Ezekiel 40 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

The New Israel^[a]

The Future Temple

Chapter 40

The Man with a Measuring Rod. ¹ During the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, fourteen years after the fall of the city, on that very day the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me there. ² In divine visions, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, to the south of which a city seemed to have been built.

³ When he had brought me there, I beheld a man whose appearance was like that of bronze. He had a linen cord^[b] and a measuring rod in his hand, and he was standing in the gateway. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen attentively, and pay close attention to all that I will show you. That is the reason why you were brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything that you see.”

⁵ Then I beheld an outer wall that surrounded the temple on all sides. The length of the measuring rod that the man was holding was six cubits long, each cubit^[c] being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. He measured the thickness and the height of the wall; each was one rod.

The East Gate. ⁶ Then he went to the gate which faced eastward, mounted its steps, and measured the gate’s threshold; it was one rod deep. ⁷ Each cell was one rod long and one rod wide, and the walls between the cells measured five cubits. The threshold of the gate adjoining the vestibule of the gate at the inner end measured one rod.

⁸ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, ⁹ which was eight cubits, and its pilasters, which were two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three cells on each side. All of them were identical in size, and the pilasters on either side were also of equal size.

¹¹ After this, he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway, which was ten cubits, while its length was thirteen cubits. ¹² There was a wall, one cubit high, in front of each cell, and the cells were six cubits square. ¹³ He then measured the width of the gate from the back wall of one cell to the back of the cell on the opposite side. The width was twenty-five cubits from wall to wall. ¹⁴ After this, he measured the vestibule, which was twenty cubits, and also the pilasters adjoining the court on either side, which were six cubits.

¹⁵ From the front of the entrance gate to the far end of its portico, the distance was fifty cubits. ¹⁶ Both the guardrooms and their pilasters had windows on the inside of the gateway, and the vestibules also had windows all around; the pilasters were decorated with palm trees.

¹⁷ The Outer Court. Then he brought me to the outer court, where there were rooms and a paved terrace all around the court. There was a total of thirty rooms. ¹⁸ The pavement was laid along the side of the gates, its width equaling the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ Then he measured the width of the court, from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; there were one hundred cubits between them.

²⁰ The North Gate. Then he measured the length and breadth of the gate leading into the outer court that faced north. ²¹ Its cells, three on either side, and its pilasters and its vestibules were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its depth was fifty cubits, and its width was twenty-five cubits.

²² Its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were identical in size to those of the gate that faced toward the east. Seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was at the inner end. ²³ Opposite the north gate there was a gate that led to the inner court, exactly like the one opposite the east gate. He measured one hundred cubits from one gate to the other.

²⁴ The South Gate. Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gate facing south. He measured its cells, its pilasters, and its vestibule; they all had the same dimensions as the others. ²⁵ The gate and its vestibule had windows all around. Each window was fifty cubits in depth and twenty-five cubits in width.

²⁶ There were seven steps leading up to it. Its vestibule was on the inside, and palm trees decorated its pilasters, one on either side. ²⁷ The inner court had a gate facing south. He measured the distance from this gate to the outer gate on the south—one hundred cubits.

²⁸ The Inner Court Gates. Then he brought me into the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate, which had the same dimensions as the others. ²⁹ Its cells, its pilasters, and its vestibule were the same size as those of the others. The gate and its vestibule had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁰ The vestibules of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep. ³¹ However, the major vestibule faced the outer court. Palm trees were carved on its pilasters, and it had a stairway of eight steps.

³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side and measured the gate, its dimensions were identical to those of the others. ³³ Its cells, its pilasters, and its vestibule were the same size as those of the others. The gate and its vestibule had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its vestibule opened onto the outer court. There were palm trees carved on its pilasters, and there were eight steps leading up to it.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it. Its dimensions were identical to those of the others. ³⁶ Its cells, its pilasters, and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the others, and it had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its portico faced the outer court; it had a palm tree carved on its pilasters on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

³⁸ The Side Chambers.^[d]There was a room that was entered through a door in the vestibule of the gateway. That was where the burnt offerings were to be washed. ³⁹ In the vestibule of the gate, there were two tables on either side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were slaughtered.

⁴⁰ On the outside of the vestibule, near the entrance of the north gate, were two tables, and on the other side of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. ⁴¹ Thus, four tables were inside the gate and four tables were outside the gate—eight tables upon which the sacrifices were slaughtered.

⁴² There were also four slabs of cut stone that were used for holocausts—one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and a cubit high—on which were placed the instruments for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double-pronged hooks, a handbreadth wide, were attached to the nearby wall, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was laid.

⁴⁴ Then he led me into the inner court, where there were two rooms—one on the side of the north gate, facing south; the other on the side of the south gate, facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This room that faces south is for the priests who are in charge of the temple. ⁴⁶ The room that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok, who alone among the descendants of Levi are allowed to come near to minister to the Lord.” ⁴⁷ Thereupon, he measured the court. It was a perfect square, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, with the altar standing in front of the temple.

⁴⁸ The Temple. Then he brought me into the vestibule of the temple and measured the pilasters of the vestibule; it was five cubits on either side. The width of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the side walls of the gate were three cubits on either side. ⁴⁹ The vestibule was twenty cubits long and twelve cubits wide. There were ten steps leading up to it, and there were pillars beside the pilasters, one on either side.

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 40:1 Exactly forty years after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., Ezekiel unexpectedly resumes his prophetic activity.
   He sees a city, the future city, in which the people of tomorrow, of the last times, will dwell. He sees and touches this city, which is reduced in size to the limited dimensions of the temple and its accessory buildings; he traverses it in every direction, he examines all its details and wants to show all of them to us. The story of this walk through the future city occupies chapters 40–48. It is difficult to understand the text of these final chapters of Ezekiel. In substance, they contain the account of what the prophet has seen in one or more visions. At a later date, however, Ezekiel and his disciples must have completed and extended the account with clarifications and details that now overload it to the point of making it at times incomprehensible. They express a burning faith in God, the holy God, who is present on earth, in his land, and in the temple of Jerusalem. This section has been called “the law of Ezekiel,” as if it stated anew the ancient law of the covenant that had been given to Moses.
   St. John’s description, in his Apocalypse, of the heavenly Jerusalem, the definitive dwelling of God in humanity, is influenced by Ezekiel (see Rev 21:1—22:5).
2. Ezekiel 40:3 The linen cord was used for taking longer measurements, the measuring rod for short ones.
3. Ezekiel 40:5 The measuring rod was about 340 cm. The cubit was about 58 cm.
4. Ezekiel 40:38 Ezekiel’s vision seems interrupted here by later additions, the style of which is different.