Ezekiel 41-44

New Life Version

41 Then he brought me into the center room, and showed me the width of the side pillars. They were six cubits wide on each side. ² The doorway was ten cubits wide, and the side walls on each side of it were five cubits wide. The center room was as long as forty cubits and as wide as twenty cubits. ³ Then he went into a smaller room. Each side pillar of the doorway was two cubits wide, and the doorway was six cubits high and seven cubits wide. ⁴ The room was as long as twenty cubits and as wide as twenty cubits, at the far end of the center room. He said to me, “This is the most holy place.”

⁵ Then he showed me that the wall of the Lord’s house was six cubits in width. And the side rooms all around the house on every side were four cubits wide. ⁶ The side rooms were on three floors, one above the other, and thirty on each floor. The outside wall on each floor was not as wide as the one below it, so the side rooms could sit upon the wall without being nailed to it. ⁷ The side rooms at the top were larger than the ones at the bottom, all around the Lord’s house. The house became wider as it went higher. There were steps leading up from the first floor all the way to the third floor. ⁸ I saw that the house had a raised base all around it, which made the base for the side rooms six cubits high. ⁹ The width of the outside wall of the side rooms was five cubits. But the open space between the side rooms ¹⁰ and the center rooms was as wide as twenty cubits all around the house on every side. ¹¹ There were doorways to the side rooms from this open space, one on the north and another on the south. The width of this open space was five cubits wide all around.

¹² The building in front of the open space of the Lord’s house, on the west side, was as wide as seventy cubits. The width of the building wall was five cubits, and it was as long as ninety cubits.

¹³ Then he showed me that the Lord’s house was as long as 100 cubits. The open space and the other building and its walls were also as long as 100 cubits. ¹⁴ And the front of the Lord’s house and its grounds on the east side were as wide as 100 cubits.

¹⁵ He showed me the length of the building to the west, with its walkways on each side. It was as long as 100 cubits.

The center room, the most holy place, and the outer porch, ¹⁶ all had roofs of wood. And all three had windows with wooden cross-pieces all around. The inside walls of the house were covered with wood from the floor up to the windows, and from the windows to the roof. ¹⁷ There was wood covering the wall above the door, and all the way to the most holy place, and all the walls both inside and out. ¹⁸ Pictures of cherubim and palm trees were cut into the wood. A palm tree was between every two cherubim, and each cherub had two faces. ¹⁹ The face of a man looked toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion looked toward the palm tree on the other side. These pictures were cut into the wood all around the Lord’s house. ²⁰ There were cherubim and palm trees from the floor to above the door, and on the wall of the center room.

²¹ The pillars beside the door of the center room were the same width on all four sides, and they looked alike. ²² There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits long. Its corners, base, and sides were made of wood. And he said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” ²³ The center room and the most holy place each had two doors. ²⁴ And each of these doors had two parts that opened and closed. ²⁵ Pictures of cherubim and palm trees were made on the doors of the center room, like the pictures on the walls. And there was a roof of wood over the front of the porch outside. ²⁶ There were windows with wooden cross-pieces and palm trees cut on each side wall of the house porch. It was the same on the side rooms of the house and their roofs.

Rooms for the Religious Leaders

42 Then he brought me to the outside open space toward the north. He brought me to the rooms which were on the other side of the open space and the building to the north. ² The building whose door faced north was as long as 100 cubits and as wide as fifty cubits. ³ Over from the place in the inner open space which was as wide as twenty cubits, and over from the stone floor in the outer open space, was a walkway on the three floors, one above the other. ⁴ In front of the rooms was an inside walkway as wide as ten cubits and as long as 100 cubits. Their doors were on the north. ⁵ The upper rooms were smaller because the walkways took more away from them than from the rooms on the first and second floors of the building. ⁶ For the rooms on all three floors had no pillars like the other buildings on the grounds. So the upper rooms were smaller than the ones on the first and second floors. ⁷ There was an outside wall built beside the rooms toward the outer open space. It was in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. ⁸ The rooms next to the outer open space were as long as fifty cubits, and those over from the Lord’s house were as long as 100 cubits. ⁹ Below these rooms was a door on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer open space.

¹⁰ There were rooms in the width of the wall of the open space toward the east, over from the other open space and the other building. ¹¹ These rooms had a walkway in front of them, and they were like the rooms on the north. They had the same length and width. The ways out of them were the same, and the doors were made the same way. ¹² And like the doors of the rooms on the south side, there was a door at the beginning of the walkway in front of the wall toward the east, as one goes into them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north rooms and the south rooms, over from the other open space, are the holy rooms where the religious leaders who go near the Lord eat the most holy things. There they will lay the most holy things, the grain gift, the sin gift, and the guilt gift. For the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the religious leaders go in, they are not to go out into the outer open space from the holy place without leaving behind the clothes they wear while they do the Lord’s work, for these are holy. They must put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”

¹⁵ When he had finished showing me the lengths and widths of the inner house, he brought me out through the east gate. And he showed me the lengths of all the open space around the house. ¹⁶ He showed me with his stick that the east side was as long as 500 sticks. ¹⁷ The north side was as long as 500 sticks. ¹⁸ The south side was as long as 500 sticks. ¹⁹ And the west side was as long as 500 sticks. ²⁰ He showed me the length of the four sides. It had a wall all around it, as long as 500 sticks and as wide as 500 sticks. This wall divided what was holy from what was not.

The Lord Returns to the House of God

43 Then he brought me to the east gate, ² and I saw the shining-greatness of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth was shining because of His greatness. ³ It was like the special dream that I saw when He came to destroy the city. It was like the special dream that I saw by the Chebar River. I fell with my face to the ground. ⁴ As the shining-greatness of the Lord came into the house through the east gate, ⁵ the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner open space. And the shining-greatness of the Lord filled the house.

⁶ While the man was standing beside me, I heard Someone speaking to me from inside the house. ⁷ And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place for My throne and for the bottom of My feet, where I will live among the people of Israel forever. No longer will the people of Israel or their kings make My holy name unclean, by worshiping other gods or by the dead bodies of their kings. ⁸ They put their doorways by My doorways, and their door pillars beside My door pillars, with only a wall between Me and them. In doing so, they have made My holy name unclean by the hated sins they have done. So I have destroyed them in My anger. ⁹ Now let them put their worship of other gods and the dead bodies of their kings far from Me. And I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “Son of man, tell the people of Israel about the house of the Lord, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them look over the plan. ¹¹ And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, let them know how the house is built, the house with its doors and gateways, and its whole plan. Let them know all its laws. Write it down in front of them, so that they will see its whole plan and obey all its laws. ¹² This is the law of the house: All the ground around it on top of the mountain will be most holy. This is the law of the house.

The Altar

¹³ “This is the length, width, and height of the altar by cubits (with the length of the hand being added to the length of each arm). The base will be one cubit long and one cubit wide, with a side piece going around it as wide as a man’s spread hand. This will be the height of the altar: ¹⁴ The base will be two cubits long from the base on the ground to its top, and one cubit wide. And it will be four cubits from the smaller part up to its larger top part, and one cubit wide. ¹⁵ The altar fireplace will be four cubits high, and four horns will go up from the top four corners of the altar one cubit high. ¹⁶ This top part of the altar will be twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide, the same on each of the four sides. ¹⁷ The side of it will be fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, the same on each of the four sides. And a side piece half a cubit will be around that. Its base will be a cubit wide all around, and its steps will be on the east side.”

¹⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, the Lord God says, ‘These are the laws for giving burnt gifts and for putting blood on the altar on the day it is built: ¹⁹ You must give a young bull for a sin gift to the Levite religious leaders of the sons of Zadok. They are the ones who come near Me to do My work,’ says the Lord God. ²⁰ ‘You must take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the top of the altar, and on the side piece that goes around it. In this way you will make it clean and free from sin. ²¹ You must also take the bull for the sin gift, and burn it in the chosen place of the house, outside the holy place. ²² On the second day you must give a male goat that is perfect for a sin gift. And the altar will be made clean, as it was made clean with the bull. ²³ When you have finished making it clean, you must give a young bull that is perfect, and a ram from the flock that is perfect. ²⁴ You must bring them before the Lord. The religious leaders will throw salt on them, and burn them on the altar as a gift to the Lord. ²⁵ You must make ready a goat for a sin gift each day for seven days. Also make ready a young bull and a ram from the flock. They must be perfect. ²⁶ For seven days they must make the altar free from sin and make it pure, so it will be set apart to Me. ²⁷ At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the religious leaders will give your burnt gifts and peace gifts on the altar. And I will receive you,’ says the Lord God.”

The Use of the East Gate

44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the holy place, toward the east, and it was shut. ² The Lord said to me, “This gate must stay shut. It must not be opened. No one may come in through it, for the Lord God of Israel has come in through it. So it must stay shut. ³ Only the ruler may sit at the gate to eat bread before the Lord. He must come in through the porch of the gate, and go out the same way.”

Those Who Could Go In to the House of God

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house. There I saw the shining-greatness of the Lord filling the Lord’s house, and I fell with my face to the ground. ⁵ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, be careful to see with your eyes and to hear with your ears everything that I say to you about all the rules and laws of the Lord’s house. Be careful to learn which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Lord’s house, and which persons are not allowed. ⁶ Tell the sinful people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Enough of your hated sins, O people of Israel! ⁷ You have brought in strangers, who had not gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, and who were sinful in their heart. You brought them into My holy place to make it unclean, when you brought My food of the fat and the blood. You have broken My agreement by all your hated sins. ⁸ And you have not taken care of My holy things yourselves. You have let strangers take care of My holy place.” ⁹ ‘So the Lord God says, “No stranger among the people of Israel who has not gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew, and is sinful in his heart, may come into My holy place.

Levites Cannot Be Religious Leaders

¹⁰ “The Levites who went far from Me when Israel left Me to follow their false gods, will be punished for their sin. ¹¹ They may do the work in My holy place. They may watch over the gates of the house and do the work in the house. They may kill the burnt gifts and the gifts brought by the people. And they may stand in front of the people to serve them. ¹² But because they served them in front of their false gods and caused the people of Israel to sin, I have promised,” says the Lord God, “that they will be punished for their sin. ¹³ They must not come near Me to serve Me as a religious leader. They must not come near any of My holy things and the things that are most holy. But they must suffer their shame because of the hated sins they have done. ¹⁴ Yet I will have them take care of the house and do all the work that is needed to be done in it.

Zadok’s Sons to Serve in the House of God

¹⁵ “But the Levite religious leaders of the sons of Zadok took care of My holy place when the people of Israel left Me. So they will come near Me to serve Me. They will stand before Me to give Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They will come into My holy place and come near My table, to serve Me and to do My work. ¹⁷ When they come through the gates of the inner open space, they will be dressed in linen clothing. They must not wear any wool while they are serving inside the gates of the inner open space or in the house. ¹⁸ They will wear linen head-coverings and linen underclothes. They must not dress in anything that makes their bodies wet with heat. ¹⁹ When they go out to the people in the outer open space, they must take off the clothes they wear while they serve Me, and lay them in the holy rooms. Then they will put on other clothes, so that they do not make the people holy because of their clothing. ²⁰ And they must not cut all the hair from their heads, yet they must not let their hair grow long. They must only cut their hair shorter. ²¹ None of the religious leaders may drink wine when they come into the inner open space. ²² They must not marry a woman whose husband has died, or who has been divorced. But they may marry women of Israel who have never had a man, or a woman whose husband was a religious leader before he died. ²³ They will teach My people the difference between what is holy and what is not. And they will teach them to know what is unclean and what is clean. ²⁴ In an argument, the religious leaders will serve as judges, and will judge by My Laws. They will also keep My Laws in all My special suppers. And they will keep My Day of Rest holy. ²⁵ They must not make themselves unclean by going near a dead person. But they may make themselves unclean if the dead person is their father or mother, son or daughter, brother, or sister who was not married. ²⁶ After a religious leader has become clean again, he must wait seven days. ²⁷ And on the day he goes into the holy place, into the inner open space to serve in the holy place, he must bring his sin gift,” says the Lord God.

²⁸ “I am to be the only part that the religious leaders have. You must not give them any land in Israel for their own. I am their part. ²⁹ They will eat the grain gift, the sin gift, and the guilt gift. Everything in Israel that is set apart to Me will be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the first fruits of every kind, and every kind of gift you bring, will be for the religious leaders. And you must give them the first of your grain, so that good will come to your house. ³¹ The religious leaders must not eat any bird or animal that has died of itself or has been torn to pieces.