IN THE twenty-fifth year of our captivity [by Babylon], in the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city [of Jerusalem] was taken, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me to that place.
In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain, on the south side of which there was what seemed to be the structure of a city.
He brought me there, and behold, there was a man [an angel] whose appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.
And the man said to me, Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart and mind on all that I will show you, for you are brought here that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.
And behold, there was a wall all around the outside area of the house [of the Lord], and in the man's hand a measuring reed six long cubits in length, each cubit being longer [than the usual one] by a handbreadth; so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed.
Then he came to the gate which faced the east and went up its [seven] steps and measured the threshold of the gateway, one reed broad, and the other threshold of the gateway [inside the thick wall], one reed broad.
And every room for the guards was one reed long and one reed broad, and the space between the guardrooms or lodges was five cubits. And the threshold of the gate by the porch or vestibule of the gateway within was one reed.
Then he measured the porch or vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts or jambs, two cubits. And the porch or vestibule of the gate was inside [toward the house of the Lord].
And the guardrooms or lodges of the east gateway were three on this side and three on that side; the three were the same size, and the posts or jambs were the same size on either side.
And a border or barrier before the guardrooms was one cubit on this side, and a border or barrier, one cubit on that side. And the guardrooms or lodges were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side.
And the man [an angel] measured the gate from the outer wall of one chamber or guardroom to the outer wall of another--a breadth of twenty-five cubits from door to door.
And there were closed windows to the guardrooms or chambers and to their posts or pillars within the gate round about, and likewise to the archway or vestibule; and windows were round about facing into the court, and upon each post or pillar were palm tree [decorations].
Then he brought me into the outward court, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement round about the court; thirty chambers fronted on the pavement.
Then the man measured the distance from the inner front before the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.
And its guardrooms or lodges, three on this side and three on that side, and its posts or pillars and archway or vestibule were the same size as those of the first gate; the length was fifty cubits and the breadth twenty-five cubits.
And its windows and its archway or vestibule and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faces toward the east. It was reached by going up seven steps, and the archway of its vestibule was on the inner side.
Opposite the gate on the north and on the east was a gate to the inner court, and he [the man with the measuring rod of reed] measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.
After that the man brought me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south, and he measured its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule; they measured as the others did.
And there were windows round about in it and in its archway or vestibule, like those windows in the other gateways; its length was fifty cubits and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
And there were seven steps going up to the gate, and its archway or vestibule was on the inside. And it had palm trees, one on this side and another on that side, carved on its posts or pillars.
And the man [an angel] brought me into the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south gate; its measurements were the same as those of the other gateways.
And its guardrooms or chambers and its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule measured as did the others. And there were windows in the gateway and in its archway or vestibule round about; its length was fifty cubits and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
And its guardrooms or chambers and its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule measured as did the others. And there were windows in it and in its [arched] vestibule round about; the gateway was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
And its [arched] vestibule faced the outer court; and palm trees were carved upon its posts or pillars on either side, and the steps leading to it were eight.
Its guardrooms or chambers, its posts or pillars, its [arched] vestibule, and the windows to it round about [were of the same size as the others]. The length of the gateway was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.
And in the porch or vestibule of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slay the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass or guilt offering.
And on the one side without, as one goes up to the entrance of the gate to the north, were two tables; and on the other side at the vestibule of the gate were two tables.
Moreover, there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high. Upon them were to be laid the instruments with which were slain the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
Then the man [an angel] led me [from without] into the inner court, and behold, there were two chambers in the inner court: one beside the north gate but facing the south, and one beside the south gate but looking toward the north.
And the chamber with its view to the north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to Him.
Then he brought me to the porch or vestibule of the temple proper, and he measured each post or pillar of the porch, five cubits on either side. And the width of the gate was three cubits for this [leaf] and three cubits for that one.
And the length of the porch or vestibule was twenty cubits and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps by which it was reached, and there were two pillars standing on the posts [as bases] or beside them, one on either side of the entrance.