Ezek. 41

41:1 Then he brought me to the outer sanctuary and measured the jambs; the jambs were 10½ feet wide on each side. 2The width of the entrance was 17½ feet, and the sides of the entrance were 8¾ feet on each side. He measured the length of the outer sanctuary as 70 feet and its width as 35 feet.

3Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance as 3½ feet, the entrance as 10½ feet, and the width of the entrance as 12¼ feet. 4Then he measured its length as 35 feet and its width as 35 feet, before the outer sanctuary. He said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

5Then he measured the wall of the temple as 10½ feet and the width of the side chambers as 7 feet, all around the temple. 6The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, 30 in each story. There were offsets in the wall all around to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that the supports were not in the wall of the temple. 7The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story, for the structure surrounding the temple went up story by story all around the temple. For this reason the width of the temple increased as it went up, and one went up from the lowest story to the highest by the way of the middle story.

8I saw that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full measuring stick of 10½ feet high. 9The width of the outer wall of the side chambers was 8¾ feet, and the open area between the side chambers of the temple 10and the chambers of the court was 35 feet in width all around the temple on every side. 11There were entrances from the side chambers toward the open area, one entrance toward the north, and another entrance toward the south; the width of the open area was 8¾ feet all around.

12The building that was facing the temple courtyard at the west side was 122½ feet wide; the wall of the building was 8¾ feet thick all around, and its length 157½ feet.

13Then he measured the temple as 175 feet long, the courtyard of the temple and the building and its walls as 175 feet long, 14and also the width of the front of the temple and the courtyard on the east as 175 feet.

15Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet.

The interior of the outer sanctuary and the porch of the court, 16as well as the thresholds, narrow windows, and galleries all around on three sides facing the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the ground up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 17to the space above the entrance, to the inner room, and on the outside and on all the walls in the inner room and outside, by measurement. 18It was made with cherubim and decorative palm trees, with a palm tree between each cherub. Each cherub had two faces: 19a human face toward the palm tree on one side and a lion’s face toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around; 20from the ground to the area above the entrance, cherubim and decorative palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary. 21The doorposts of the outer sanctuary were square. In front of the sanctuary one doorpost looked just like the other. 22The altar was of wood, 5¼ feet high, with its length 3½ feet; its corners, its length, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” 23The outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary each had a double door. 24Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. 25On the doors of the outer sanctuary were carved cherubim and palm trees, like those carved on the walls, and there was a canopy of wood on the front of the outside porch. 26There were narrow windows and decorative palm trees on either side of the side walls of the porch; this is what the side chambers of the temple and the canopies were like.

Ps. 102

102:1 The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

Pay attention to my cry for help.

2Do not ignore me in my time of trouble.

Listen to me.

When I call out to you, quickly answer me.

3For my days go up in smoke,

and my bones are charred as in a fireplace.

4My heart is parched and withered like grass,

for I am unable to eat food.

5Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin.

6I am like an owl in the wilderness;

I am like a screech owl among the ruins.

7I stay awake;

I am like a solitary bird on a roof.

8All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who mock me use my name in their curses.

9For I eat ashes as if they were bread,

and mix my drink with my tears,

10because of your anger and raging fury.

Indeed, you pick me up and throw me away.

11My days are coming to an end,

and I am withered like grass.

12But you, O Lord, rule forever,

and your reputation endures.

13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion.

For it is time to have mercy on her,

for the appointed time has come.

14Indeed, your servants take delight in her stones

and feel compassion for the dust of her ruins.

15The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord,

and all the kings of the earth will respect his splendor

16when the Lord rebuilds Zion

and reveals his splendor,

17when he responds to the prayer of the destitute

and does not reject their request.

18The account of his intervention will be recorded for future generations;

people yet to be born will praise the Lord.

19For he will look down from his sanctuary above;

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,

20in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners

and to set free those condemned to die,

21so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion

and praise him in Jerusalem

22when the nations gather together,

and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord.

23He has taken away my strength in the middle of life;

he has cut short my days.

24I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life.

You endure through all generations.

25In earlier times you established the earth;

the skies are your handiwork.

26They will perish,

but you will endure.

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear.

27But you remain;

your years do not come to an end.

28The children of your servants will settle down here,

and their descendants will live securely in your presence.”

Heb. 10:19–31

10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.

26For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, 27but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 28Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.