The Inner Temple

41 Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits¹ was the breadth of the jambs.² 2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,³ forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side⁴ of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 And he measured the length of the room, ^ztwenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, “This is the ^aMost Holy Place.”

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. 6 And the side chambers were in ^bthree stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets⁵ all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. 7 And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so ^cone went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. 8 I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full ^dreed of six long cubits. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple 10 and the other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.

12 The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

13 Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; 14 also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleries⁶ on either side, a hundred cubits.

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, 16 the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 17 to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.⁷ 18 It was carved of ^echerubim and ^fpalm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two ^gfaces: 19 a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. 20 From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.

21 The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.⁸ Its corners, its base,⁹ and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” 23 The nave and the Holy Place had each a ^hdouble door. 24 The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. 25 And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a ⁱcanopy¹⁰ of wood in front of the vestibule outside. 26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.

The Temple’s Chambers

42 Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. 2 The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits,¹ and the breadth fifty cubits. 3 Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery² against gallery in three stories. 4 And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long,³ and their doors were on the north. 5 Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. 6 For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones. 7 And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8 For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the nave⁴ were a hundred cubits long. 9 Below these chambers was an ^jentrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

10 In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south⁵ also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers 11 with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits⁶ and arrangements and doors, 12 as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.⁷

13 Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. 14 When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without ^klaying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on ^lother garments before they go near to that which is for the people.”

15 Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. 17 He measured the north side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. 18 He measured the south side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. 20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a ^mwall around it, 500 cubits long ⁿand 500 cubits broad, ^oto make a separation between the holy and the common.

The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

43 Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2 And behold, the ^pglory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was ^qlike the sound of many waters, ^rand the earth shone with his glory. 3 And the vision I saw was just like ^sthe vision that I had seen when he¹ came to destroy the city, and just like ^tthe vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And ^uI fell on my face. 4 As the glory of the Lord ^ventered the temple by the gate facing east, 5 ^wthe Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, ^xthe glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 While the ^yman was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, 7 and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel ^zforever. And the house of Israel shall no more ^adefile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies² of their kings at their high places,³ 8 by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 “As for you, son of man, ^bdescribe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down ^cin their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the ^dmountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 “These are the ^emeasurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being ^fa cubit and a handbreadth):⁴ its base shall be one cubit high⁵ and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span⁶ around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; 15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad. 17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

18 And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering ^gburnt offerings upon it and for ^hthrowing blood against it, 19 you shall give to the Levitical priests ⁱof the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, a bull from the herd for a ^jsin offering. 20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and ^kmake atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be ^lburned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area. 22 And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle ^msalt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 ⁿFor seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. 26 ^oSeven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.⁷ 27 And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will ^paccept you, declares the Lord God.”

The Gate for the Prince

44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, ^qhas entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the ^rprince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^sthe glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ^tI fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, ^umark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the ^ventrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6 And say to the ^wrebellious house,¹ to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^xenough of all your abominations, 7 in ^yadmitting foreigners, uncircumcised in ^zheart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You² have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 ^aAnd you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.³ 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall ^bstand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a ^cstumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

15 “But the Levitical priests, the ^dsons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^emy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen ^fundergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall ^gput off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they ^htransmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 ⁱThey shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 ^jNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 ^kThey shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They shall teach my people the ^ldifference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a dispute, ^mthey shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 They shall not ⁿdefile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 After he⁴ has become clean, they shall count ^oseven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

28 “This shall be their inheritance: ^pI am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^qevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the ^rfirstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your ^sdough, ^tthat a blessing may rest on your house. 31 ^uThe priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Holy District

45 “When you ^vallot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, ^w25,000 cubits¹ long and 20,000² cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2 Of this a square plot of ^x500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3 And from this measured district you shall measure off ^ya section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be ^zfor the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.³

6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^aIt shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

7 “And to the ^bprince ^cshall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: ^dEnough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your ^eevictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

10 ^f“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.⁴ 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer,⁵ and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;⁶ twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.⁷

13 “This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor⁸ (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths).⁹ 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^gto make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 ^hIt shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.