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41 Next we went into the main room of the temple. The man measured the doorway of this room: It was 3 meters wide,[a] five meters long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was two and a half meters. The main room itself was 20 meters by 10 meters.

3-4 Then the man walked to the far end of the temple's main room and said, “Beyond this doorway is the most holy place.” He first measured the doorway: It was one meter wide, 3 meters long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was 3.5 meters. Then he measured the most holy place, and it was 10 meters square.

The Storage Rooms of the Temple

The man measured the wall of the temple, and it was three meters thick. Storage rooms two meters wide were built against the outside of the wall. There were three levels of rooms, with 30 rooms on each level, and they rested on ledges that were attached to the temple walls, so that nothing was built into the walls. The walls of the temple were thicker at the bottom than at the top, which meant that the storage rooms on the top level were wider than those on the bottom level.[b] Steps led from the bottom level, through the middle level, and into the top level.

The temple rested on a stone base three meters high, which also served as the foundation for the storage rooms. The outside walls of the storage rooms were two and a half meters thick; there was nothing between these walls 10 and the nearest buildings ten meters away. 11 One door led into the storage rooms on the north side of the temple, and another door led to those on the south side. The stone base extended two and a half meters beyond the outside wall of the storage rooms.

The West Building and the Measurements of the Temple

12 I noticed another building: It faced the west end of the temple and was 35 meters wide, 45 meters long, and had walls over 2.5 meters thick.

13 The man measured the length of the temple, and it was 50 meters. He then measured from the back wall of the temple, across the open space behind the temple, to the back wall of the west building; it was 50 meters. 14 The distance across the front of the temple, including the open space on either side, was also 50 meters.

15 Finally, the man measured the length of the west building, including the side rooms on each end, and it was also 50 meters.

The Inside of the Temple

The inside walls of the temple's porch and main room[c] 16 were paneled with wood all the way from the floor to the windows, while the doorways, the small windows, and the three side rooms were trimmed in wood.[d] 17 The paneling stopped just above the doorway. These walls were decorated[e] 18-20 with carvings of winged creatures and had a carving of a palm tree between the creatures. Each winged creature had two faces: A human face looking at the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face looking at the palm tree on the other side. These designs were carved into the paneling all the way around the two rooms.

21 The doorframe to the temple's main room was in the shape of a rectangle.

The Wooden Altar

In front of the doorway to the most holy place was something that looked like 22 a wooden altar. It was one and a half meters high and one meter square,[f] and its corners, its base,[g] and its sides were made of wood. The man said, “This is a reminder that the Lord is constantly watching over his temple.”

The Doors in the Temple

23 Both the doorway to the main room of the temple and the doorway to the most holy place had two doors, 24 and each door had two sections that could fold open. 25 The doors to the main room were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees just like those on the walls, and there was a wooden covering over the porch just outside these doors. 26 The walls on each side of this porch had small windows and were also decorated with carvings of palm trees.

Footnotes

  1. 41.1 It was 3 meters wide: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 41.7 which meant that … on the bottom level: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  3. 41.15 The inside walls of the temple's porch and main room: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 41.16 were trimmed in wood: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  5. 41.17 decorated: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.
  6. 41.22 one meter square: One ancient translation; Hebrew “one meter wide.”
  7. 41.22 base: One ancient translation; Hebrew “length.”

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