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The Holy Place in the Temple

41 Then the man brought me into the holy place in the temple and measured the recessed walls. They were 10½ feet wide on each side. The entrance was 17½ feet wide, and on each side of the entrance the walls were 9 feet wide. Then he measured the length of the holy place. It was 70 feet long and 35 feet wide.

Then the man went inside and measured the passageway. It was 3½ feet thick. The entrance was 10½ feet high and 12 feet wide. Then he measured the room at the end of the holy place. It was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. The man said to me, “This is the most holy place.”

Next, the man measured the temple wall. It was 10½ feet wide. The width of each side room around the temple was 7 feet. The rooms were arranged on three different stories. There were 30 rooms on each story. These rooms had supports all the way around the temple wall, but these supports were not fastened to the temple wall. The side rooms grew wider all the way around as they went up, story after story. The surrounding structure went from story to story all around the temple. The structure grew wider as it went higher. A stairway went from the first story through the second story to the third story.

I also saw a raised base all around the temple. This base was the foundation for the side rooms. It measured the full length of the measuring rod, 10½ feet. The outer wall of the side rooms was 9 feet thick. There was an open area between the side rooms connected to the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms. It was 35 feet wide and went all around the temple. 11 The doors in the side rooms were entrances into the open area. There was one door to the north and another to the south. The base of the open area was 9 feet wide all the way around.

12 At the far end of the open area, on the west side of the temple, was a building 122½ feet wide. The wall of the building was 9 feet thick all the way around, and it was 157½ feet long.

13 Then the man measured the temple. It was 175 feet long. This included the open area with the building and its walls. All together it was 175 feet long. 14 The eastern side of the temple, including the open area, was also 175 feet wide. 15 He also measured the length of the building facing the courtyard on the west side along with its corridors on both sides. It was 175 feet long.

The holy place and the most holy place were paneled. 16 The doorposts, the small windows, and the corridors of all three stories were paneled. The walls, from the floor up to the windows, were paneled. 17 In the space above the door to the most holy place and on the walls all around it, 18 there were pictures of angels [a] and palm trees. Palm trees were positioned between each of the angels, and each angel had two faces: 19 the face of a man, which was turned toward a palm tree on one side, and the face of a lion, which was turned toward a palm tree on the other side. These pictures were carved all around the temple. 20 Pictures of angels and palm trees were carved on the walls from the floor to the space above the door.

21 The doorframes in the holy place were square. In front of the most holy place was something similar. 22 There was a wooden altar, 5 feet high and 3½ feet wide. Its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. Then the man told me, “This is the table that is in the presence of the Lord.”

23 The holy place and the most holy place had two doors. 24 Each of the doors were double doors that swung open. 25 Pictures of angels and palm trees were carved on the doors of the holy place as on the walls. There was a wooden roof hanging over the outer entrance hall. 26 There were small windows and palm trees on both sides of the entrance hall, on the side rooms of the temple, and on the roofs.

Footnotes

  1. 41:18 Or “cherubim.”

41 Then the man brought me to the main hall(A) and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits[a] on each side.[b] The entrance was ten cubits[c] wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits[d] wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.[e](B)

Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits[f] wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits[g] wide. And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall.(C) He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.(D)

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubits[h] wide. The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty(E) on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple.(F) The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway(G) went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple 10 and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. 11 There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.

12 The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits[i] wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.[j]

13 Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits[k] long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. 14 The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.(H)

15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries(I) on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, 16 as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows(J) and galleries around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered.(K) 17 In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary 18 were carved(L) cherubim(M) and palm trees.(N) Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces:(O) 19 the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved all around the whole temple.(P) 20 From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

21 The main hall(Q) had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. 22 There was a wooden altar(R) three cubits[l] high and two cubits square[m]; its corners, its base[n] and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table(S) that is before the Lord.” 23 Both the main hall(T) and the Most Holy Place had double doors.(U) 24 Each door had two leaves—two hinged leaves(V) for each door. 25 And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. 26 On the sidewalls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 41:1 That is, about 11 feet or about 3.2 meters; also in verses 3, 5 and 8
  2. Ezekiel 41:1 One Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts side, the width of the tent
  3. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 18 feet or about 5.3 meters
  4. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 8 3/4 feet or about 2.7 meters; also in verses 9, 11 and 12
  5. Ezekiel 41:2 That is, about 70 feet long and 35 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 11 meters wide
  6. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 3 1/2 feet or about 1.1 meters; also in verse 22
  7. Ezekiel 41:3 That is, about 12 feet or about 3.7 meters
  8. Ezekiel 41:5 That is, about 7 feet or about 2.1 meters
  9. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 123 feet or about 37 meters
  10. Ezekiel 41:12 That is, about 158 feet or about 48 meters
  11. Ezekiel 41:13 That is, about 175 feet or about 53 meters; also in verses 14 and 15
  12. Ezekiel 41:22 That is, about 5 1/4 feet or about 1.5 meters
  13. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew long
  14. Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length