Ezekiel 42

1 And he brings me forth to the outer court, the way northward, and he brings me into the chamber that [is] opposite the separate place, and that [is] opposite the building at the north.

[in the vision] the man led me out of the inner courtyard, through [the entrance on] the north side. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a building that was built against the north [of the inner courtyard].

2 At the front of the length [is] one hundred cubits [at] the north opening, and the breadth—fifty cubits.

That building was (175 feet/53 meters) long and (87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters) wide. Its doorway faced north.

3 Opposite the twenty [cubits] that are of the inner court, and opposite the pavement that [is] of the outer court, [is] gallery [with] face toward gallery, in the three [stories].

In that building were two rows of rooms, built on three levels, that faced each other. One row of rooms was built against the wall of the inner courtyard, and the other row was built against the wall facing the outer courtyard. The building was 34 feet from the temple.

4 And at the front of the chambers [is] a walk of ten cubits in breadth to the inner part, a way of one cubit, and their openings [are] at the north.

Between the [two] rows of rooms there was a walkway that was (17-1/2 feet/5.3 meters) wide and (175 feet/53 meters) long. All its doors were on the north side.

5 And the upper chambers [are] short, for the galleries contain more than these, than the lower, and than the middle one, of the building;

Each of the upper rows of rooms was narrower than the row of rooms below them, [because the upper rows needed to have a walkway in front of them].

6 for they [are] threefold, and they have no pillars as the pillars of the court, therefore it has been kept back—more than the lower and than the middle one—from the ground.

The rooms on the upper levels had no pillars to support them like the ones in the courtyard. Instead, each of those row of rooms were supported by the walls of the row of rooms on the level below.

7 As for the wall that [is] at the outside, alongside the chambers, the way of the outer-court at the front of the chambers, its length [is] fifty cubits;

The wall of the building extended (87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters) past the set of rooms built along the outer courtyard, separating all the rooms from the outer courtyard.

8 for the length of the chambers that [are] in the outer court [is] fifty cubits, and of those on the front of the temple—one hundred cubits.

The row of rooms that were along the outer courtyard was (87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters) long, and the set of rooms that faced the temple was (175 feet/53 meters) long.

9 And under these chambers [is] the entrance from the east, in one’s going into them from the outer court.

The lowest row of rooms had an entrance from the outer courtyard, on the east side.

10 In the breadth of the wall of the court eastward, to the front of the separate place, and to the front of the building, [are] chambers.

On the south [side], along the wall of the outer courtyard, next to the temple courtyard, was a [a building with two] rows of rooms,

11 And the way before them [is] as the appearance of the chambers that [are] northward, according to their length so [is] their breadth, and all their outlets, and according to their fashions, and according to their openings.

with a walkway between them. Those rooms were like the rooms on the north [side]: they were the same length and width, and had the same kind of entrances.

12 And according to the openings of the chambers that [are] southward [is] an opening at the head of the way, the way directly in the front of the wall eastward in entering them.

The doorways on the south side were similar to the doorways on the north side. There was an entrance in the wall that faced the doors of the set of rooms, and there was an entrance on the east side, at the end of the inside walkway.

13 And he says to me, “The north chambers, the south chambers, that [are] at the front of the separate place, they [are] holy chambers, where the priests (who [are] near to YHWH) eat the most holy things, there they place the most holy things, and the present, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering, for the place [is] holy.

Then the man said to me, “These rooms that overlook the temple on the north and south sides are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to Yahweh will [their portions of] the sacred offerings. Because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings: [the grain for] the grain offerings, the offerings for the sins that people have committed, and offerings in order that people will no longer be guilty for having sinned.

14 In the priests’ going in, they do not come out from the sanctuary to the outer court, and there they place their garments with which they minister, for they [are] holy, and have put on other garments, and have drawn near to that which [is] for the people.”

When the priests leave the temple, they will not be allowed to [immediately] enter the outer courtyard. First, they must remove the clothes that they had been wearing inside the temple, because those clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before they enter the parts [of the temple area] where the [other] people [gather].”

15 And he has finished the measurements of the inner house, and has brought me forth the way of the gate whose front [is] eastward, and he has measured it all around.

When the man had finished measuring the inside of the temple area, he led me out through the east entrance [of the outer courtyard] and measured all the way around the temple area.

16 He has measured the east side with the measuring-reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed all around.

He measured the four sides of the area. There was a wall around the area that was (875 feet/265 meters) long on each side.

17 He has measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around.

18 The south side he has measured, five hundred reeds, with the measuring-reed.

19 He has turned around to the west side, he has measured five hundred reeds with the measuring-reed.

20 At the four sides he has measured it; it had a wall all around, the length—five hundred, and the breadth—five hundred, to separate between the holy and the profane place.

That wall separated the [area which was] sacred/holy from the [areas that were] not sacred.