Ezekiel 42

1 Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north. Then he brought me into the room that was opposite the separate place, and which was opposite the building toward the north.

2 Facing the length of one hundred cubits was the north door, and the width was fifty cubits.

3 Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the three stories.

4 Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ width inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north.

5 Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these more than from the lower and the middle in the building.

6 For they were in three stories, and they didn’t have pillars as the pillars of the courts. Therefore the uppermost was set back more than the lowest and the middle from the ground.

7 The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, was fifty cubits long.

8 For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. Behold, those facing the temple were one hundred cubits.

9 From under these rooms was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.

10 In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms.

11 The way before them was like the appearance of the rooms which were toward the north. Their length and width were the same. All their exits had the same arrangement and doors.

12 Like the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.

13 Then he said to me, “The north rooms and the south rooms, which are opposite the separate place, are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to the LORD shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, with the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.

14 When the priests enter in, then they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court until they lay their garments in which they minister there; for they are holy. Then they shall put on other garments, and shall approach that which is for the people.”

15 Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faces toward the east, and measured it all around.

16 He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around.

17 He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around.

18 He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

20 He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, the length five hundred cubits, and the width five hundred cubits, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

Around Ezekiel 42

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Ezekiel as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

By a canal in Babylonia, among the first exiles, a priest looks up. “the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” The book opens with an overwhelming vision of God’s glory, and Ezekiel, a priest taken to Babylon with the first exiles, falls before it. In the first half he announces, in words and in acted signs, that Jerusalem will fall, and he sees the glory of God leave the temple.

After the city falls, the message turns to hope: a new heart and a new spirit. In a valley of dry bones God asks him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “Lord GOD, you know.” The bones are brought to life, and the book ends with a final vision of a new temple to which God’s glory returns.

Background

Ezekiel’s visions are dated between 593 and 571 before Christ. He lived among exiles by a canal in Babylonia, far from the temple he had served. The book’s imagery influenced later Jewish writing and the book of Revelation.

How Christians read it

Christians differ most over the temple vision of chapters 40 to 48. Some expect a literal temple in the future. Others read it as a picture of God living with his people, fulfilled in Christ, in the church and finally in the new creation described at the end of Revelation. The promise of a new heart in chapter 36 is widely linked with the work of the Holy Spirit.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes