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Major Prophets · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Ezekiel 42

Visions of glory, judgment, responsibility, restoration, a new heart, and renewed presence.

Old Testament

Ezekiel 42

1Then 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.

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

3Opposite 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.

4Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ width 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 set back 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, was fifty cubits long.

8For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. Behold, those facing 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 rooms which were toward the north. Their length and width were the same. All their exits had the same arrangement and doors.

12Like 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 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.

14When 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.”

15Now 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.

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 cubits, and the width five hundred cubits, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Visions of glory, judgment, responsibility, restoration, a new heart, and renewed presence. Read Ezekiel 42 within the complete Ezekiel overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Ezekiel 42

Ezekiel 42 contains 20 verses and about 552 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “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…” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 20 closes: “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…” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include rooms, toward, cubits, court, hundred, north. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Ezekiel 42

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Ezekiel 42:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer