1Next we went into the main room of the temple. The man measured the doorway of this room: it was three metres wide,41.1 it was three metres wide: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 2five metres long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was two and a half metres. The main room itself was twenty metres by ten metres.

3-4Then the man walked to the far end of the temple's main room and said, “Beyond this doorway is the most holy place.” He first measured the doorway: it was one metre wide, three metres long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was three and a half metres. Then he measured the most holy place, and it was ten metres square.

The storage rooms of the temple

5The man measured the wall of the temple, and it was three metres thick. Storage rooms two metres wide were built against the outside of the wall. 6There were three levels of rooms, with thirty rooms on each level, and they rested on ledges that were attached to the temple walls, so that nothing was built into the walls. 7The walls of the temple were thicker at the bottom than at the top, which meant that the storage rooms on the top level were wider than those on the bottom level.41.7 which meant that…on the bottom level: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Steps led from the bottom level, through the middle level, and into the top level.

8The temple rested on a stone base three metres high, which also served as the foundation for the storage rooms. 9The outside walls of the storage rooms were two and a half metres thick; there was nothing between these walls 10and the nearest buildings ten metres away. 11One door led into the storage rooms on the north side of the temple, and another door led to those on the south side. The stone base extended two and a half metres beyond the outside wall of the storage rooms.

The west building and the measurements of the temple

12I noticed another building: it faced the west end of the temple and was thirty-five metres wide, forty-five metres long, and had walls over two and a half metres thick.

13The man measured the length of the temple, and it was fifty metres. He then measured from the back wall of the temple, across the open space behind the temple, to the back wall of the west building; it was fifty metres. 14The distance across the front of the temple, including the open space on either side, was also fifty metres.

15Finally, the man measured the length of the west building, including the side rooms on each end, and it was also fifty metres.

The inside of the temple

The inside walls of the temple's porch and main room41.15 The inside walls of the temple's porch and main room: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 16were panelled with wood all the way from the floor to the windows, while the doorways, the small windows, and the three side rooms were trimmed in wood.41.16 were trimmed in wood: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 17The panelling stopped just above the doorway. These walls were decorated41.17 decorated: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17. 18-20with carvings of winged creatures and had a carving of a palm tree between the creatures. Each winged creature had two faces: a human face looking at the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face looking at the palm tree on the other side. These designs were carved into the panelling all the way around the two rooms.

21The doorframe to the temple's main room was in the shape of a rectangle.

The wooden altar

In front of the doorway to the most holy place was something that looked like 22a wooden altar. It was one and a half metres high and one metre square,41.22 one metre square: One ancient translation; Hebrew “one metre wide”. and its corners, its base,41.22 base: One ancient translation; Hebrew “length”. and its sides were made of wood. The man said, “This is a reminder that the LORD is constantly watching over his temple.”

The doors in the temple

23Both the doorway to the main room of the temple and the doorway to the most holy place had two doors, 24and each door had two sections that could fold open. 25The doors to the main room were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees just like those on the walls, and there was a wooden covering over the porch just outside these doors. 26The walls on each side of this porch had small windows and were also decorated with carvings of palm trees.