Ezekiel 40:17-19

Contemporary English Version

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷The man then led me through the passageway and into the outer courtyard of the temple, where I saw 30 rooms built around the outside of the courtyard.^[a] These side rooms were built against the outer wall, and in front of them was a sidewalk that circled the courtyard. ¹⁸This was known as the lower sidewalk, and it was 25 meters wide.

¹⁹I saw the gates that led to the inner courtyard of the temple and noticed that they were higher than those leading to the outer courtyard. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gates, and it was 50 meters.^[b]

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Footnotes

40.17 30 rooms built around the outside of the courtyard: These were probably used by worshipers as places to meet and share sacrificial meals (see, for example, Jeremiah 35.2).
40.19 meters: The Hebrew text adds “the east and the north.”