1 On April 28, during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity—fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem—the lord took hold of me.
2 In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city.
3 As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod.
4 He said to me, “Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.”
5 I could see a wall completely surrounding the Temple area. The man took a measuring rod that was 101/2 feet long and measured the wall, and the wall was 101/2 feet thick and 101/2 feet high.
6 Then he went over to the eastern gateway. He climbed the steps and measured the threshold of the gateway; it was 101/2 feet front to back.
7 There were guard alcoves on each side built into the gateway passage. Each of these alcoves was 101/2 feet square, with a distance between them of 83/4 feet along the passage wall. The gateway’s inner threshold, which led to the entry room at the inner end of the gateway passage, was 101/2 feet front to back.