The Rooms for the Priests

42 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms^(A) opposite the temple courtyard^(B) and opposite the outer wall on the north side.^{(C) 2} The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.^{[a] 3} Both in the section twenty cubits^[b] from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery^(D) faced gallery at the three levels.^{(E) 4} In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits^[c] long.^[d] Their doors were on the north.^{(F) 5} Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. ⁶ The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. ⁷ There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. ⁸ While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. ⁹ The lower rooms had an entrance^(G) on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ On the south side^[e] along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard^(H) and opposite the outer wall, were rooms^{(I) 11} with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north ¹² were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north^(J) and south rooms^(K) facing the temple courtyard^(L) are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings,^(M) the sin offerings^[f](N) and the guilt offerings^(O)—for the place is holy.^{(P) 14} Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments^(Q) in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.^(R)”

¹⁵ When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate^(S) and measured the area all around: ¹⁶ He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.^{[g][h] 17} He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits^[i] by the measuring rod. ¹⁸ He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ¹⁹ Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ²⁰ So he measured^(T) the area^(U) on all four sides. It had a wall around it,^(V) five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide,^(W) to separate the holy from the common.^(X)

1 Paul, Silas^[a](A) and Timothy,^(B)

To the church of the Thessalonians^(C) in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(D)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you,^(E) brothers and sisters,^[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.^{(F) 4} Therefore, among God’s churches we boast^(G) about your perseverance and faith^(H) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.^(I)

⁵ All this is evidence^(J) that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy^(K) of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just:^(L) He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you^{(M) 7} and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven^(N) in blazing fire^(O) with his powerful angels.^{(P) 8} He will punish^(Q) those who do not know God^(R) and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^{(S) 9} They will be punished with everlasting destruction^(T) and shut out from the presence of the Lord^(U) and from the glory of his might^{(V) 10} on the day^(W) he comes to be glorified^(X) in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.^(Y)

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you,^(Z) that our God may make you worthy^(AA) of his calling,^(AB) and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness^(AC) and your every deed prompted by faith.^{(AD) 12} We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,^(AE) and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[c]

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ^(AF) and our being gathered to him,^(AG) we ask you, brothers and sisters, ² not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter^(AH)—asserting that the day of the Lord^(AI) has already come.^{(AJ) 3} Don’t let anyone deceive you^(AK) in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion^(AL) occurs and the man of lawlessness^[d] is revealed,^(AM) the man doomed to destruction. ⁴ He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God^(AN) or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.^(AO)

⁵ Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?^{(AP) 6} And now you know what is holding him back,^(AQ) so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back^(AR) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed,^(AS) whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth^(AT) and destroy by the splendor of his coming.^{(AU) 9} The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan^(AV) works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders^(AW) that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.^(AX) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.^{(AY) 11} For this reason God sends them^(AZ) a powerful delusion^(BA) so that they will believe the lie^{(BB) 12} and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.^(BC)

Stand Firm

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you,^(BD) brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits^[e](BE) to be saved^(BF) through the sanctifying work of the Spirit^(BG) and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you^(BH) to this through our gospel,^(BI) that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm^(BJ) and hold fast to the teachings^[f] we passed on to you,^(BK) whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,^(BL) who loved us^(BM) and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage^(BN) your hearts and strengthen^(BO) you in every good deed and word.