The Inner Temple

Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits^[a] was the breadth of the jambs.^[b] 2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,^[c] forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. ³ Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side^[d] of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴ And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

⁵ Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. ⁶ And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets^[e] all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. ⁷ And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. ⁸ I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. ⁹ The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the ¹⁰ other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. ¹¹ And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.

¹² The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

¹³ Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; ¹⁴ also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.

¹⁵ Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleries^[f] on either side, a hundred cubits.

The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, ¹⁶ the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), ¹⁷ to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.^[g] 18 It was carved of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: ¹⁹ a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. ²⁰ From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.

²¹ The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling ²² an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.^[h] Its corners, its base,^[i] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” ²³ The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door. ²⁴ The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. ²⁵ And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a canopy^[j] of wood in front of the vestibule outside. ²⁶ And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.

Chapter 42

The Temple's Chambers

Then he led me out into the outer court, toward the north, and he brought me to the chambers that were opposite the separate yard and opposite the building on the north. ² The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits,^[k] and the breadth fifty cubits. ³ Facing the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court, and facing the pavement that belonged to the outer court, was gallery^[l] against gallery in three stories. ⁴ And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long,^[m] and their doors were on the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones. ⁷ And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. ⁸ For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the nave^[n] were a hundred cubits long. ⁹ Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ In the thickness of the wall of the court, on the south^[o] also, opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers ¹¹ with a passage in front of them. They were similar to the chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same exits^[p] and arrangements and doors, ¹² as were the entrances of the chambers on the south. There was an entrance at the beginning of the passage, the passage before the corresponding wall on the east as one enters them.^[q]

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall put the most holy offerings—the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter the Holy Place, they shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They shall put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the people.”

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and measured the temple area all around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring reed, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. ¹⁷ He measured the north side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed all around. ¹⁸ He measured the south side, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. ¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured, 500 cubits by the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, 500 cubits long and 500 cubits broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common.

Stewards of God's Grace

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,^[a] arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. ³ For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. ⁴ With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; ⁵ but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory^[b] and of God rests upon you. ¹⁵ But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. ¹⁶ Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And

¹⁹ Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of Ascents.