Chapter 41
1 Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the pilasters. They were six cubits wide on each side. 2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the walls on either side of the entrance were five cubits each. Then he measured the length of the nave, which was fifty cubits, while its width was twenty cubits.
3 Then he went into the inner room and measured the pilasters at the entrance; they were two cubits. The width of the entrance was six cubits, and the walls at either side of the entrance were seven cubits. 4 Beyond the nave, he measured the length of the inner sanctuary, which was twenty cubits, and its width, which was also twenty cubits, after which he said to me, “This is the Holy of Holies.”
5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, which was six cubits thick. The width of the side chambers was four cubits all around the temple. 6 The side chambers were on three levels, one above the other, with thirty chambers on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple that were designed to serve as supports for the side chambers, but there were no supports in the wall of the temple itself.
7 The passageway leading upward to the side chambers became broader from story to story, for the structure surrounding the temple was constructed in successive stages, so that the width of the cells increased from one story to the next. One ascended from the lowest story to the highest story by means of the middle one.
8 I also noted that there was a raised pavement encircling the temple all around. This formed the foundation of the side chambers, measuring a full rod, six cubits high. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. Between the cells of the temple 10 and the chambers of the court, there was an open space, twenty cubits wide, surrounding the temple on every side.
11 The side chambers had entrances to the open space, one entrance on the north side and one on the south side. The width of the free space was five cubits all around. 12 On the western side, the building that faced the temple yard was seventy cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.
13 Then, he measured the temple, whose length was one hundred cubits. 14 The temple courtyard and the buildings with its walls were also one hundred cubits. 15 Next, he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard, and together with its walls on either side, it came to one hundred cubits.
The Temple Interior. The inner nave of the temple and the inner room and outer vestibule 16 were paneled with precious wood from the floor up to the windows and thresholds, and the windows were covered with latticework. 17 The wood extended up to the lintel of the door, even to the outer sanctuary. And on all the walls throughout the inner room and the nave there was a pattern 18 that depicted cherubim and palm trees, with one palm tree between every pair of cherubim.
Each cherub had two faces: 19 a human face turned toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion turned toward the palm tree on the other side. 20 From the floor to the lintel above the door, the cherubim and the palm trees were carved on the wall. 21 The doorposts of the temple were square.
In front of the sanctuary, there was something that resembled 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. Its corners, its base, and its sides were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table of the Lord.” 23 The nave and the holy place each had a double door. 24 The double doors each had two hinged leaves, two leaves for each door.
25 Carved upon the doors of the nave were cherubim and palm trees, like those carved in the walls. Also, there was a wooden lattice over the vestibule. 26 On both sides of the vestibule were recessed windows and palm trees.