There were seven steps going up to it; its porches were in front of them. It had decorative palm trees on its jambs, one on either side.

You will also take the bull for the sin offering, and it will be burned in the appointed place in the temple, outside the sanctuary.

In the four corners of the court were small ¹  courts, 70 feet ²  in length and 52½ feet ³  in width; the four were all the same size.

But he denied it: ¹  “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about!” ²  Then ³  he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. ⁴ 

The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen ¹  and purple wool on silver rings, alabaster columns, gold and silver couches ²  displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stone.

Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him.

The Lord said, “Go stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. ¹  Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Do not leave out a single word!

I took both copies of the deed of purchase ¹  and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence ²  of my cousin ³  Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and all the Judeans who were housed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

At that time Baruch went into the temple of the Lord. He stood in the entrance of the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan who had been the royal secretary. ¹  That room was in the upper court ²  near the entrance of the New Gate. ³  There, where all the people could hear him, he read from the scroll what Jeremiah had said. ⁴ 

On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one ¹  at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south ²  gate facing north.

When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are.”

When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ¹ 

The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorpost of the gate of the inner court.

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

Likewise ¹  for its length on the north side, there are to be ²  hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands ³  on the posts.

He made a colonnade ¹  75 feet ²  long and 45 feet ³  wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. ⁴ 

The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. ¹  He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. ² 

Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the Lord’s temple and stood ¹  in its courtyard and called out to all the people.

The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the royal secretary, for safekeeping. ¹  Then they went to the court and reported everything ²  to the king. ³ 

“Take some large stones ¹  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ²  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ³  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ⁴