So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house, and there were about 25 men at the entrance of the Lord’s temple, between the portico and the altar, with their backs to the Lord’s temple and their faces turned to the east. They were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherub where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side.

Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, as well as the older women and little children, but do not come near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

Then He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out killing people in the city.

Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.

Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherub to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.

Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim.

Now there was a wall surrounding the outside of the temple. The measuring rod in the man’s hand was six units of 21 inches; each unit was the standard length plus three inches. He measured the thickness of the wall structure; it was about 10 feet, and its height was the same.

Each recess was about 10 feet long and 10 feet deep, and there was a space of 8¾ feet between the recesses. The inner threshold of the gate on the temple side next to the gate’s portico was about 10 feet.

it was 14 feet, and its pilasters were 3½ feet. The portico of the gate was on the temple side.

Then the man said to me: “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple.

Next he measured the court. It was square, 175 feet long and 175 feet wide. The altar was in front of the temple.

Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the pilasters of the portico; they were 8¾ feet thick on each side. The width of the gateway was 24½ feet, and the side walls of the gate were 5¼ feet wide on each side.

Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was 10½ feet thick. The width of the side rooms all around the temple was seven feet.

The side rooms were arranged one above another in three stories of 30 rooms each. There were ledges on the wall of the temple all around to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be in the temple wall itself.

The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive story, for the structure surrounding the temple went up by stages. This was the reason for the temple’s broadness as it rose. And so, one would go up from the lowest story to the highest by means of the middle one.

I saw that the temple had a raised platform surrounding it; this foundation for the side rooms was 10½ feet high.

The thickness of the outer wall of the side rooms was 8¾ feet. The free space between the side rooms of the temple

and the outer chambers was 35 feet wide all around the temple.

Now the building that faced the temple yard toward the west was 122½ feet wide. The wall of the building was 8¾ feet thick on all sides, and the building’s length was 157½ feet.

Then the man measured the temple; it was 175 feet long. In addition, the temple yard and the building, including its walls, were 175 feet long.

The width of the front of the temple along with the temple yard to the east was 175 feet.

Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple yard to the west, with its galleries on each side; it was 175 feet.

The interior of the great hall and the porticoes of the court—

reaching to the top of the entrance, and as far as the inner temple and on the outside. On every wall all around, on the inside and outside, was a pattern

a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion’s face turned toward it on the other. They were carved throughout the temple on all sides.

There were beveled windows and palm trees on both sides, on the side walls of the portico, the side rooms of the temple, and the canopies.

Then the man led me out by way of the north gate into the outer court. He brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple yard and opposite the building to the north.

In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the south, there were chambers facing the temple yard and the western building,

Then the man said to me, “The northern and southern chambers that face the temple yard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and restitution offerings—for the place is holy.

When he finished measuring inside the temple complex, he led me out by way of the gate that faced east and measured all around the complex.

He measured the temple complex on all four sides. It had a wall all around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy from the common.

The glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate that faced east.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple.

“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure its pattern,

and they will be ashamed of all that they have done. Reveal the design of the temple to them—its layout with its exits and entrances—its complete design along with all its statutes, design specifications, and laws. Write it down in their sight so that they may observe its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

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

Then you must take away the bull for the sin offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in the place appointed for the temple.

Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled His temple. And I fell facedown.

The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the statutes and laws of the Lord’s temple. Take careful note of the entrance of the temple along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in both heart and flesh, to occupy My sanctuary, you defiled My temple while you offered My food—the fat and the blood. You broke My covenant by all your detestable practices.

Yet they will occupy My sanctuary, serving as guards at the temple gates and ministering at the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and will stand before them to serve them.

Yet I will make them responsible for the duties of the temple—for all its work and everything done in it.

There will be another area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide for the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns to live in.

The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering and apply it to the temple doorposts, the four corners of the altar’s ledge, and the doorposts of the gate to the inner court.

You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

He said to me: “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the people’s sacrifices.”

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.

“The remaining area on both sides of the holy donation and the city property will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the eastern border and next to the 8⅓ miles of the donation as far as the western border. The holy donation and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the middle of it.