The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then the man brought me through the gateway into the outer courtyard of the Temple. A stone pavement ran along the walls of the courtyard, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto the pavement.

² But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months.

Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms against the north wall of the inner courtyard.

²¹ Then he brought me back to the outer courtyard and led me to each of its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosure.

⁵ The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.^[a]

⁵ The moving wings of the cherubim sounded like the voice of God Almighty^[a] and could be heard even in the outer courtyard.

¹¹ Hezekiah ordered that storerooms be prepared in the Temple of the Lord. When this was done,

²⁸ The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served at the house of the Lord. They also took care of the courtyards and side rooms, helped perform the ceremonies of purification, and served in many other ways in the house of God.

²⁶ The four chief gatekeepers, all Levites, were trusted officials, for they were responsible for the rooms and treasuries at the house of God.

⁴ Between the two blocks of rooms ran a walkway 17 1⁄2 feet^[a] wide. It extended the entire 175 feet of the complex,^[b] and all the doors faced north.