Ezekiel 40; Ezekiel 41; 2 Peter 3

Ezekiel 40

1 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away.

2 In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city.

3 He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

4 He said to me, "Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see."

5 What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick.

6 Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.

7 Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple.

8 He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick

10 (These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

11 Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet.

12 In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.)

13 Then he measured the distance from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet.

14 The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.

15 The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet.

16 There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

17 The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones,

18 which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

19 There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

20 Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard.

21 The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

22 The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard.

23 Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

24 Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others.

25 There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

26 Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

27 Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.

28 The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall.

29 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

31 Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

32 The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others.

33 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet.

34 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

35 Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others.

36 Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet.

37 The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

38 In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices.

39 In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings.

40 Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate.

41 Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard.

42 The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables.

43 Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.

44 Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.

45 The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple,

46 and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him.

47 The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar.

48 Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with walls 5 feet thick on either side.

49 Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

Ezekiel 41

1 Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep

2 and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide.

3 Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick.

4 He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."

5 The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide.

6 These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it.

7 And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories.

8 The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple.

12 At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around.

13 The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet.

14 The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet.

15 He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet. The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place

16 were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered.

17 The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings

18 of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces:

19 a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall,

20 from the floor to above the doors.

21 The doorposts of the Holy Place were square. In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like

22 a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base, and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table which stands in the presence of the Lord."

23 There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place.

24 They were double doors that swung open in the middle.

25 There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room.

26 At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.

2 Peter 3

1 My dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written you. In both letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts in your minds by reminding you of these things.

2 I want you to remember the words that were spoken long ago by the holy prophets, and the command from the Lord and Savior which was given you by your apostles.

3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you

4 and will ask, "He promised to come, didn't he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!"

5 They purposely ignore the fact that long ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. The earth was formed out of water and by water,

6 and it was also by water, the water of the flood, that the old world was destroyed.

7 But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.

8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same.

9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish.

11 Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God,

12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.

13 But we wait for what God has promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home.

14 And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him.

15 Look on our Lord's patience as the opportunity he is giving you to be saved, just as our dear friend Paul wrote to you, using the wisdom that God gave him.

16 This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction.

17 But you, my friends, already know this. Be on your guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of lawless people and fall from your safe position.

18 But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen.