The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, chapters 40 - 44
40 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, on the tenth day of the month, in
the twenty-fifth year of our exile, that is fourteen years after the
destruction of the city, on that very day, the hand of the LORD came upon
me and brought me there. In a vision God brought me to the land of
Israel and set me on a very high mountain, where I saw what seemed the
buildings of a city facing me. He led me towards it, and I saw a man like
a figure of bronze holding a cord of linen thread and a measuring-rod, and
standing at the gate. 'Man,' he said to me, 'look closely and listen care-
fully; mark well all that I show you, for this is why you have been brought
here. Tell the Israelites all that you see.'
Round the outside of the temple ran a wall. The length of the rod which
the man was holding was six cubits, reckoned by the long cubit which was
one cubit and a hand's breadth. He measured the thickness and height
of the wall; each was one rod. he came to a gate which faced eastwards,
went up its steps and measured the threshold of the gateway; its depth
was one rod. Each cell was one rod long and one rod wide; the space between
the cells five cubits, and the threshold of the gateway at the end of the
vestibule on the side facing the temple one rod. He measured the vestibule
of the gate and found it eight cubits, with pilasters two cubits thick; the
vestibule of the gateway lay at the end near the temple. Now the cells of
the gateway, looking back eastwards, were three in number on each side;
all three of the same size, and their pilasters on each side of the same size
also. He measured the entrance into the gateway; it was ten cubits wide,
and the gateway itself throughout its length thirteen cubits wide. In front
of the cells on each side lay a kerb, one cubit wide; each cell was six cubits
by six. He measured the width of the gateway through the cell doors which
faced one another, from the back of one cell to the back of the opposite
cell; he made it twenty-five cubits, and the vestibule twenty cubits, across;
the gateway on every side projected into the court. From the front of the
entrance-gate to the outer face of the vestibule of the inner gate the dis-
tance was fifty cubits. Both cells and pilasters had loopholes all round
inside the gateway, and the vestibule had windows all round within and
palms carved on each pilaster.
He brought me to the outer court, and I saw rooms and a pavement all
round the court: in all, thirty rooms on the pavement. The pavement ran
up to the side of the gateways, as wide as they were long; this was the lower
pavement. He measured the width of the court from the front of the lower
gateway to the outside of the inner gateway; it was a hundred cubits. He
led me round to the north and I saw a gateway facing northwards, belong-
ing to the outer court, and he measured its length and its breadth. Its cells,
three on each side, together with its pilasters and its vestibule, were the
same size as those of the first gateway, fifty cubits long by twenty-five wide.
So too its windows, and those of its vestibule, and its palms were the same
size as those of the gateway which faced east; it was approached by seven
steps with its vestibule facing them. A gate like that on the east side led to
the inner court opposite the northern gateway; he measured from gateway
to gateway, and it was a hundred cubits. Then he led me round to the south,
and I found a gateway facing southwards. He measured its cells, its pilas-
ters, and its vestibule, and found it the same size as the others, fifty cubits
long by twenty-five wide. Both gateway and vestibule had windows all
round like the others. It was approached by seven steps with a vestibule
facing them and palms carved on each pilaster. The inner court had a gate-
way facing southwards, an he measured from gateway to gateway; it was
a hundred cubits.
He brought me into the inner court through the southern gateway,
measured it and found it the same size as the others. So were its cells,
pilasters, and vestibule, fifty cubits long by twenty-five wide. It and its
vestibule had windows all round. Its vestibule faced the outer court; it
had palms carved on its pilasters, and eight steps led up to it.
Then he brought me into the inner court, towards the east, and measured
the gateway and found it the same size a the others. So too were its cells,
pilasters, and vestibule; it and its vestibule had windows all round, and it
was fifty cubits long by twenty-five wide. Its vestibule faced he outer
court and had a palm carved on each pilaster; eight step led up to it.
Then he brought me to the north gateway and measured it and found it
the same size as the others. So were its cells, pilasters and vestibule, and
it had windows all round; it was fifty cubits long by twenty-five wide. Its
vestibule faced the outer court and had palms carved on the pilaster at
each side; eight steps led up to it.
There was a room opening out from the vestibule of the gateway; here
the whole offerings were washed. In the vestibule of the gateway were two
tables on each side, at which to slaughter the whole-offering, the sin-
offering, and the guilt-offering. At the corner on the outside, as one goes
up to the opening of the northern gateway, stood two tables, and two more
at the other corner of the vestibule of the gateway. Another four stood on
each side at the corner of the gateway, eight tables in all at which slaughter-
ing was done. Four tables used for the whole offering were of hewn stone,
each a cubit and a half long by a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high; and
on them they put the instruments used for the whole-offering and other
sacrifices. The flesh of the offerings was on the tables, and ledges a hand's
breadth in width were fixed all round facing inwards.
Then he brought me right into the inner court, and I saw two rooms in
the inner court, one at the corner of the northern gateway, facing south,
and one at the corner of the southern gateway, facing north. This room
facing south, he told me, is for the priests who have charge of the altar;
these are the sons of Zadok, who alone of the Levites may come near to
serve the LORD. He measured the court; it was square, a hundred cubits
each way, and the altar lay in front of the temple.
Then he brought me into the vestibule of the temple, and measured a
pilaster of the vestibule; it was five cubits on each side, the width of the
gateway fourteen cubits and that of the corners of the gateway three
cubits in each direction. The vestibule was twenty cubits long by twelve
wide; ten steps led up to it, and by the pilasters rose pillars, one on each
side.
41 Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the pilasters;
they were six cubits wide on each side. The opening was ten cubits wide
and its corners five cubits wide in each direction. He measured its length;
it was forty cubits, and its width twenty. He went inside and measured the
pilasters at the opening: they were two cubits; the opening itself was six
cubits and the corners of the opening were seven cubits in each direction.
Then he measured the room at the far end of the sanctuary; its length and
its breadth were each twenty cubits. He said to me, 'This is the Holy of
Holies.'
He measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits high, and each
arcade all round the house was four cubits wide. The arcades were arranged
in three tiers, each tier in thirty sections. In the wall all round the temple
there were intakes for the arcades, so that they could be supported without
being fastened into the wall of the temple. The higher up the arcades were,
the broader they were all round by the addition of the intakes, one above
the other all round the temple; the temple itself had a ramp running up-
wards on a base, and in this way one went up from the lowest to the highest
tier by way of the middle tier.
Then I saw a raised pavement all round the temple, and the foundations
of the arcades were flush with it and measured a full rod, six cubits high.
The outer wall of the arcades was five cubits thick. There was an un-
occupied area beside the terrace which was adjacent to the temple, and
the arcades opened on to this area, one opening facing northwards and one
southwards; the unoccupied area was five cubits wide on all sides. There
was a free space twenty cubits wide all round the temple. On the western
side, at the far end of the free space, stood a building seventy cubits wide;
its wall was five cubits thick all round, and its length ninety cubits.
He measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits long; and the free
space, the building, and its walls, a hundred cubits in all. The eastern front
of the temple and the free space was a hundred cubits wide. He measured
the length of the building at the far end of the free space to the west of the
temple, and its corridors on each side: a hundred cubits.
The sanctuary, the inner shrine and the outer vestibule were panelled;
the embrasures all round the three of them were framed with wood all
round. From the ground up to the windows and above the door, both in
the inner and outer chambers, round all the walls, inside and out, were
carved figures, cherubim and palm-trees, a palm between every pair of
cherubim. Each cherub had two faces; one the face of a man, looking
towards one palm-tree, and the other the face of a lion, looking towards
another palm tree. Such was the carving round the whole of the temple.
The cherubim and the palm-trees were carved from the ground up to the
top of the doorway and on the wall of the sanctuary. The door-posts of
the sanctuary were square.
In front of the Holy Place was what seemed an altar of wood, three
cubits high and two cubits long; it was fitted with corner-posts, and its
base and side also were of wood. He told me that this was the table which
stood before the LORD. The sanctuary had a double door, and the Holy
Place also had a double door: the double doors had swinging leaves, a par
for each door. Cherubim and palm-trees like those on the walls were
carved on them. Outside there was a wooden cornice over the vestibule;
on both sides of the vestibule were loopholes, with palm-trees carved at
the corners.
42 Then he took me to the outer court round by the north and brought me
to the rooms facing the free space and facing the buildings to the north.
The length along the northern side was a hundred cubits, which adjoined the
inner court, and facing the pavement of the outer court, were corridors at
three levels corresponding to each. In front of the rooms a passage, ten
cubits wide and a hundred cubits long, ran towards the inner court; their
entrances faced northwards. The upper rooms were shorter than the lower
and middle rooms, because the corridors took building space from them.
For they were all at three levels and had no pillars as the courts had , so that
the lower and middle levels were recessed from the ground upwards. An
outside wall, fifty cubits long, ran parallel to the rooms and in front of them,
on the side of the outer court. The rooms adjacent to the outer court were
fifty cubits long, and those facing the sanctuary a hundred cubits. Below
these rooms was an entry from the east as one entered them from the outer
court where the wall of the court began. On the south side, passing by the
free space and the building, were other rooms with a passage in front of
them. These rooms corresponded, in length and breadth and in general
character, to those facing north, whose exits and entrances were the same
as those of the rooms of the south. As one went eastwards, where the
passages began, there was an entrance in the face of the inner wall. Then
he said to me, 'The northern and southern rooms facing the free space
are the consecrated rooms where the priests who approach the LORD may
eat the most sacred offerings. They shall put these offerings as well
as the grain-offering, the sin-offering, and he guilt-offering; for the place
is holy. When the priests have entered the Holy Place they shall not go
into the inner court again without leaving here the garments they have
worn while performing their duties, for these are holy. They shall put on
other garments when they approach the place assigned to the people.'
When he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out
towards the gateway which faces eastwards and measured the whole
area. He measured the east side with the measuring rod, and it was five
hundred cubits. He turned and measured he north side with his rod, and
it was five hundred cubits. He tuned to the south side and measured it
with his rod; it was five hundred cubits. So he measured all four sides;
in each direction the surrounding wall measured five hundred cubits.
This marked off the sacred area from the profane.
43 He led me to the gate, the gate facing eastwards, and I beheld the glory
of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of
a mighty torrent, and the earth shone with his glory. The form that I saw
was the same as that which I had seen when he came to destroy the city,
and as that which I had seen by the river Kebar, and I fell on my face.
The glory of the LORD came up to the temple towards the gate which faced
eastwards. A spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and
the glory of the LORD filled the temple. Then I heard one speaking to me
from the temple , and the man was standing at my side. He said, Man, do
you see the place of my throne, the place where I set my feet, where I will
dwell among the Israelites for ever? Neither they nor their kings shall
ever defile my holy name again with their wanton disloyalty, and with the
corpses of their kings when they die. They set their threshold by mine
and their door-post beside mine, with a wall between me and them, and
they defiled my holy name with the abominations they committed, and
I destroyed them in my anger. But now they shall abandon their wanton
disloyalty and remove the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will
dwell among them for ever. So tell the Israelites, man, about this temple,
its appearance and proportions, that they may be ashamed of their in-
iquities. If they are ashamed of all they have done, you shall describe to
them the temple and its fittings, its exits and entrances, all the details and
particulars of its elevation and plan; explain them and draw them before
their eyes, so that they may keep them in mind and carry them out. This
is the plan of the temple to be built on the top of the mountain; all its
precincts on every side shall be most holy.
These were the dimensions of the altar in cubits (the cubit is a cubit
and a hand's breadth). This was the height of the altar: the base was a
cubit high and projected a cubit; on its edge was a rim one span deep.
From the base to the cubit-wide ridge of the lower pedestal-block was two
cubits, and from this shorter pedestal-block to the cubit-wide ridge of the
taller pedestal-block was four cubits. The altar-hearth was four cubits
high and was surmounted by four horns a cubit high. The hearth was twelve
cubits long and twelve cubits wide, being a perfect square. The upper
pedestal-block was fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide along
its four sides, and the rim round it was half a cubit deep. The base of the
altar projected a cubit, and there were steps facing eastwards.
He said to me, Man, these are the words of the Lord GOD: These are
the regulations for the altar when it has been made, for sacrificing whole-
offerings on it and flinging the blood against it. The levitical priests of the
family of Zadok, and they alone, may come near to me and serve me, says
the Lord GOD. You shall assign them a young bull for a sin-offering; you
shall take some of the blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the
four corners of the upper pedestal and all around the rim, and so purify it
and make expiation for it. Then take the bull assigned as the sin-offering,
and they shall destroy it by fire in the proper place within the precincts
but outside the Holy Place. On the second day you shall present a he-goat
without blemish as a sin-offering, and with it they shall purify the altar
as they did with the bull. When you have completely purified the altar,
you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish
from the flock. You shall present them before he LORD; the priests shall
throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a whole-offering to the LORD. For
seven days you shall provide as a daily sin-offering a goat, a young bull,
and a ram from the flock; all of them shall be provided free from blemish.
For seven days they shall make expiation for the altar, ad pronounce it
ritually clean, and consecrate it. At the end of that time, on the eighth day
and onwards, the priests shall sacrifice on the altar your whole-offerings
and your shared-offerings, and I will accept you. This is the very word of
the Lord GOD.
44 He again brought me round to the outer gate of the sanctuary facing
eastwards, and it was shut. The LORD said to me, The gate shall be kept
shut; it must not be opened. No man may enter by it, for the LORD God
of Israel has entered by it. It shall be kept shut. The prince, however, when
he is here as prince, may sit there to eat food in the presence of the LORD;
he shall come in and go out by the vestibule of the gate.
He brought me round to the northern gate facing the temple, and I saw
the glory of the LORD filling the LORD's house, and I fell on my face. The
LORD said to me, Mark well, man, look closely, and listen carefully to all
that I say to you, to all the rules and regulations for the house of the LORD.
Mark well the entrance to the house of the LORD and all the exits from the
sanctuary. Say to the rebel people of Israel, these are the words of the
Lord GOD: Enough of all these abominations of yours, you Israelites! You
have added to them by bringing foreigners, uncircumcised in mind and
body, to stand in my sanctuary and defile my house when you present my
food to me, both fat and blood, and they have made my covenant void.
Instead of keeping charge of my holy things yourselves, you have chosen
to put these men in charge of my sanctuary.
These are the words of the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in
mind and body, shall enter my sanctuary, not even a foreigner living among
the Israelites. But the Levites, though they deserted me when the Israelites
went astray after their idols and had to bear the punishment of their in-
iquity, shall yet do service to my sanctuary. They shall take charge of the
gates of the temple and do my service there. They shall slaughter the whole-
offering and the sacarifice for the people and shall be in attendance to serve
them. Because they served them in the presence of their idols and brought
Israel to the ground by their iniquity, says the Lord GOD, I have sworn
with uplifted hand that they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity.
They shall not have access to me, to serve me as priests; they shall not come
near to my holy things or to the Holy of Holies; they shall bear the shame
of the abominable deeds they have done. I will put them in charge of the
temple with all the service which must be performed there.
But the levitical priests of the family of Zadok remained in charge of my
sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me; these shall approach
me to serve me. They shall be in attendance on me, presenting the fat and
the blood, says the Lord GOD. It is they who shall enter my sanctuary and
approach my table to serve me and observe my charge. When they come to
the gates of the inner court they shall dress in linen; they shall wear no wool
when they serve me at the gates of the inner court and within. They shall
wear linen turbans, and linen drawers on their loins; they shall not fasten
their clothes with a belt so that they sweat. When they go out to the people in
the outer court, they shall take off the clothes they have worn while serving,
leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes; otherwise they
will transmit the sacred influence to the people through their clothing.
They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; they shall
only clip their hair. No priest shall drink wine when he is to enter the inner
court. He may not marry a widow or a divorced woman; he may marry a
virgin of Israelite birth. He may, however, marry the widow of a priest.
They shall teach my people to distinguish the sacred from the profane,
and show them the difference between clean and unclean. When disputes
break out, they shall take their place in court, and settle the case according
to my rules. At all my appointed seasons they shall observe my laws and
statutes. They shall keep my sabbaths holy.
They shall not defile themselves by contact with any dead person,
except father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister.
After purification, they shall count seven days and then be clean. When
they enter the inner court to serve in the Holy Place, they shall present
their sin-offering, says the Lord GOD.
They shall own no patrimony in Israel; I am their patrimony. You shall
grant them no holding in Israel; I am their holding. The grain-offering,
the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering shall be eaten by them, and every-
thing in Israel devoted to God shall be theirs. The first of all the first-
fruits and all your contributions of every kind shall belong wholly to the
priests. You shall give the first lump of your dough to the priests, that a
blessing may rest upon your home. The priests shall eat no carrion, bird
or beast, whether it has died naturally or been killed by a wild animal.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Aug 27, 2019, 3:23 AM UTC
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