Bible in 90 Days

The Land of Israel Will Be Rebuilt

36 “Son of man,^[a] speak to the mountains of Israel for me. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord! ² Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘The enemy said bad things against you. They said, Hurray! Now the ancient mountains^[b] will be ours!’

³ “So speak to the mountains of Israel for me. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘The enemy destroyed your cities and attacked you from every direction. They did this so that you would belong to the other nations. Then people talked and whispered about you.’”

⁴ So, mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, hills, streams, valleys, empty ruins, and abandoned cities that have been looted and laughed at by the other nations around them. ⁵ The Lord God says, “I swear, I will let my strong feelings speak for me! I will let Edom and the other nations feel my anger. They took my land for themselves. They really had a good time when they showed how much they hated this land. They took the land for themselves, just so they could destroy it.”

⁶ “So say these things about the land of Israel. Speak to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams, and to the valleys. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I will let my strong feelings and anger speak for me, because you had to suffer the insults from those nations.’”

⁷ So this is what the Lord God says: “I am the one making this promise! I swear that the nations around you will have to suffer for those insults.

⁸ “But mountains of Israel, you will grow new trees and produce fruit for my people Israel. My people will soon come back. ⁹ I am with you, and I will help you. People will till your soil and plant seeds in you. ¹⁰ There will be many people living on you. The whole family of Israel—all of them—will live there. The cities will have people living in them. The destroyed places will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will give you many people and animals, and they will grow and have many children. I will bring people to live on you as in the past. I will make it better for you than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² Yes, I will lead many people—my people, Israel—to your land. You will be their property, and you will not take away their children again.”

¹³ This is what the Lord God says: “Land of Israel, people say bad things to you. They say you destroyed your people. They say you took the children away from your people. ¹⁴ But you will not destroy people anymore or take away their children again.” This is what the Lord God said. ¹⁵ “I will not let those other nations insult you anymore. You will not be hurt by them anymore. You will not take the children away from your people again.” This is what the Lord God said.

The Lord Will Protect His Name

¹⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ¹⁷ “Son of man, the family of Israel lived in their own country, but they made that land filthy by the bad things they did. To me, they were like a woman who becomes unclean because of her monthly time of bleeding. ¹⁸ They spilled blood on the ground when they murdered people in the land. They made the land filthy with their idols, so I showed them how angry I was. ¹⁹ I scattered them among the nations and spread them through all the lands. I gave them the punishment they deserved for the bad things they did. ²⁰ But even in those other nations, they ruined my good name. How? Those nations said, ‘These are the Lord’s people, but they left his land.’

²¹ “The people of Israel ruined my holy name wherever they went, and I felt sorry for my name. ²² So tell the family of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Family of Israel, you ruined my holy name in the places where you went. I am going to do something to stop this. I will not do it for your sake, Israel. I will do it for my holy name. ²³ I will show the nations how holy my great name really is. You ruined my good name in those nations! But I will show you that I am holy. I will make you respect my name, and then those nations will know that I am the Lord.’” This is what the Lord God said.

²⁴ “I will take you out of those nations, gather you together, and bring you back to your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle pure water on you and make you pure. I will wash away all your filth, the filth from those nasty idols, and I will make you pure. ²⁶ I will also put a new spirit in you to change your way of thinking. I will take out the heart of stone from your body and give you a tender, human heart. ²⁷ I will put my Spirit inside you^[c] and change you so that you will obey my laws. You will carefully obey my commands. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Also, I will save you and keep you from becoming unclean. I will command the grain to grow. I will not bring a famine against you. ³⁰ I will give you large crops of fruit from your trees and the harvest from your fields so that you will never again feel the shame of being hungry in a foreign country. ³¹ You will remember the bad things you did. You will remember that those things were not good. Then you will hate yourselves because of your sins and the terrible things you did.”

³² The Lord God says, “I want you to remember this: I am not doing these things for your good! I am doing them for my good name. Family of Israel, you should be ashamed and embarrassed about the way you lived!”

³³ This is what the Lord God says: “On the day that I wash away your sins, I will bring people back to your cities. The ruined cities will be rebuilt. ³⁴ People will begin again to work the land so when other people pass by they will not see ruins anymore. ³⁵ They will say, ‘In the past, this land was ruined, but now it is like the Garden of Eden. The cities were destroyed. They were ruined and empty, but now they are protected, and there are people living in them.’

³⁶ “Then the nations that are still around you will know I am the Lord and that I rebuilt those places. I planted things in this land that was empty. I am the Lord. I said this, and I will make them happen!”

³⁷ This is what the Lord God says: “I will also let the family of Israel come to me and ask me to do these things for them. I will make them grow and become many people. They will be like flocks of sheep. ³⁸ During the special festivals, Jerusalem was filled with flocks of sheep and goats that had been made holy. In the same way the cities and ruined places will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Vision of the Dry Bones

37 The Lord’s power came on me. The Spirit^[d] of the Lord carried me out of the city and put me down in the middle of the valley.^[e] The valley was full of dead men’s bones. ² There were many bones lying on the ground in the valley. The Lord made me walk all around among the bones. I saw the bones were very dry.

³ Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man,^[f] can these bones come to life?”

I answered, “Lord God, only you know the answer to that question.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Speak to these bones for me. Tell them, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Lord God says to you: I will cause breath^[g] to come into you, and you will come to life! ⁶ I will put sinew and muscles on you, and I will cover you with skin. Then I will put breath in you, and you will come back to life! Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I spoke to the bones for the Lord, as he said. I was still speaking, when I heard the loud noise. The bones began to rattle, and bone joined together with bone! ⁸ There before my eyes, I saw sinew and muscles begin to cover the bones. Skin began to cover them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “Speak to the wind^[h] for me. Son of man, speak to the wind for me. Tell the wind that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Wind, come from every direction and breathe air into these dead bodies! Breathe into them and they will come to life again!’”

¹⁰ So I spoke to the wind for the Lord, as he said, and the breath came into the dead bodies. They came to life and stood up. There were many men—a very large army!

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are like the whole family of Israel. The people of Israel say, ‘Our bones have dried up;^[i] our hope is gone. We have been completely destroyed!’ ¹² So speak to them for me. Tell them this is what the Lord God says: ‘My people, I will open your graves and bring you up out of them! Then I will bring you to the land of Israel. ¹³ My people, I will open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, and then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit^[j] in you, and you will come to life again. Then I will lead you back to your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. You will know that I said this and that I made it happen.’” This is what the Lord said.

Judah and Israel to Become One Again

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me again. He said, ¹⁶ “Son of man, get one stick and write this message on it: ‘This stick belongs to Judah and his friends,^[k] the people of Israel.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘This stick of Ephraim belongs to Joseph and his friends, the people of Israel.’ ¹⁷ Then join the two sticks together. In your hand, they will be one stick.

¹⁸ “Your people will ask you to explain what that means. ¹⁹ Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and his friends, the people of Israel. Then I will put that stick with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick. In my hand, they will become one stick!’

²⁰ “Take the sticks that you wrote on and hold them in front of you. ²¹ Tell the people that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will gather them from all around and bring them back to their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in their land among the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over them all. They will no longer be two nations. They will not be split into two kingdoms anymore. ²³ And they will no longer continue to make themselves filthy with their idols and horrible statues or with any of their other crimes. Instead, I will save them from all the places where they have sinned, and I will wash them and make them pure. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “‘And my servant David will be the king over them. There will be only one shepherd over all of them. They will live by my rules and obey my laws. They will do the things I tell them. ²⁵ They will live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob. Your ancestors lived in that place, and my people will live there. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever. My servant David will be their leader forever. ²⁶ And I will make a peace agreement with them. This agreement will continue forever. I agree to give them their land. I agree to make them numerous and to put my holy place among them forever. ²⁷ My Holy Tent will be with them. Yes, I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁸ The other nations will know that I am the Lord, and they will know that I make Israel my special people by putting my holy place there among them forever.’”

The Message Against Gog

38 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ² “Son of man,^[l] look toward Gog in the land of Magog. He is the most important leader of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Speak for me against Gog. ³ Tell him that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Gog, you are the most important leader of the nations of Meshech and Tubal, but I am against you. ⁴ I will capture you and bring you back. I will bring back all the men in your army, all the horses, and horse soldiers. I will put hooks in your mouths, and I will bring all of you back. All the soldiers will be wearing their uniforms with all their shields and swords. ⁵ Soldiers from Persia, Ethiopia, and Put will be with them. They will all be wearing their shields and helmets. ⁶ There will also be Gomer with all its groups of soldiers, and there will be the nation of Togarmah^[m] from the far north with all its groups of soldiers. There will be many people in that parade of prisoners.

⁷ “‘Be prepared. Yes, prepare yourself and the armies that have joined with you. You must watch and be ready. ⁸ After a long time you will be called for duty. In the later years you will come into the land that has been healed from war. The people in that land were gathered from many nations and brought back to the mountains of Israel. In the past, the mountains of Israel had been destroyed again and again. But these people will have come back from those other nations. They all will have lived in safety. ⁹ But you will come to attack them. You will come like a storm. You will come like a thundercloud covering the land. You and all your groups of soldiers from many nations will come to attack them.’”

¹⁰ This is what the Lord God says: “At that time an idea will come into your mind. You will begin to make an evil plan. ¹¹ You will say, ‘I will go attack the country that has towns without walls. The people there live in peace and think they are safe. There are no walls around the cities to protect them. They don’t have any locks on their gates—they don’t even have gates! ¹² I will defeat them and take all their valuable things away from them. I will fight against the places that were destroyed but now have people living in them. I will fight against the people who were gathered from the nations. Now they have cattle and property. They live at the crossroads of the world.^[n]’

¹³ “Sheba, Dedan, and merchants of Tarshish and all the cities they trade with will ask you, ‘Did you come to capture valuable things? Did you bring your groups of soldiers together to grab the good things and to carry away silver, gold, cattle, and property? Did you come to take all those valuable things?’

¹⁴ “Son of man, speak to Gog for me. Tell him that this is what the Lord God says: ‘You will come to attack my people while they are living in peace and safety. ¹⁵ You will come from your place out of the far north, and you will bring many people with you. All of them will ride on horses. You will be a large and a powerful army. ¹⁶ You will come to fight against my people Israel. You will be like a thundercloud covering the land. When that time comes, I will bring you to fight against my land. Then, Gog, the nations will learn how powerful I am! They will learn to respect me and know that I am holy. They will see what I will do to you!’”

¹⁷ This is what the Lord God says: “At that time people will remember that I spoke about you in the past. They will remember that I used my servants, the prophets of Israel. They will remember that the prophets of Israel spoke for me in the past and said that I would bring you to fight against them.”

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “At that time Gog will come to fight against the land of Israel. I will show my anger. ¹⁹ In my anger and strong emotions, I make this promise: I promise that there will be a strong earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ At that time all living things will shake with fear. The fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the wild animals in the fields, and all the little creatures crawling on the ground will shake with fear. The mountains will fall down and the cliffs will break apart. Every wall will fall to the ground!”

²¹ The Lord God says, “On the mountains of Israel, I will call for every kind of terror against^[o] Gog. His soldiers will be so afraid that they will attack each other and kill each other with their swords. ²² I will punish Gog with diseases and death. I will cause hailstones, fire, and sulfur to rain down on Gog and his groups of soldiers from many nations. ²³ Then I will show how great I am. I will prove that I am holy. Many nations will see me do these things, and they will learn who I am. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

The Death of Gog and His Army

39 “Son of man,^[p] speak against Gog for me. Tell him that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Gog, you are the most important leader of the countries Meshech and Tubal, but I am against you. ² I will capture you and bring you back. I will bring you from the far north. I will bring you to fight against the mountains of Israel. ³ But I will knock your bow from your left hand and your arrows from your right hand. ⁴ You will be killed on the mountains of Israel. You, your groups of soldiers, and all the other nations with you will be killed in the battle. I will give you as food to every kind of bird that eats meat and to all the wild animals. ⁵ You will not enter the city. You will be killed out in the open fields. I have spoken!’” This is what the Lord God said.

⁶ “I will send fire against Magog and those people living along the coast. They think they are safe, but they will know that I am the Lord. ⁷ And I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I will not let people ruin my holy name anymore. The nations will know that I am the Lord. They will know that I am the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ That time is coming! It will happen!” This is what the Lord God said. “That is the day I am talking about.

⁹ “At that time people living in the cities of Israel will go out to the fields. They will collect the enemy’s weapons and burn them. They will burn all the shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears. They will use the weapons as firewood for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not have to gather wood from the fields or chop firewood from the forests because they will use the weapons as firewood. They will take the valuable things from the soldiers who wanted to steal from them. They will take the good things from the soldiers who took good things from them.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹¹ “At that time I will choose a place in Israel to bury Gog. He will be buried in the Valley of the Travelers,^[q] east of the Dead Sea. It will block the road for travelers, because Gog and all his army will be buried in that place. People will call it ‘The Valley of Gog’s Army.’ ¹² It will take seven months for the family of Israel to bury them. They must do this to make the land pure. ¹³ The common people will bury the enemy soldiers, and the people will become famous on the day that I bring honor to myself.” The Lord God said those things.

¹⁴ “Workers will be given a full-time job burying the dead soldiers to make the land pure. The workers will work for seven months. They will go around looking for dead bodies. ¹⁵ They will go around looking, and if anyone sees a bone, a marker will be put up by it. The sign will stay there until the gravediggers come and bury the bone in the Valley of Gog’s Army. ¹⁶ The city of the dead will be named Hamonah.^[r] In this way they will make the country pure.”

¹⁷ This is what the Lord God said: “Son of man, speak to all the birds and wild animals for me. Tell them, ‘Come here! Come here! Gather around. Come eat this sacrifice I am preparing for you. There will be a very big sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. Come, eat the meat and drink the blood. ¹⁸ You will eat the meat from the bodies of powerful soldiers and drink the blood from world leaders. They will be like rams, lambs, goats, and fat bulls from Bashan. ¹⁹ You can eat all the fat you want and drink blood until you are full. You will eat and drink from my sacrifice, which I will kill for you. ²⁰ You will have plenty of meat to eat at my table. There will be horses and chariot drivers, powerful soldiers, and all the other fighting men.’” This is what the Lord God said.

²¹ “I will let the other nations see what I have done, and they will begin to respect me! They will see my power that I used against the enemy. ²² Then from that day on, the family of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. ²³ And the nations will know why the family of Israel was carried away as prisoners to other countries. They will learn that my people turned against me, so I turned away from them. I let their enemies defeat them, so my people were killed in battle. ²⁴ They sinned and made themselves filthy, so I punished them for the things they did. I turned away from them and refused to help them.”

²⁵ So this is what the Lord God says: “Now I will bring the family of Jacob back from captivity. I will have mercy on the whole family of Israel. I will show my strong feelings for my holy name. ²⁶ The people will forget their shame and all the times they turned against me. They will live in safety on their own land. No one will make them afraid. ²⁷ I will bring my people back from other countries. I will gather them from the lands of their enemies. Then many nations will see how holy I am. ²⁸ They will know that I am the Lord their God. That is because I made them leave their homes and go as prisoners to other countries. But then I gathered them together again and brought them back to their own land. ²⁹ I will pour out my Spirit on the family of Israel, and I will never turn away from my people again.” This is what the Lord God said.

The New Temple

40 In the twenty-fifth year after we were taken away into captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month,^[s] the Lord’s power came on me. This was fourteen years after the Babylonians took Jerusalem. On that day the Lord took me there in a vision.

² In a vision, God carried me to the land of Israel. He put me down near a very high mountain. On the mountain in front of me was a building that looked like a city.^{[t] 3} He took me to that place. There was a man there who looked like polished bronze. He had a cloth tape measure and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing by the gate. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man,^[u] use your eyes and ears. Look at these things and listen to me. Pay attention to everything that I show you, because you have been brought here so that I can show you these things. You must tell the family of Israel all that you see.”

⁵ I saw a wall that went all the way around the outside of the Temple. In the man’s hand there was a ruler for measuring things. It was 6 cubits^[v] long using the long measurement,^[w] so the man measured the thickness of the wall. It was one ruler^[x] thick. He measured the height of the wall. It was one ruler tall.

⁶ Then the man went to the east gate. He walked up its steps and measured the opening for the gate. It was one ruler wide. ⁷ The guardrooms were one ruler long and one ruler wide. The walls between the rooms were 5 cubits^[y] thick. The opening by the porch at the end of the gateway that faced the Temple was also one ruler wide. ⁸ Then he measured the porch. ⁹ It was 8 cubits^[z] long. He measured the walls on either side of the gate. Each side wall was 2 cubits^[aa] wide. The porch was at the end of the gateway that faced the Temple. ¹⁰ There were three little guardrooms on each side of the gateway. All these rooms and their side walls measured the same. ¹¹ The man measured the entrance to the gateway. It was 10 cubits^[ab] wide and 13 cubits^[ac] long. ¹² There was a low wall in front of each room. That wall was 1 cubit^[ad] tall and 1 cubit thick. The rooms were square. Each wall was 6 cubits long.

¹³ The man measured the gateway from the outside edge of the roof of one room to the outside edge of the roof of the opposite room. It was 25 cubits.^[ae] Each door was directly opposite the other door. ^14 [af] He measured the faces of all the side walls, including the side walls on either side of the porch at the courtyard. The total was 60 cubits.^{[ag] 15} From the inside edge of the outer gate to the far end of the porch was 50 cubits.^{[ah] 16} There were small windows^[ai] above all the guardrooms, the side walls, and the porch. The wide part of the windows faced into the gateway. There were carvings of palm trees on the walls that were on either side of the gateway.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man led me into the outer courtyard. I saw thirty rooms and a pavement that went all the way around the courtyard. The rooms were along the wall and faced in toward the pavement. ¹⁸ The pavement was as wide as the gates were long. The pavement reached to the inside end of the gateway. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ The man measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner courtyard. It was 100 cubits^[aj] on the east side as well as on the north side.

²⁰ Then the man measured the length and width of the north gate that was in the wall surrounding the outer courtyard. ²¹ This gateway, its three rooms on each side, and its porch all measured the same as the first gate. The gateway was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²² Its windows, its porch, and its carvings of palm trees measured the same as the east gate. On the outside, there were seven steps leading up to the gate. Its porch was at the inside end of the gateway. ²³ Across the courtyard from the north gate, there was a gate to the inner courtyard. It was like the gate on the east. The man measured from the gate on the inner wall to the gate on the outer wall. It was 100 cubits from gate to gate.

²⁴ Then the man led me to the south wall. I saw a gate in the south wall. He measured its side walls and its porch. They measured the same as the other gates. ²⁵ The gateway and its porch had windows all around like the other gates. The gateway was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ²⁶ There were seven steps going up to this gate. Its porch was at the inside end of the gateway. It had carvings of palm trees on the walls that were on either side of the gateway. ²⁷ A gate was on the south side of the inner courtyard. The man measured from the gate on the inner wall to the gate on the outer wall. It was 100 cubits from gate to gate.

The Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then the man led me through the south gate into the inner courtyard. He measured this gate. This gateway measured the same as the other gates to the inner courtyard. ²⁹ Its rooms, side walls, and porch also measured the same as the other gates. There were windows all around the gateway and its porch. The gateway was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁰ The porch was 25 cubits wide and 5 cubits long. ³¹ And its porch was at the end of the gateway next to the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on the walls on either side of the gateway. There were eight steps leading up to the gate.

³² Then the man led me into the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the gate. It measured the same as the other gates. ³³ Its rooms, side walls, and porch also measured the same as the other gates. There were windows all around the gateway and its porch. The gateway was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁴ And its porch was at the end of the gateway next to the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on the walls on either side of the gateway. There were eight steps leading up to the gate.

³⁵ Then the man led me to the north gate. He measured it, and it measured the same as the other gates. ³⁶ Its rooms, side walls, and porch also measured the same as the other gates. There were windows all around the gateway and its porch. The gateway was 50 cubits long and 25 cubits wide. ³⁷ And its porch^[ak] was at the end of the gateway next to the outer courtyard. Carvings of palm trees were on the walls on either side of the gateway. There were eight steps leading up to the gate.

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ There was also a doorway in the side walls of the gates. That doorway led into a room where the priests washed the sacrifices. ³⁹ There were two tables on each side of the door of this porch. The animals for the burnt offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings were killed on these tables. ⁴⁰ There were also two tables on each side of the door on the outside wall of this porch. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on the inside wall and four tables on the outside wall—eight tables that the priests used when they killed the animals for sacrifices. ⁴² There were also four tables made from cut stone for the burnt offerings. These tables were 1 1/2 cubits^[al] long, 1 1/2 cubits wide, and 1 cubit high. On these tables, the priests put their tools that they used to kill the animals for the burnt offerings and other sacrifices. ⁴³ There were meat hooks three inches long^[am] on all the walls in this area. The meat of the offerings was put on the tables.

The Priests’ Rooms

⁴⁴ There were two rooms^[an] in the inner courtyard. One was by the north gate facing south. The other room was by the south^[ao] gate facing north. ⁴⁵ The man said to me, “The room that looks to the south is for the priests who are on duty and serving in the Temple area. ⁴⁶ But the room that looks to the north is for the priests who are on duty and serving at the altar. The priests are from the tribe of Levi. But the priests in this second group are the descendants of Zadok. They are the only people who can carry the sacrifices to the altar to serve the Lord.^[ap]”

⁴⁷ The man measured the inner courtyard. The courtyard was a perfect square. It was 100 cubits long and 100 cubits wide. The altar was in front of the Temple.

The Porch of the Temple

⁴⁸ Then the man led me to the porch of the Temple and measured the walls on either side of the porch. Each side wall was 5 cubits thick and 3 cubits^[aq] wide. The opening between them was 14 cubits.^{[ar] 49} The porch was 20 cubits^[as] wide and 12 cubits^[at] long.^[au] Ten steps went up to the porch. There were two columns for the walls on either side of the porch—one at each wall.

The Holy Place of the Temple

41 Then the man led me into the Holy Place. He measured the walls on either side of the room. The side walls were 6 cubits^[av] thick on each side. ² The door was 10 cubits^[aw] wide. The sides of the doorway were 5 cubits^[ax] on each side. He measured that room. It was 40 cubits^[ay] long and 20 cubits wide.

The Most Holy Place in the Temple

³ Then the man went into the last room. He measured the walls on either side of the doorway. Each side wall was 2 cubits^[az] thick and 7 cubits^[ba] wide. The doorway was 6 cubits wide. ⁴ Then he measured the length of the room. It was 20 cubits long and 20 cubits wide. He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

Other Rooms Around the Temple

⁵ Then the man measured the wall of the Temple. It was 6 cubits thick. There were side rooms all around the Temple. They were 4 cubits^[bb] wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three different floors, one above the other. There were 30 rooms on each floor. The wall of the Temple was built with ledges. The side rooms rested on these ledges but were not connected to the Temple wall itself. ⁷ Each floor of the side rooms around the Temple was wider than the floor below. The walls of the rooms around the Temple became narrower the higher they went so that the rooms on the top floors were wider. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the highest floor through the middle floor.

⁸ I also saw that the Temple had a raised base all the way around it. It was the foundation for the side rooms, and it was a full ruler^[bc] high. ⁹ The outer wall of the side rooms was 5 cubits thick. There was an open area between the side rooms of the Temple ¹⁰ and the priests’ rooms. It was 20 cubits^[bd] wide and went all the way around the Temple. ¹¹ The doors of the side rooms opened onto the raised base. There was one entrance on the north side and one entrance on the south side. The raised base was 5 cubits wide all around.

¹² There was a building in this restricted area west of the Temple. The building was 70 cubits^[be] wide and 90 cubits^[bf] long. The wall of the building was 5 cubits thick all around. ¹³ Then the man measured the Temple. The Temple was 100 cubits^[bg] long. The restricted area, including the building and its walls, was also 100 cubits long. ¹⁴ The restricted area on the east side, in front of the Temple, was 100 cubits long.

¹⁵ The man measured the length of the building in the restricted area at the rear of the Temple. It was 100 cubits from one wall to the other wall.

The Most Holy Place, the Holy Place, and the porch by the courtyard ¹⁶ had wood paneling on all the walls. All the windows and doors had wood trim around them. By the doorway, the Temple had wood paneling from the floor up to the windows and up to the part of the wall ¹⁷ over the doorway.

On all the walls in the inner room and the outer room of the Temple were carvings ¹⁸ of Cherub angels and palm trees. A palm tree was between each Cherub angel. Every Cherub angel had two faces. ¹⁹ One face was a man’s face looking toward the palm tree on one side. The other face was a lion’s face looking toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all around on the Temple. ²⁰ From the floor to the area above the door, Cherub angels and palm trees were carved on all walls of the Holy Place.

²¹ The walls on either side of the Holy Place were square. In front of the Most Holy Place, there was something that looked like ²² an altar made from wood. It was 3 cubits^[bh] high and 2 cubits long. Its corners, its base, and its sides were wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”

²³ Both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place had a double door. ²⁴ Each of the doors was made from two smaller doors. Each door was really two swinging doors. ²⁵ Also Cherub angels and palm trees were carved on the doors of the Holy Place. They were like those carved on the walls. There was a wood roof over the front of the porch. ²⁶ There were windows with frames around them and palm trees on the walls on both sides of the porch, on the roof over the porch, and on the rooms around the Temple.

The Priests’ Room

42 Then the man led me through the north gate out into the outer courtyard. He led me to a building with many rooms that was west of the restricted area and the building on the north side. ² This building was 100 cubits^[bi] long and 50 cubits^[bj] wide. People entered it from the courtyard on the north side. ³ The building was three stories tall and had balconies. The 20-cubit^[bk] inner courtyard was between the building and the Temple. On the other side, the rooms faced the pavement of the outer courtyard. ⁴ There was a path 10 cubits^[bl] wide and 100 cubits long running along the south side of the building, even though the entrance was on the north side. ^5-6 Since this building was three stories tall and did not have columns like those columns of the outer courtyards, the top rooms were farther back than the rooms on the middle and bottom floors. The top floor was narrower than the middle floor, which was narrower than the bottom floor because the balconies used this space. ⁷ There was a wall outside that was parallel to the rooms and ran along the outer courtyard. It ran in front of the rooms for 50 cubits. ⁸ The row of rooms that ran along the outer courtyard was 50 cubits long, although the total length of the building, as on the Temple side, was 100 cubits long. ⁹ The entrance was below these rooms at the east end of the building so that people could enter from the outer courtyard. ¹⁰ The entrance was at the start of the wall beside the courtyard.

There were rooms on the south side, by the restricted area and the other building. These rooms had a ¹¹ path in front of them. They were like the rooms on the north side. They had the same length and width and the same kind of doors. ¹² The entrance to the lower rooms was at the east end of the building so that people could enter from the open end of the path by the wall.

¹³ The man said to me, “The north rooms and south rooms across from the restricted area are holy. These rooms are for the priests who offer the sacrifices to the Lord. That is where the priests will put the most holy offerings and eat them. That is because that place is holy. The most holy offerings are the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. ¹⁴ The priests who enter the holy area must leave their serving clothes in that holy place before they go out into the outer courtyard, because these clothes are holy. If a priest wants to go to the part of the Temple where the other people are, he must go to those rooms and put on other clothes.”

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁵ The man had finished measuring inside the Temple area. Then he brought me out through the east gate and measured all around that area. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the ruler. It was 500 cubits^[bm] long. ¹⁷ He measured the north side. It was 500 cubits long. ¹⁸ He measured the south side. It was 500 cubits long. ¹⁹ He went around to the west side and measured it. It was 500 cubits long. ²⁰ He measured the four walls that went all the way around the Temple. The wall was 500 cubits long and 500 cubits wide. It separated the holy area from the area that is not holy.

The Lord Will Live Among His People

43 The man led me to the east gate. ² There the Glory of the God of Israel came from the east. God’s voice was loud like the sound of the sea. The ground was bright with the light from the Glory of God. ³ The vision that I saw was like the vision I saw by the Kebar Canal. I bowed with my face to the ground. ⁴ The Glory of the Lord came into the Temple through the east gate.

⁵ Then the Spirit^[bn] picked me up and brought me into the inner courtyard. The Glory of the Lord filled the Temple. ⁶ I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple. The man was still standing beside me. ⁷ The voice from the Temple said to me, “Son of man,^[bo] this is the place with my throne and footstool. I will live in this place among the people of Israel forever. The family of Israel will not ruin my holy name again. The kings and their people will not bring shame to my name by committing sexual sins^[bp] or by burying the dead bodies of their kings in this place. ⁸ They will not bring shame to my name by putting their threshold next to my threshold, and their doorposts next to my doorposts. In the past, only a wall separated them from me. So they brought shame to my name every time they sinned and did those terrible things. That is why I became angry and destroyed them. ⁹ Now let them take their sexual sins and the dead bodies of their kings far away from me. Then I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “Now, son of man, tell the family of Israel about the Temple. Then, when they learn about the plans for the Temple, they will be ashamed of their sins. ¹¹ And they will be ashamed of all the bad things they have done. Let them know the design of the Temple. Let them know how it should be built, where the entrances and exits are, and all the designs on it. Teach them about all its rules and all its laws. Write these things for everyone to see so that they can obey all the laws and rules for the Temple. ¹² This is the law of the Temple: The whole area surrounding it on the top of the mountain is most holy. This is the law of the Temple.

The Altar

¹³ “These are the measurements of the altar in cubits using the long measurement^[bq]: There was a gutter all the way around the base of the altar. It was 1 cubit^[br] deep, and each side was 1 cubit wide. There was a rim around the edge 1 span^[bs] high. This is how tall the altar was: ¹⁴ From the ground to the lower ledge, the base measured 2 cubits.^[bt] It was 1 cubit wide. It measured 4 cubits^[bu] from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge. It was 2 cubits wide. ¹⁵ The place for the fire on the altar was 4 cubits high. The four corners were shaped like horns. ¹⁶ The place for the fire on the altar was 12 cubits^[bv] long by 12 cubits wide. It was perfectly square. ¹⁷ The ledge was also square, 14 cubits^[bw] long by 14 cubits wide. The border around it was 1/2 cubit^[bx] wide. (The gutter around the base was 1 cubit wide.) The steps going up to the altar were on the east side.”

¹⁸ Then the man said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: ‘These are the rules for the altar: At the time you build the altar, use these rules to offer burnt offerings and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ You will give a young bull as a sin offering to the men from Zadok’s family. These men are the priests from the tribe of Levi. They are the men who serve me by bringing the offerings to me.’” This is what the Lord God said. ²⁰ “You will take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the altar’s four horns, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it. In this way you will make the altar pure. ²¹ Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the proper place in the Temple area, outside the Temple building.

²² “On the second day you will offer a male goat that has nothing wrong with it. It will be for a sin offering. The priests will make the altar pure the same way they made it pure with the bull. ²³ When you have finished making the altar pure, you will offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it and a ram from the flock that has nothing wrong with it. ²⁴ Then you will offer them before the Lord. The priests will sprinkle salt on them. Then they will offer the bull and ram up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ You will prepare a goat every day for seven days for a sin offering. Also, you will prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock. These animals must have nothing wrong with them. ²⁶ For seven days, the priests will make the altar pure and ready for use in worshiping God. ²⁷ On the eighth day, and every day after that, the priests must offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you.” This is what the Lord God said.

The Outer Gate

44 Then the man brought me back to the east gate of the Temple area. We were outside the gate and the gate was shut. ² The Lord said to me, “This gate will stay shut. It will not be opened. No one will enter through it, because the Lord of Israel has entered through it. So it must stay shut. ³ Only the ruler of the people may sit at this gate when he eats a meal with the Lord. He must enter through the porch of the gateway and go out the same way.”

The Holiness of the Temple

⁴ Then the man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw the Glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s Temple. I bowed with my face touching the ground. ⁵ The Lord said to me, “Son of man,^[by] look very carefully! Use your eyes and ears. Look at these things, and listen very carefully to everything that I tell you about all the rules and laws about the Lord’s Temple. Look carefully at the entrances to the Temple and at all the exits from the holy place. ⁶ Then give this message to all the people of Israel who refused to obey me. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God said: Family of Israel, I have had enough of the terrible things you have done! ⁷ You brought foreigners into my Temple who are not circumcised and have not given themselves to me.^[bz] In this way you made my Temple unclean. You broke our agreement and did terrible things, and then you gave me the offerings of bread, the fat, and the blood. But this only made my Temple unclean. ⁸ You did not take care of my holy things. No, you let foreigners have responsibility of my holy place!’”

⁹ This is what the Lord God says: “A foreigner who is not truly circumcised must not come into my Temple—not even a foreigner living permanently among the people of Israel. He must be circumcised, and he must give himself completely to me before he can come into my Temple. ¹⁰ In the past, the Levites left me when Israel turned away from me. Israel left me to follow their idols. The Levites will be punished for their sin. ¹¹ The Levites were chosen to serve in my holy place. They guarded the gates of the Temple. They served in the Temple. They killed the animals for the sacrifices and burnt offerings for the people. They were chosen to help the people and to serve them. ¹² But the Levites helped the people sin against me! They helped the people worship their idols! So I am making this promise against them: ‘They will be punished for their sin.’” This is what the Lord God said.

¹³ “So the Levites will not bring offerings to me like the priests. They will not come near any of my holy things or the things that are most holy. They must carry their shame because of the terrible things that they did. ¹⁴ But I will let them take care of the Temple. They will work in the Temple and do the things that must be done in it.

¹⁵ “The priests are all from the tribe of Levi. But only priests from Zadok’s family took care of my holy place when the people of Israel turned away from me. So only Zadok’s descendants will bring offerings to me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood from the animals they sacrifice.” This is what the Lord God said! ¹⁶ “They will enter my holy place and come near my table to serve me. They will take care of the things I gave them. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they will wear linen clothes. They will not wear wool while they serve at the gates of the inner courtyard and in the Temple. ¹⁸ They will wear linen turbans on their heads, and they will wear linen underwear. They will not wear anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ Before they go out into the outer courtyard to the people, they will take off the clothes they wear while serving me. They will put these clothes away in the holy rooms. Then they will put on other clothes. In this way they will not let people touch those holy clothes.

²⁰ “These priests will not shave their heads or let their hair grow long.^[ca] The priests may only trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ None of the priests may drink wine when they go into the inner courtyard. ²² The priests must not marry a widow or a divorced woman. No, they must only marry a virgin from the family of Israel or a woman whose dead husband was a priest.

²³ “Also, the priests must teach my people the difference between things that are holy and things that are not holy. They must help my people know what is clean and what is unclean. ²⁴ The priests will be the judges in court. They will follow my laws when they judge people. They will obey my laws and my rules at all my special feasts. They will respect my special days of rest and keep them holy. ²⁵ They will not go near a dead person to make themselves unclean. But they may make themselves unclean if the dead person is their father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a sister who is not married. ²⁶ After the priest has been made clean, he must wait seven days. ²⁷ Then he can go back into the holy place. But on the day he goes into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must offer a sin offering for himself.” This is what the Lord God said.

²⁸ “About the land that will belong to the Levites: I am their property. You will not give the Levites any land in Israel. I am their share in Israel. ²⁹ They will have the right to eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Also, anything in Israel that is a special gift to God^[cb] will belong to them. ³⁰ And the first part of the harvest from every kind of crop will be for the priests. You will also give the priests the first part of your flour. This will bring blessings to your house. ³¹ The priests must not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by a wild animal.

The Division of the Land for Holy Use

45 “You will divide the land for the Israelite tribes by throwing lots. At that time you will separate out a part of the land. It will be a holy part for the Lord. The land will be 25,000 cubits^[cc] long and 20,000 cubits^[cd] wide.^[ce] All this land will be holy. ² A square area that is 500 cubits^[cf] long on each side will be for the Temple. There will be an open space around the Temple that is 50 cubits^[cg] wide. ³ In the holy area you will measure 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits^[ch] wide. The Temple will be in this area. The Temple area will be the Most Holy Place.

⁴ “This holy part of the land will be for the priests, the servants of the Temple. This is where they approach the Lord to serve him. It will be a place for the priests’ houses and a place for the Temple. ⁵ Another area, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, will be for the Levites who serve in the Temple. This land will also become cities for the Levites.

⁶ “And you will give the city an area that is 5000 cubits^[ci] wide and 25,000 cubits long. It will be along the side of the holy area. It will be for all the family of Israel. ⁷ The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy area and the land belonging to the city. It will be next to the holy area and the area belonging to the city. It will be the same width as the land that belongs to a tribe. It will go all the way from the west border to the east border. ⁸ This land will be the ruler’s property in Israel. So he will not need to make life hard for my people anymore. But they will give the land to the Israelites for their tribes.”

⁹ This is what the Lord God said: “Enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop being cruel and stealing things from people! Be fair and do what is right! Stop forcing my people out from their homes!” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁰ “Stop cheating people. Use accurate scales and measures! ¹¹ The ephah and the bath must be the same size: A bath and an ephah must both equal 1/10 homer.^[cj] Those measures will be based on the homer. ¹² A shekel^[ck] must equal 20 gerahs. A mina must equal 60 shekels. It must be equal to 20 shekels plus 25 shekels plus 15 shekels.

¹³ “This is a special offering that you must give:

“Those special offerings are for the grain offerings, for the burnt offerings, and for the fellowship offerings. These offerings are to remove the sins of the people.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁶ “Everyone in the country will give to this offering for the ruler of Israel. ¹⁷ But the ruler must give the things needed for the special holy days. The ruler must provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings for the feast days, for the New Moon, for the Sabbaths, and for all the other special meeting days of the family of Israel. He must give all the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings that are used to make the family of Israel pure.”

¹⁸ This is what the Lord God says: “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. You must use that bull to make the Temple pure. ¹⁹ The priest will take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate to the inner courtyard. ²⁰ You will do the same thing on the seventh day of that month for anyone who has sinned by mistake or without knowing it. So you will make the Temple pure.

Offerings During the Passover

²¹ “On the 14th day of the first month, you must celebrate the Passover. The Festival of Unleavened Bread begins at this time. It continues for seven days. ²² At that time the ruler will offer a bull for himself and for all the people of Israel. The bull will be for a sin offering. ²³ During the seven days of the festival, the ruler will offer seven bulls and seven rams that have nothing wrong with them. They will be burnt offerings to the Lord. The ruler will offer one bull on every day of the seven days of the festival, and he will offer a male goat every day for a sin offering. ²⁴ The ruler will give an ephah^[co] of barley as a grain offering with each bull, and an ephah of barley with each ram. He must give a hin^[cp] of oil for each ephah of grain. ²⁵ He must do the same thing for the seven days of the Festival of Shelters. This festival begins on the 15th day of the seventh month. These offerings will be the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil offering.”

The Ruler and the Festivals

46 This is what the Lord God says: “The east gate of the inner courtyard will be closed on the six working days. But it will be opened on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon. ² The ruler will go into the porch of that gate and stand by the gatepost. Then the priests will offer the ruler’s burnt offering and fellowship offerings. The ruler will worship at the opening of that gate and then go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ On the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon, the common people will also worship the Lord at that gate.

⁴ “The ruler will offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the Sabbath. He must provide six lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a ram that has nothing wrong with it. ⁵ He must give an ephah of grain offering with the ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, the ruler can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

⁶ “On the day of the New Moon he must offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. He will also offer six lambs and a ram that have nothing wrong with them. ⁷ The ruler must give an ephah of grain as an offering with the bull and an ephah of grain as an offering with the ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, he can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

⁸ “When the ruler goes in, he must enter at the porch of the east gate—and he must leave that same way.

⁹ “When the common people come to meet with the Lord at the special festivals, whoever enters through the north gate to worship will go out through the south gate, and whoever enters through the south gate will go out through the north gate. People must not return the same way they entered. Each person must go out straight ahead. ¹⁰ The ruler should be there among the people. When the people go in, the ruler will go in with them, and when they go out, the ruler will too.

¹¹ “At the festivals and other special meetings, an ephah of grain as an offering must be offered with each young bull, and an ephah of grain as an offering must be offered with each ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, the ruler can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

¹² “When the ruler gives a freewill offering to the Lord—it might be a burnt offering, a fellowship offering, or a freewill offering—the east gate will be opened for him. Then he will offer his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. After he leaves, the gate will be shut.

The Daily Offering

¹³ “Every day you will provide a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it. It will be for a burnt offering to the Lord. You will provide it every morning. ¹⁴ Also, you will offer a grain offering with the lamb every morning. You will give 1/6 ephah^[cq] of flour and 1/3 hin^[cr] of oil to make the fine flour moist. It will be the daily grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ So they will give the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning for a burnt offering forever.”

Laws of Inheritance for the Ruler

¹⁶ This is what the Lord God says: “If the ruler gives a gift from part of his land to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. It is their property. ¹⁷ But if the ruler gives a gift from part of his land to one of his slaves, the gift will belong to the slave only until the year of freedom.^[cs] Then the gift will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler’s sons will keep a gift of land from the ruler. ¹⁸ And the ruler will not take any of the people’s land or force them to leave their land. He must give some of his own land to his sons. In that way my people will not be forced to lose their land.”

The Special Kitchens

¹⁹ The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gate. He led me to the holy rooms for the priests on the north side. There I saw a place at the west end of the path. ²⁰ The man said to me, “This is where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and will bake the grain offering. Why? So they will not need to bring these offerings out into the outer courtyard. So they will not bring those holy things out where the common people are.”

²¹ Then the man led me out to the outer courtyard. He led me to the four corners of the courtyard. I saw smaller courtyards in each corner of the large courtyard. ²² There was a small, enclosed area in each of the four corners of the courtyard. Each small courtyard was 40 cubits^[ct] long and 30 cubits^[cu] wide. The four areas measured the same. ²³ There was a brick wall around each of the four small courtyards, and there were places built into the brick walls for cooking. ²⁴ The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve at the Temple cook the sacrifices for the people.”

The Water Flowing From the Temple

47 The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. I saw water coming out from under the east gate of the Temple. (The front of the Temple is on the east side.) The water flowed down from under the south end of the Temple and ran south of the altar. ² The man led me out through the north gate and then around the outside to the outer gate on the east side. The water was flowing out on the south side of the gate.

³ The man walked east with a tape measure in his hand. He measured 1000 cubits.^[cv] Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. The water was only ankle deep. ⁴ He measured another 1000 cubits. Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water came up to my knees. Then he measured another 1000 cubits and told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water was waist deep. ⁵ He measured another 1000 cubits, but there the water was too deep to cross. It had become a river. The water was deep enough to swim in. It was a river that was too deep to cross. ⁶ Then the man said to me, “Son of man,^[cw] did you pay close attention to the things you saw?”

Then the man led me back along the side of the river. ⁷ As I walked back along the side of the river, I saw many trees on both sides of the water. ⁸ He said to me, “This water flows east, down to the Arabah Valley. ⁹ This water flows into the Dead Sea so that the water in that sea becomes fresh and clean. There are many fish in this water, and all kinds of animals live where this river goes. ¹⁰ You can see fishermen standing by the river all the way from En Gedi to En Eglaim. You can see them throwing their fishing nets and catching many kinds of fish. There are as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the swamps and small marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves never will become dry and fall. The fruit will never stop growing on those trees. The trees will produce fruit every month, because the water for the trees comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be for food, and their leaves will be for healing.”