Ezekiel 40 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — fourteen years after the city fell — on that very day, Yahweh's hand came over me, and he carried me there.

In visions from God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On its south side stood something like the framework of a city.

He brought me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He stood in the gateway holding a linen cord and a measuring rod.

The man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and listen with your ears. Set your mind on everything I'm about to show you — because that is why you were brought here. Report everything you see to the people of Israel."

I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The measuring rod in the man's hand was six long cubits — each cubit plus a handbreadth. He measured the wall: one rod thick, one rod high.

Then he went to the east-facing gate. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate — one rod deep.

Each guard alcove was one rod long and one rod wide. The space between alcoves was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the entrance hall on the inner side was one rod deep.

He measured the entrance hall of the gate on the inner side — one rod.

Then he measured the entrance hall of the gate — eight cubits. Its pillars were two cubits thick. The entrance hall of the gate was on the inner side.

The east gate had three guard alcoves on each side — all the same size. The pillar walls on each side were also the same size.

He measured the width of the gate opening — ten cubits. The total length of the gate passage was thirteen cubits.

In front of each alcove was a low wall, one cubit high on each side. Each alcove was a square — six cubits by six cubits.

Then he measured the gate from the back wall of one alcove to the back wall of the opposite one — twenty-five cubits wide, from doorway to doorway.

He measured the entrance hall — sixty cubits. The courtyard surrounded the gate all around the pillar structure.

From the front of the entrance gate to the far end of the inner entrance hall — fifty cubits.

There were narrow windows in the alcoves and in their side walls within the gate all around, and also in the entrance halls. The windows narrowed inward all around, and the pillar faces were decorated with palm trees.

Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There I saw rooms and a stone pavement laid all around the courtyard. Thirty rooms faced the pavement.

The pavement ran along the sides of the gates, matching the length of the gates — this was the lower pavement.

He measured the distance from the front of the lower gate to the outside of the inner courtyard — one hundred cubits on the east side and the north side.

Then he measured the length and width of the gate facing north, the one leading into the outer courtyard.

It had three alcoves on each side. Its pillars and entrance hall had the same dimensions as the first gate — fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

Its windows, entrance hall, and palm tree decorations had the same dimensions as those of the east-facing gate. Seven steps led up to it, with the entrance hall at the inner end.

Across from the north gate — just like the east gate — was a gate leading into the inner courtyard. He measured from gate to gate: one hundred cubits.

Then he led me to the south side, and there was a gate facing south. He measured its pillars and entrance hall — the same dimensions as the others.

The gate and its entrance hall had windows all around, just like the other windows — fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

Seven steps led up to it, with the entrance hall at its inner end. It had palm trees carved on its pillars, one on each side.

The inner courtyard also had a gate facing south. He measured from this gate to the outer south gate — one hundred cubits.

Then he brought me into the inner courtyard through the south gate. He measured the south gate — the same dimensions as the others.

Its alcoves, pillars, and entrance hall had the same dimensions. The gate and its entrance hall had windows all around — fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

The entrance halls of the gates around the inner courtyard were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.

Its entrance hall faced the outer courtyard, with palm trees on its pillars. Eight steps led up to it.

Then he brought me to the inner courtyard on the east side. He measured the gate — the same dimensions as the others.

Its alcoves, pillars, and entrance hall had the same dimensions. The gate and its entrance hall had windows all around — fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

Its entrance hall faced the outer courtyard, with palm trees on its pillars, one on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

Then he brought me to the north gate. He measured it — the same dimensions as the others.

Its alcoves, pillars, and entrance hall had the same dimensions. It had windows all around — fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

Its entrance hall faced the outer courtyard, with palm trees on its pillars, one on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

A room with a doorway opened off the entrance hall of the gate — that was where they washed the burnt offerings.

In the entrance hall of the gate were two tables on each side, where the burnt offerings, the purification offerings, and the guilt offerings were slaughtered.

On the outer side of the entrance hall, by the steps at the north gate entrance, were two tables. On the other side of the entrance hall were two more tables.

So there were four tables on each side of the gate — eight tables in all — where the sacrifices were slaughtered.

There were also four tables of cut stone for the burnt offerings — each one a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. On them they laid the instruments used to slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices.

Double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside walls. The tables were for the offering meat.

Outside the inner gate, in the inner courtyard, were two rooms — one beside the north gate, facing south, and one beside the south gate, facing north.

He said to me, "The room facing south is for the priests who oversee the duties of the temple."

And the room facing north is for the priests who oversee the duties of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok — the only ones among Levi's descendants who may come near to Yahweh to serve him."

He measured the courtyard — a perfect square, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide. The altar stood in front of the temple.

Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the temple and measured its doorposts — five cubits wide on each side. The width of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the side walls of the gate were three cubits on each side.

The entrance hall was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep. Ten steps led up to it, and there were pillars on each side of the doorposts.