The Interior Structures

15Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court,16as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.17In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary on all the walls, spaced evenly around the inner and outer sanctuary,18were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:19the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple.20Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.

21The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe, and the doorframe of the sanctuary was similar.22There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”23Both the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary had double doors,24and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other.25Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico.26There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

Chambers for the Priests

1Then the man led me out northward into the outer court, and he brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple courtyard and the outer wall on the north side.2The building with the door facing north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.3Gallery faced gallery in three levels opposite the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court.4In front of the chambers was an inner walkway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north.5Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space from the chambers on the lower and middle floors of the building.6For they were arranged in three stories, and unlike the courts, they had no pillars. So the upper chambers were set back further than the lower and middle floors.7An outer wall in front of the chambers was fifty cubits long and ran parallel to the chambers and the outer court.8For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those facing the temple were a hundred cubits long.9And below these chambers was the entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

10On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court were chambers adjoining the courtyard and opposite the building,11with a passageway in front of them, just like the chambers that were on the north. They had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions.12And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, there was a door in front of the walkway that was parallel to the wall extending eastward.

13Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy.14Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”

The Outer Measurements

15Now when the man had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and he measured the area all around:

20So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

The Glory of the LORD Returns to the Temple

1Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east,2and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.3The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown,4and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east.5Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

6While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple,7and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.8When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger.9Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

10As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan,11and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

12This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar of Sacrifice

13These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:14The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.15The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth.16The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.17The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

18Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it:19You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD.20You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.21Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

22On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull.23When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock.24You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

25For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished.26For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it.27At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

The East Gate Assigned to the Prince

1The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut.2And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut.3Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

4Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown.

5The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.