Chapter 42

Other Structures. ¹ Then he led me toward the north into the outer court and brought me to the rooms that were opposite the temple courtyard and facing the building on the north. ² The length of the building on the north side was one hundred cubits, and its width was fifty cubits.

³ Facing the twenty cubits of the inner court and the pavement of the outer court, there were three parallel rows of chambers on each level facing each other. ⁴ In front of the chambers, there was a passageway, ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long, and the entrances to the rooms faced north.

⁵ The chambers on the upper level were narrower than those on the two levels below because the galleries took up more of the width on the upper level. ⁶ For they were divided into three stories and they had no pillars as the courts had. Thus, the upper chambers were more narrow than those on the lower and middle levels.

⁷ There was an outer wall parallel to the chambers that extended out toward the outer court; it was fifty cubits long. ⁸ The chambers facing the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those facing the temple were one hundred cubits long.

⁹ Below these chambers there was a passage that one entered from the east so that one could enter them from the outer court. ¹⁰ On the south side that faced the open area and the building, there were chambers.

¹¹ There was a passage that ran in front of these chambers. They were identical in design to those on the north, with the same length and width, and with the same exits and entrances and doorways. ¹² Before the chambers on the south side, there was an entrance from the east at the end of each passage, by means of which one could enter from the east.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north and the south chambers which open out onto the courtyard are the chambers of the sanctuary. It is there that the priests approach the Lord and eat the most sacred offerings. There they deposit these most sacred offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for this is a holy place. ¹⁴ When the priests have entered the holy place, they must not depart from the holy place and enter the outer court without first leaving there the vestments they have worn while performing their duties, since these vestments are holy. They shall first clothe themselves in other garments before they go near the area designated for the people.”

¹⁵ Measurements of the Outer Court. When he had completed his measurements of the interior of the temple area, he brought me out through the gateway that faces east, and he measured the temple area all around.

¹⁶ He measured the east side with his measuring rod, and it was five hundred cubits. ¹⁷ He then turned and measured the north side, and it was five hundred cubits. ¹⁸ He next turned and measured the south side, and it was five hundred cubits. ¹⁹ Then he turned and measured the west side, and it was five hundred cubits.

²⁰ Thus, he measured the area on all four sides. The wall around it was five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the sacred from the profane.