸ A chamber with its entry was by the pillars at the gates; there they rinse the burnt offering. ³⁹ In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. ⁴⁰ Off to the side, on the outside as one goes up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables. On the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Four tables were on one side and four tables were on the other side, by the side of the gate—eight tables, on which they would slaughter. ⁴² There were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. The instruments for the slaughter of the burnt offering and the sacrifice were laid on them. ⁴³ Hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened in the House all around. The flesh of the offering was to be placed upon the tables.

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate in the inner court were chambers for the singers, one of which was at the side of the north gate, facing south. The one at the side of the east gate faced north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This chamber that faces toward the south is for the kohanim who keep charge of the House. ⁴⁶ The chamber that faces toward the north is for the kohanim who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, those from the sons of Levi who come near to Adonai to minister to Him.”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the court. It was 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide, a square. The altar was in front of the House. ⁴⁸ He brought me to the porch of the House. He measured each pillar of the porch, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side. ⁴⁹ The length of the porch was 20 cubits and the width 11 cubits. It was ascended by way of steps, where pillars stood, one on each side.

The Inner Sanctuary

41 Then he brought me to the Temple, and measured the pillars—six cubits wide on one side, six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tent. ² The width of the entrance was ten cubits. The sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side and five cubits on the other side. He measured its length, 40 cubits and its width, 20 cubits. ³ He went to the inner room and measured each pillar of the entrance, two cubits; the doorway, six cubits; and the width of the doorway, seven cubits. ⁴ When he measured the inner room’s length, it was 20 cubits, and the width was 20 cubits, in front of the Temple. He said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”

⁵ When he measured the wall of the House, it was six cubits, and the width of every side chamber was four cubits, surrounding the House on every side. ⁶ There were 33 side chambers. There were supports in the wall, which belonged to the House for the side chambers all around, so that they were not supported by the wall of the House. ⁷ The side chambers were wider as they wound about higher and higher. Because the winding about of the House went higher and higher round about the house, therefore the width of the House expanded. One went up from the lowest row to the highest by way of the middle. ⁸ I saw also that the House had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full rod of six cubits up to the joint. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The space between the side chambers of the House ¹⁰ and the outer chambers was 20 cubits wide all around the House on every side. ¹¹ The doors of the side chambers were toward the space, one door toward the north and another door toward the south. The width of the space was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that was before the separate area at the side toward the west was 70 cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around and its length was 90 cubits. ¹³ When he measured the House, it was 100 cubits long; the separate area and the building with its walls, was 100 cubits long; ¹⁴ and the width of the face of the House and the separate area toward the east was also 100 cubits.

¹⁵ When he measured the length of the building facing the separate area behind it, with its galleries on each side, it was 100 cubits. Now the inner Sanctuary and the porches of the court— ¹⁶ the thresholds, the shuttered windows, and the galleries all around in three stories opposite the thresholds—were paneled with wood all around, from the ground up to the windows (even the windows were covered), ¹⁷ over the space above the door, as far as the inner House, and on all the wall outside all around inside and outside, by measurement. ¹⁸ It was made with cheruvim and palm trees. A palm tree was between cheruv and cheruv. Every cheruv had two faces: ¹⁹ the face of a man toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made on all the House all around. ²⁰ The cheruvim and palm trees were made from the ground up to above the door and on the wall of the Temple.

²¹ The Temple’s doorposts were square. Now the front of the Sanctuary had something resembling ²² an altar—three cubits high and two cubits long, made of wood. Its corners, its base and its sides were also of wood. He said to me, “This is the table of the Presence of Adonai.”

²³ The Temple and the inner Sanctuary each had double doors. ²⁴ The doors each had two turning leaves—two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. ²⁵ Cheruvim and palm trees were made on them, on the doors of the Temple, just like those made on the walls. There were thick beams of wood on the face of the porch outside. ²⁶ There were shuttered windows and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch, the side chambers of the House and the thick beams.

The Outer Courtyard

42 He led me out to the outer courtyard toward the north. He brought me to the chamber that was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. ² The length of the building with the door on the north was 100 cubits and the width was 50 cubits. ³ Opposite the 20 cubit space belonging to the inner court and opposite the pavement belonging to the outer court was gallery by gallery in three stories. ⁴ In front of the chambers was a walkway ten cubits wide and 100 cubits long. Their doorways were toward the north. ⁵ The upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and the middle ones in the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courtyards; therefore more space was taken away than from the lower and the middle floors, in comparison with the ground. ⁷ A wall that was outside by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court in front of the chambers, was 50 cubits in length. ⁸ For the chambers that were toward the outer court were 50 cubits long while those facing the Temple were 100 cubits. ⁹ Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer courtyard.

¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the courtyard toward the east, in front of the separate area and in front of the building, there were chambers. ¹¹ The passageway in front of them were similar to the chambers on the north, as long and wide as them, with all their exits and similar arrangements and doors. ¹² Corresponding to the doorways of the chambers on the south, there was a doorway at the head of the passageway—a way directly in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate area, they are the holy chambers, where the kohanim who are near to Adonai eat the most holy things. There they will put the most holy things—the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. ¹⁴ Once the kohanim enter, they are not to go out of the holy place into the outer court without leaving there their garments in which they minister—for they are holy. They will put on other garments and approach the area for the people.”

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring the inner House, he brought me out by way of the gate facing east and measured all around. ¹⁶ When he measured the east side with the measuring rod, it was 500 rods, with the measuring rod round about. ¹⁷ When he measured the north side, it was 500 rods by the measuring rod. ¹⁸ When he measured the south side, it was 500 rods, with the measuring rod. ¹⁹ Then he turned about to the west side and measured 500 rods with the measuring rod. ²⁰ So he measured the four sides. It had a wall all around—the length was 500 and the width was 500—to make a distinction between the holy and the profane.

The Glory Returns

43 Then he led me to the gate, the gate looking east, ² and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters. The earth was radiant with His glory. ³ The appearance of the vision that I saw was like the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar. So I fell on my face. ⁴ Then the glory of Adonai came into the House by way of the gate facing the east. ⁵ The Ruach took me up and brought me into the inner court. Then behold, the glory of Adonai filled the House.

⁶ Then I heard someone speaking to me from the House, while a man was standing beside me. ⁷ He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne, the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of Bnei-Yisrael forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile My holy Name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution or by the corpses of their kings in their high places. ⁸ Whenever they set their threshold next to My threshold and their doorpost next to My doorpost, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy Name by their abominations that they committed. So I have finished them off in My fury. ⁹ Now let them put away their prostitution and the corpses of their kings, far from Me. Then I will dwell among them forever.

¹⁰ “You, son of man, describe the House to the house of Israel, so they will be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure accurately. ¹¹ If they are ashamed of all they have done, sketch out the House for them, its layout, its exits and its entrances, its complete design, with all its ordinances and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so they may observe its complete design and all its ordinances and do them. ¹² This is the Torah of the House: the whole territory around it on top of the mountain will be most holy. Behold, this is the Torah of the House.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (a cubit being a normal cubit plus a handbreadth). Its gutter will be a cubit deep and a cubit wide. Its rim will be one span surrounding the edge. This will be the base of the altar. ¹⁴ From the base on the ground to the lower ledge will be two cubits and the width one cubit. From the smaller ledge to the larger ledge will be four cubits and the width a cubit. ¹⁵ The altar hearth will be four cubits high. Four horns will project upward from the hearth. ¹⁶ The hearth will be 12 cubits long by 12 wide, with four sides square. ¹⁷ The ledge will be 14 cubits long and 14 wide with four sides square. The border surrounding it will be half a cubit and its bottom will be a cubit all around. Its steps will face east.”

¹⁸ Then he said to me, “Son of man, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day when they will construct it, in order to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ Give a young bull for a sin offering to the Levitical kohanim who are from the offspring of Zadok, who come near to Me to minister to Me’”—it is a declaration of Adonai. ²⁰ “You are to take some of its blood and put it on its four horns, on the four corners of the ledge and on the border around it. So you will purify it and make atonement for it. ²¹ Take the bull of the sin offering and burn it in the appointed place of the House, outside the Sanctuary.

²² “On the second day, offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering. They will purify the altar as they purified it with the bull. ²³ When you have finished purifying it, offer a young bull without blemish and a ram out of the flock without blemish. ²⁴ Present them before Adonai. The kohanim will cast salt upon them. They will offer them up as a burnt offering to Adonai. ²⁵ Every day for seven days, prepare a goat as a sin offering. They will prepare a young bull and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. ²⁶ They will make atonement for the altar and cleanse it for seven days. This is how they will consecrate it. ²⁷ When they have completed the days, from the eighth day and onward the kohanim will make your burnt offerings upon the altar as well as your fellowship offerings. Then I will accept you”—it is a declaration of Adonai.

Prince at the Eastern Gate

44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the Sanctuary looking east. It was shut. ² Adonai said to me: “This gate is to be shut. It must not be opened. No one may enter through it, for Adonai God of Israel has entered through it. So it is to be kept shut. ³ Only the prince, since he is a prince, will sit there to eat bread before Adonai. He will enter by way of the porch of the gate and go out the same way.”

Levitical Priesthood

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the House. I looked, and behold, the glory of Adonai filled the House of Adonai. So I fell upon my face. ⁵ Adonai said to me, “Son of man, set your heart, behold with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of Adonai’s House and all its laws. Set your heart to the entrance of the House, with all exits of the Sanctuary. ⁶ Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Enough of your abominations, house of Israel! ⁷ You brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My Sanctuary, to profane it—My House—when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood. They have broken My covenant, to add to all your abominations. ⁸ You have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set keepers of My service in My Sanctuary to please yourselves.’”

⁹ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter My Sanctuary, not any foreigner who is among Bnei-Yisrael. ¹⁰ For the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray after their idols, will bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they will be ministers in My Sanctuary, overseers of the gates of the House and ministering in the House. They will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people. They will stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them”—it is a declaration of Adonai. “They will bear their iniquity. ¹³ They will not come near to Me, to minister to Me as kohanim, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy. They will bear their shame and their abominations, which they have committed.

¹⁴ “Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the House, for all its service and for all that will be done in it. ¹⁵ So the Levitical kohanim, the sons of Zadok who kept charge of My Sanctuary when Bnei-Yisrael wandered from Me, will draw near to Me to minister to Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood”—it is declaration of Adonai. ¹⁶ “They are ones who will enter My Sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister to Me. They will keep My charge. ¹⁷ It will be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they will be clothed with linen garments. No wool will come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They will have linen turbans upon their heads and linen underclothes upon their loins; they will not wear anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ Before they go out to the outer court—to the outer courtyard to the people—they must take off their garments in which they minister and leave them in the holy chambers. They will put on other garments, so they do not consecrate the people while in their garments. ²⁰ They must not shave their heads or let their locks grow long, but must carefully trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ No kohen may drink wine before entering the inner court. ²² None may take a widow or a divorced woman as his wife, for they must take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a kohen.

²³ “They will teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and explain to them the difference between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a lawsuit, they will stand to judge, and judge in accordance with My ordinances. They will keep My laws and My statutes in all My moadim and keep My Shabbatot holy. ²⁵ They must not come near a dead person to defile themselves—only for a father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister who had no husband may they defile themselves. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, they will count seven days for him. ²⁷ On the day he goes into the Sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the Sanctuary, he is to offer his sin offering.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

²⁸ “It will be an inheritance for them. I am their inheritance. Do not give them any possession in Israel for I am their possession. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the firstfruits of everything and every offering of every kind from all your offerings will belong to the kohanim. You will also give the kohen the first of your dough, to make a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The kohanim may not eat any carcass, whether bird or beast, that dies of itself or is torn.”

Levitical Land

45 “When you allot the land for inheritance, set apart an offering to Adonai, a holy portion of the land. The length will be 25,000 and the width will be 10,000.^[l] It will be holy within all its surrounding borders. ² Out of this, there will be the Holy Place, 500 long by 500 wide, square all around, and 50 cubits for the open land surrounding it. ³ From this area you are to measure a length of 25,000 and a width of 10,000, in which will be the Sanctuary, which is most holy. ⁴ It is to be the holy portion of the land, for the kohanim ministering in the Sanctuary, who draw near to serve Adonai. It will be a place for their houses as well as a place consecrated for the Sanctuary. ⁵ An area 25,000 long by 10,000 wide will be for the Levites, the ministers of the House. It will be a possession for themselves—20 chambers.

⁶ “You will give the city possession of an area 5,000 wide by 25,000 long, alongside the offering of the holy allotment. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Allotment

⁷ “The prince will have a portion on either side of the holy allotment and the city’s property, adjacent to the holy offering and the city’s property, on the west side westward and on the east side eastward. Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions, from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. ⁸ It will be land for him as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress My people. They will give land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

⁹ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “Let it be enough for you, princes of Israel. Get rid of violence and destruction, execute justice and righteousness, take away your oppression from My people”—it is a declaration of Adonai. ¹⁰ “You are to have just balances, an honest dry measure and an honest liquid measure. ^{[m] 11} The dry and liquid measure will be of a uniform measure: the bath will contain a tenth part of a homer, and the ephah a tenth part of a homer; the standard measure will be the homer. ¹² The shekel will be 20 gerahs; 20 plus 25 plus 15 shekels will be your mina.

¹³ “This is the offering that you are to set apart: a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of wheat, a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of barley, ¹⁴ along with the set portion of oil—a bath of oil—as the tithe of the bath for each kor, which is ten baths (or a homer, since ten baths are a homer), ¹⁵ and one lamb of the flock out of 200, from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offering, burnt offering and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for them.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁶ “All the people of the land must give this contribution to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the prince’s role to give the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the feasts, New Moons and Shabbatot, in all the moadim of the house of Israel. He will prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

Offerings for Moadim

¹⁸ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “In the first month, in the first day of the month, take a young bull without blemish and purify the Sanctuary. ¹⁹ The kohen will take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it upon the doorposts of the House and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ So you will do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. So you will make atonement for the House.

²¹ “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will have the Passover, a feast of seven days when matzah will be eaten. ²² On that day the prince will prepare a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. ²³ He will prepare a burnt offering to Adonai for the seven days of the feast—seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily for seven days and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ He will prepare as a grain offering, an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram and a hin of oil for each ephah. ²⁵ He will do this in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the Feast, for seven days, for sin offering as well as burnt offering, grain offering as well as oil.”

46 Thus says Adonai Elohim: “The gate of the inner court that faces the east will be shut for the six working days. On Yom Shabbat it will be opened and in the day of the New Moon it will be opened. ² The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside, and stand by the post of the gate. Then the kohanim will prepare his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings. He will worship at the threshold of the gate, and then go out. The gate will not be shut until the evening. ³ The people of the land will worship at the door of that gate before Adonai on Shabbatot and New Moons.

⁴ “The burnt offering that the prince offers to Adonai on Yom Shabbat will be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵ The grain offering will be an ephah for the ram. The grain offering for the lambs will be a gift of his hand and a hin of oil for an ephah. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon it will be a young bull without blemish, six lambs and a ram—they must be without blemish. ⁷ He will prepare a grain offering, an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram, for the lambs whatever his hand may reach and a hin of oil for an ephah. ⁸ When the prince enters, he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and he will also exit by that way. ⁹ When the people of the land come before Adonai at the moadim, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will exit by way of the south gate. Whoever enters by way of the south gate must exit by way of north gate. He should not return by the way of the gate where he came in, since he must exit straight ahead. ¹⁰ When they enter, the prince will come in among them. When they go out, they will go out together.

¹¹ “At the feasts and the moadim, the grain offering will be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs a gift of his hand and a hin of oil for an ephah. ¹² Now if the prince prepares a freewill offering, burnt offering or fellowship offerings as a freewill offering to Adonai, the gate for him facing east must be opened for him. Then he will prepare his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings as he does on Yom Shabbat. Then he will go out. After he exits, the gate should be shut.

¹³ “You are to prepare a lamb of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering to Adonai daily—morning by morning you are to prepare it. ¹⁴ Also you will prepare a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour—a grain offering to Adonai continually. It is perpetual statute. ¹⁵ They will prepare the lamb, the grain offering and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.”

¹⁶ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it will belong to his sons. It will be their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives of his inheritance as a gift to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty, when it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will belong to his sons. ¹⁸ The prince must not take from the people’s inheritance, evicting them wrongfully out of their property. He must give inheritance to his sons out of his own property, so that My people will not be displaced, anyone from his own property.”

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance that was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the kohanim, looking north. Behold, there was a place at the far western end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the kohanim will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, where they will bake the grain offering, so they do not bring them into the outer court, to consecrate the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer courtyard and led me past the four corners of the courtyard. Behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was another courtyard. ²² In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courts, 40 cubits long by 30 wide—these four in the corners had the same size. ²³ There was a row of masonry surrounding them, surrounding the four. Boiling places were built under the surrounding rows. ²⁴ He said to me, “These are the boiling places where the ministers of the House will boil the sacrifices of the people.”

River of Life

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the House. Behold, water was flowing out from under the threshold of the House eastward—for the front of the House faced east. The water was flowing down from under the right side of the House, south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around outside by the way of the outer gate, the way of the gate looking east. Behold, water was trickling out from the right side.

³ When the man went out eastward with a line in his hand, he measured a 1,000 cubits. Then he led me into the water—water to the ankles. ⁴ Again he measured a 1,000, and led me into the water—water to the knees. Again he measured a 1,000, and he led me into the water—water up to the waist. ⁵ Again he measured a 1,000, and now it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen, water to swim in—a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”

Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I had returned, behold, there were very many trees on one side and on the other, along the bank of the river. ^{[n] 8} Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region. They go down to the Arabah and enter the sea. When they arrive at the sea, the waters of the sea will flow and will become fresh. ^{[o] 9} It will be that every living creature that swarms will live wherever the rivers go. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because this water goes there and makes the salt water fresh. So everything will be healed and live wherever the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand by it; from En-gedi to En-eglaim, it will be a place for spreading of nets. Their fish will be of many different kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea, a huge quantity. ¹¹ Its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be set aside for salt. ¹² On the river, on its bank, on this side and that side, will grow every kind of tree for food. Its leaf will not wither; its fruit will not fail; it will bear new fruit every month, because its water flows out from the Sanctuary. Its fruit will be for food and its leaf will be for healing.”