Today's Reading

¹In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there.

²In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.

³He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

⁴The man said to me, "Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for, to the intent that I may show them to you, you are brought here: declare all that you see to the house of Israel."

⁵Behold, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

⁶Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad.

⁷Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.

⁸He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed.

⁹Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.

¹⁰The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.

¹¹He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;

¹²and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.

¹³He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door.

¹⁴He made also posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate.

¹⁵From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.

¹⁶There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees.

¹⁷Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement.

¹⁸The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.

¹⁹Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

²⁰The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth.

²¹The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its arches were after the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.

²²The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them.

²³There was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.

²⁴He led me toward the south; and behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured its posts and its arches according to these measures.

²⁵There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.

²⁶There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts.

²⁷There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.

²⁸Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;

²⁹and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.

³⁰There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits broad.

³¹The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

³²He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures;

³³and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad.

³⁴The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

³⁵He brought me to the north gate: and he measured it according to these measures;

³⁶its lodges, its posts, and its arches: and there were windows therein all around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.

³⁷The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

³⁸A room with its door was by the posts at the gates; there they washed the burnt offering.

³⁹In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.

⁴⁰On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.

⁴¹Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed the sacrifices.

⁴²There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

⁴³The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

⁴⁴Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.

⁴⁵He said to me, "This room, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house;

⁴⁶and the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to him."

⁴⁷He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.

⁴⁸Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.

⁴⁹The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

¹He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent.

²The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.

³Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits.

⁴He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, "This is the most holy place."

⁵Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side.

⁶The side rooms were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house.

⁷The side rooms were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher around the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest room to the highest by the middle room.

⁸I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits.

⁹The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house.

¹⁰Between the rooms was a breadth of twenty cubits around the house on every side.

¹¹The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits all around.

¹²The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

¹³So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long;

¹⁴also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.

¹⁵He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court;

¹⁶the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),

¹⁷to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure.

¹⁸It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;

¹⁹so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house all around:

²⁰from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.

²¹As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple.

²²The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before the Lord.

²³The temple and the sanctuary had two doors.

²⁴The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other.

²⁵There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.

²⁶There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds.

¹Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the room that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north.

²Before the length of one hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.

³Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story.

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

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

⁶For they were in three stories, and they didn't have pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the uppermost was straitened more than the lowest and the middle from the ground.

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

⁸For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and behold, before the temple were one hundred cubits.

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

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

¹¹The way before them was like the appearance of the way of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.

¹²According to 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.

¹³Then he said to me, "The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, they are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.

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

¹⁵Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it all around.

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

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

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

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

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

¹Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Do not they come from your pleasures that war in your members?

²You lust, and do not have. You kill, covet, and cannot obtain. You fight and make war. You do not have, because you do not ask.

³You ask, and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.

⁴You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit which He made to dwell in us yearns jealously"?

⁶But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

⁷Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹¹Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

¹²Only one is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let us go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."

¹⁴Whereas you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away .

¹⁵For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."

¹⁶But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷To him therefore who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

¹Listen, sons, to a father's instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;

²for I give you sound learning. Do not forsake my law.

³For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.

⁴He taught me, and said to me: "Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.

⁵Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget, neither swerve from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.

⁸Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.

⁹She will give to your head a garland of grace. She will deliver a crown of splendor to you."

¹⁰Listen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have taught you in the way of wisdom. I have led you in straight paths.

¹²When you go, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Take firm hold of instruction. Do not let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter into the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of evil men.

¹⁵Avoid it, and do not pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.

¹⁶For they do not sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what they stumble over.

²⁰My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.

²¹Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.

²³Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

²⁴Put away from yourself a perverse mouth. Put corrupt lips far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

²⁶Make the path of your feet level. Let all of your ways be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.