People of God, walk around Zion and count the towers;

So the LORD answers, "Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.

"Those who will rebuild you are coming soon, and those who destroyed you will leave.

"Your country was ruined and desolate--- but now it will be too small for those who are coming to live there. And those who left you in ruins will be far removed from you.

Then you will say to yourself, 'Who bore all these children for me? I lost my children and could have no more. I was exiled and driven away--- who brought these children up? I was left all alone--- where did these children come from?' "

Kings will be like fathers to you; queens will be like mothers. They will bow low before you and honor you; they will humbly show their respect for you. Then you will know that I am the LORD; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed."

The LORD replies, "That is just what is going to happen. The soldier's prisoners will be taken away, and the tyrant's loot will be seized. I will fight against whoever fights you, and I will rescue your children.

You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.

Your Creator will be like a husband to you--- the LORD Almighty is his name. The holy God of Israel will save you--- he is the ruler of all the world.

"For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back.

"In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.

Other nations will be covered by darkness, But on you the light of the LORD will shine; The brightness of his presence will be with you.

Look around you and see what is happening: Your people are gathering to come home! Your sons will come from far away; Your daughters will be carried like children.

Great caravans of camels will come, from Midian and Ephah. They will come from Sheba, bringing gold and incense. People will tell the good news of what the LORD has done!

What are these ships that skim along like clouds, Like doves returning home?

The LORD says to Jerusalem, "Foreigners will rebuild your walls, And their kings will serve you. In my anger I punished you, But now I will show you my favor and mercy.

But nations that do not serve you Will be completely destroyed.

The descendants of those who oppressed you will come And bow low to show their respect. All who once despised you will worship at your feet. They will call you 'The City of the LORD,' 'Zion, the City of Israel's Holy God.'

Nations and kings will care for you As a mother nurses her child. You will know that I, the LORD, have saved you, That the mighty God of Israel sets you free.

The sounds of violence will be heard no more; Destruction will not shatter your country again. I will protect and defend you like a wall; You will praise me because I have saved you.

Your days of grief will come to an end. I, the LORD, will be your eternal light, More lasting than the sun and moon.

Even your smallest and humblest family Will become as great as a powerful nation. When the right time comes, I will make this happen quickly. I am the LORD!"

They will rebuild cities that have long been in ruins.

And you will be known as the priests of the LORD, The servants of our God. You will enjoy the wealth of the nations And be proud that it is yours.

The LORD says, "I love justice and I hate oppression and crime. I will faithfully reward my people And make an eternal covenant with them.

Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done. She is like a bride dressed for her wedding. God has clothed her with salvation and victory.

Jerusalem, the nations will see you victorious! All their kings will see your glory. You will be called by a new name, A name given by the LORD himself.

No longer will you be called "Forsaken," Or your land be called "The Deserted Wife." Your new name will be "God Is Pleased with Her." Your land will be called "Happily Married," Because the LORD is pleased with you And will be like a husband to your land.

On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed sentries; They must never be silent day or night. They must remind the LORD of his promises And never let him forget them.

The LORD has made a solemn promise, And by his power he will carry it out: "Your grain will no longer be food for your enemies, And foreigners will no longer drink your wine.

People of Jerusalem, go out of the city And build a road for your returning people! Prepare a highway; clear it of stones! Put up a signal so that the nations can know

You will be called "God's Holy People," "The People the LORD Has Saved." Jerusalem will be called "The City That God Loves," "The City That God Did Not Forsake."

I will give you rulers who obey me, and they will rule you with wisdom and understanding.

When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all nations will gather there to worship me. They will no longer do what their stubborn and evil hearts tell them.

I will bring you, my people Israel, back to live again in the land. It will be your own land, and it will never again let your children starve.

But from now on it will no longer eat people and rob you of your children. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken.

The LORD spoke to me.

I let them feel the force of my anger because of the murders they had committed in the land and because of the idols by which they had defiled it.

Wherever they went, they brought disgrace on my holy name, because people would say, 'These are the people of the LORD, but they had to leave his land.'

"Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign LORD, have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land.

I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart.

Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

I will increase the yield of your fruit trees and your fields, so that there will be no more famines to disgrace you among the nations.

Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken."

Everyone who used to walk by your fields saw how overgrown and wild they were, but I will let you farm them again.

Then the neighboring nations that have survived will know that I, the LORD, rebuild ruined cities and replant waste fields. I, the LORD, have promised that I would do this---and I will."

The cities that are now in ruins will then be as full of people as Jerusalem was once full of the sheep which were offered as sacrifices at a festival. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city.

He said to me, "Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see."

Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.

He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick.

(These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.)

The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.

There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard.

The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard.

Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others.

Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall.

(SEE 40:29)

The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others.

The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet.

In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices.

Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate.

The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables.

Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.

and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the LORD's presence to serve him.

Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with walls 5 feet thick on either side.

(SEE 48:1)

(SEE 48:1)

(SEE 48:1)

The next section of the land is to be set apart for special use. It is to be 10 miles wide from north to south, and the same length from east to west as the sections given to the tribes. The Temple will be located within this section.

The priests are to have a portion of this holy area. From east to west their portion is to measure 10 miles, and from north to south, 4 miles. The Temple of the LORD is to be located in the middle of this area.

So they are to have a special area next to the area belonging to the Levites, and it will be the holiest of all.

The area dedicated to the LORD is the best part of all the land, and none of it may be sold or exchanged or transferred to anyone else. It is holy and belongs to the LORD.

and it will be a square, 2,520 yards on each side.

The land that is left after the city has been built in the area immediately to the south of the holy area---4 miles by 2 miles on the east and 4 miles by 2 miles on the west---is to be used as farmland by the people who live in the city.

And so the total area in the center of the section which was set apart will be a square measuring 10 miles on each side, and it will include the area occupied by the city.

(SEE 48:21)

(SEE 48:23)

(SEE 48:23)

On the south side of the portion given to the tribe of Gad, the boundary runs southwest from Tamar to the oasis of Kadesh, and then northwest along the Egyptian border to the Mediterranean Sea.

There are twelve entrances to the city of Jerusalem. Each of the four walls measures 2,520 yards and has three gates in it, each named for one of the tribes. The gates in the north wall are named for Reuben, Judah, and Levi; those in the east wall, for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; those in the south wall, for Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; and those in the west wall are named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.

(SEE 48:30)

(SEE 48:30)

and shining with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west.

The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

The angel also measured the wall, and it was 216 feet high, according to the standard unit of measure which he was using.

The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,

The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.

The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp.

The gates of the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will be no night there.

But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city.