Now the upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more space from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building.

No! ¹  It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything?

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you ¹  have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. ² 

The property of the Levites and of the city will be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin will be for the prince.

You will become fuel for the fire – your blood will stain the middle of the land; ¹  you will no longer be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story; ¹  for the structure ²  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.

As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

In the middle ¹  of the living beings was something like ²  burning coals of fire ³  or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire.

“‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ¹  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!

On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.

“The remainder, one and two-thirds miles ¹  in width and eight and a quarter miles ²  in length, will be for common use by the city, for houses and for open space. The city will be in the middle of it;

“Next to the border of Judah from the east side to the west will be the allotment you must set apart. It is to be eight and a quarter miles ¹  wide, and the same length as one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west; the sanctuary will be in the middle of it.

These will be the allotments for the holy portion: for the priests, toward the north eight and a quarter miles ¹  in length, toward the west three and one-third miles ²  in width, toward the east three and one-third miles ³  in width, and toward the south eight and a quarter miles ⁴  in length; the sanctuary of the Lord will be in the middle.

“The rest, on both sides of the holy allotment and the property of the city, will belong to the prince. Extending from the eight and a quarter miles ¹  of the holy allotment to the east border, and westward from the eight and a quarter miles ²  to the west border, alongside the portions, it will belong to the prince. The holy allotment and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the middle of it.

For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers ¹  were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones.

The hand ¹  of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed ²  me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.

The appearance of the wheels and their construction ¹  was like gleaming jasper, ²  and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. ³ 

As I watched, I noticed ¹  a form that appeared to be a man. ²  From his waist downward was something like fire, ³  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ⁴  like an amber glow. ⁵ 

Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ¹  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ²  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

In the fire ¹  were what looked like ²  four living beings. ³  In their appearance they had human form, ⁴