Ezekiel 42 – NIRV & NIV

New International Reader’s Version

Ezekiel 42:1-20

The Rooms for the Priests

1Then the man led me north into the outer courtyard of the temple. He brought me to the rooms that were across from the inner courtyard. They were across from the outer wall of the temple on the north side. 2The rooms were in a building north of the temple. The building had a door that faced north. It was 175 feet long. It was 88 feet wide. 3One row of rooms was next to the inner courtyard. The other row was across from the sidewalk of the outer courtyard. Each room was 35 feet long. Walkways in front of each row faced each other on all three floors. 4Between the two rows was an inner sidewalk. It was 18 feet wide and 175 feet long. Each of the rooms had a door on the north side. 5The rooms on the top floor were narrower than the others. The walkways took up more space from these rooms. The walkways took up less space from the rooms on the other two floors. 6The courtyards had pillars. But the rooms on the top floor didn’t. So their floor space was smaller than the space in the rooms on the other floors. 7The building had an outer wall. It was even with the outer row of rooms and with the outer courtyard. The wall continued east of the outer row for 88 feet. 8So there were two rows of rooms. The row next to the outer courtyard was 88 feet long. The one closest to the temple was 175 feet long. 9The first floor of the building had an entrance on the east side. It led to the outer courtyard.

10There were also two rows of rooms in a building next to the south side of the inner courtyard. The building was across from the south wall of the outer courtyard. 11Between the two rows was an inner sidewalk. The rooms were like the ones in the north building. They were as long and wide as the rooms on the north. The doorways of the rooms on the south were like the ones on the north. 12People entered the south rooms through the doorway at the east end of the inner sidewalk. The south wall continued east of the outer row of rooms.

13The man said to me, “The north and south rooms face the inner courtyard. They are the priests’ rooms. That is where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the very holy offerings. They will also store them there. That includes the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. This place is holy. 14The priests who enter these holy rooms must leave behind the clothes they served in. Then they can go into the outer courtyard. The clothes they served in are holy. So the priests must put other clothes on. They have to do that before they go near the places where other people go.”

15The man finished measuring what was inside the temple area. Then he led me out through the east gate. He measured all around the area. 16He measured the east side with his measuring rod. It was 875 feet long. 17He measured the north side. It was 875 feet long. 18He measured the south side. It was 875 feet long. 19Finally, he turned and measured the west side. It was 875 feet long. 20So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it. The wall was 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. It separated what was holy from what was not.

New International Version

Ezekiel 42:1-20

The Rooms for the Priests

1Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. 2The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.42:2 That is, about 175 feet long and 88 feet wide or about 53 meters long and 27 meters wide 3Both in the section twenty cubits42:3 That is, about 35 feet or about 11 meters from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. 4In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits42:4 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew and one cubit long.42:4 That is, about 18 feet wide and 175 feet long or about 5.3 meters wide and 53 meters long Their doors were on the north. 5Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. 6The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. 7There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

10On the south side42:10 Septuagint; Hebrew Eastward along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms 11with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north 12were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

13Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings42:13 Or purification offerings and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy. 14Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”

15When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around: 16He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.42:16 See Septuagint of verse 17; Hebrew rods; also in verses 18 and 19.42:16 Five hundred cubits equal about 875 feet or about 265 meters; also in verses 17, 18 and 19. 17He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits42:17 Septuagint; Hebrew rods by the measuring rod. 18He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 19Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 20So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.