The Daily Audio Bible

The Gates to the Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then he brought me into the inner courtyard through its south gate.^[a] He measured this gatehouse on the south side of the inner courtyard. Its measurements were like those of the previous gatehouses. ²⁹ Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule had the same measurements as the others. Both the gatehouse and the vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁰ There were vestibules on each side of the inner courtyard. They were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.^{[b] 31} The vestibule of the inner gatehouse faced the outer courtyard. There were palm decorations on its gateposts, and its stairway had eight steps.

³² Next he brought me into the inner courtyard through the gate facing east. He measured the gatehouse, and its dimensions were the same as the others. ³³ Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule were the same size as the others. It and its vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairs had eight steps.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gatehouse and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others. ³⁶ This was also true of its guardrooms, its gateposts, and its vestibule. It had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its vestibule faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairway had eight steps.

Rooms of the Inner Courtyard

³⁸ There was a room with a door, next to the gateposts at each of the inner gateways,^[c] where they washed the burnt offering.^[d]

³⁹ Inside the vestibule of the gateway, on each side, there were two tables upon which to slaughter the whole burnt offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering. ⁴⁰ Next to the outside wall of the vestibule, as one goes toward the entrance of the north gateway, there were two more tables. Next to the other outside wall of the vestibule of the gateway were two more tables. ⁴¹ That is, there were four tables on one side and four on the other side of the gateway—eight tables on which they were to slaughter the sacrifices.

⁴² Four more tables for the burnt offering were made of hewn stone. They were one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high. On them they placed the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth^[e] long, were fastened to the building all around, but the meat for the sacrifice was placed on the tables.

⁴⁴ Just outside of the inner gateway, in the inner courtyard, were two rooms,^[f] one beside the north gate, which faced south, and the other beside the south^[g] gate, which faced north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This room that faces south is for the priests who guard the temple, ⁴⁶ and the room that faces north is for the priests who guard the altar. They are descendants of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”

The Inner Courtyard

⁴⁷ Then he measured the courtyard.^[h] It was one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide^[i]—a square. The altar was in front of the temple.

The Temple Building
The Vestibule

⁴⁸ Next he brought me to the vestibule of the temple building.^[j] He measured each doorpost of the vestibule: five cubits^[k] on either side. The width of the gate was ⎣fourteen cubits.^[l] The sides of the gate were⎦ three cubits^[m] on either side.^{[n] 49} The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and its width was eleven cubits.^[o] One entered it by ten^[p] steps, and there were pillars by the doorposts, one on either side.

The Rooms of the Temple

41 Then he brought me to the outer room of the sanctuary^[q] and measured the doorposts, six cubits^[r] wide on either side. This was the width of the Tent.^{[s] 2} The width of the entrance was ten cubits,^[t] and the side walls of the entrance were five cubits^[u] on either side. Then he measured the outer room’s length, forty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits.^[v]

³ Then he entered the inner room of the sanctuary^[w] and measured the doorposts of its entrance, two cubits, and the width of the entrance was six cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were seven cubits on either side.^{[x] 4} He measured its length, twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits,^[y] the same as the width of the outer room. Then he said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”

⁵ Next he measured the wall of the temple building. It was six cubits thick, and the width of each side room was four cubits. The side rooms^[z] ran all around the temple. ⁶ The side rooms were stacked on top of one another, in three stories, with thirty rooms in each story. The floors of the side rooms rested on ledges attached to the wall of the temple all the way around, so that the supports for the rooms would not cut into the temple wall itself. ⁷ The side rooms all around the temple became wider as one went up from story to story, because their supporting ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps. Therefore, the width of the interior of the attached structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the middle story.^[aa]

The Platform and Courtyard

⁸ I saw a raised platform all around the temple that served as a foundation for the side rooms. The terrace built on this foundation, measured by a full rod, was six long cubits tall.^{[ab] 9} The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits. The open area^[ac] between the side rooms attached to the temple ¹⁰ and the other rooms on the other side of the inner courtyard was twenty cubits wide^[ad] all around the temple. ¹¹ There were entrances into the side rooms from the open area, one entrance on the north side, one on the south. The width of the terrace^[ae] bordering the open area was five cubits all around.^[af]

¹² The building^[ag] on the far side of the restricted area^[ah] on the western side of the temple was seventy cubits wide.^[ai] The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.^[aj]

¹³ Then he measured the temple building. Its length was one hundred cubits.^[ak] The restricted area and the building with its walls also had a length of one hundred cubits. ¹⁴ The width of the area in front of the temple, including the restricted areas east of the temple, was one hundred cubits as well. ¹⁵ He also measured the length of the building facing the restricted area at the rear of the temple, along with its balconies on either side. It was one hundred cubits.

The Interior Decoration

The outer and inner rooms of the sanctuary,^[al] the vestibules of the courtyard, ¹⁶ the thresholds, and the windows with slanting frames, as well as the balconies around the three sides, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all the way around, from the floor to the upper windows, and the windows were covered with lattices.^{[am] 17} The paneling extended up to the space above the entrance, both in the inner and outer sanctuary. On all the walls all around, in both the inner and outer sanctuary, there were geometric patterns,^{[an] 18} carved cherubim, and decorations like palms. There was a palm decoration between each cherub and its neighbor. Each cherub had two faces: ¹⁹ the face of a man turned toward the palm on one side and the face of a lion turned toward the palm on the other side. They were carved all around the whole temple. ²⁰ From the floor up to the space above the entrance, cherubim and palms were carved, even on the walls of the outer room of the sanctuary.^{[ao] 21} As for the outer room of the sanctuary, its doorposts were square, and the front of the Holy of Holies had the same design.

The Altar in the Temple

²² The altar was made of wood, three cubits high. Its length was two cubits, and its width was two cubits.^[ap] Its corners, its base,^[aq] and its sides were also of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”

²³ Both the outer room of the sanctuary and the Holy of Holies had double doors. ²⁴ The doors had two leaves apiece, two folding leaves—two for one door and two leaves for the other door. ²⁵ Carved on the doors of the outer room there were cherubim and palm decorations, like those carved on the walls. Outside there was a wooden canopy in front of the vestibule. ²⁶ There were also windows narrowing toward the inside and palm decorations on both side walls of the vestibule. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

Do Not Love the World

4 Where do conflicts and quarrels among you come from? Don’t they come from your cravings for pleasure, which are at war in the parts of your body? ² You want something but do not get it, so you murder. You desire something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask, and yet do not receive, because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on what gives you pleasure.

⁴ Adulterers,^[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or, do you think that Scripture has no reason for saying that the Spirit, who lives in us,^[b] yearns jealously?^{[c] 6} But he gives greater grace! That is why it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”^[d]

⁷ So, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded people. ⁹ Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be changed into mourning and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Let God Be the Judge

¹¹ Do not speak against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother is speaking against the law and judging the law. But if you judge the law, you are not one who does the law, but a judge. ¹² There is one lawgiver and judge. He is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

God’s Will Be Done

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city, spend a year there, do business, and make a profit.” ¹⁴ You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? Indeed, it is^[e] a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. ¹⁵ Instead, it is better for you to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live, and we will do this or that.” ¹⁶ But right now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So, for the one who knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it, this is a sin.

The Joy in Victory of Messiah’s Followers

Conclusion