In three places the Kohanim stood guard in the Temple: in the Chamber of Avtinas, in the Chamber of Nitsots [sparks] and in the Chamber of Fire. The Levites would [guard] in twenty one places: five [Levites] on the five gates of the Temple Mount, four [Levites] on the four corners [of the Temple Mount walls] from the inside, five [Levites] , on the five gates of the courtyard, four [Levites] on the four corners [of the courtyard] from the outside, one in the Chamber of the Sacrifices, one in the Chamber of the Curtain, and one behind in the Chamber of the Cover [the holy of holies].

The man [who is in charge] of the Temple Mount would go around to each and every guard. In front of him there were lit torches and any guard who was not standing [on guard], the man of the Temple Mount would say to him [the sleeping guard] "Peace onto you." If it was apparent that he [the guard] was sleeping he would hit him with his stick. He even had permission to burn his [the sleeping guard's] clothes. [If that occurred] they [the people on the outsde] would say "What is that noise in the Temple Courtyard?" [They were told that] it is the voice of a Levi being beaten and whose clothes are being burned because he slept on guard duty. Rebbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: "They once, found my mother's brother sleeping and they burned his cloak."

There were five gates to the Temple Mount. [The] two Chulda gates in the south, used as entrance and as an exit. Kiponos in the west, used as an entrance and an exit. Tadi in the north, was not used at all. The Eastern Gate, was decorated with Shushan the capital [of Persia], and through it [the gate] the Kohen Gadol would burn the [red] heifer [for the purification ritual] and all those attending to it would exit to the Mount of Anointing [Mount of Olives].

There were seven gates in the Temple Courtyard. Three to the north and three to the south and one to the east. In the south was the Fuel Gate [the wood for the altar was bought in through there]. Second to it was the Gate of the Sacrifice. Third to it was the Water Gate. In the east was the Nikanor gate, and it had two chambers, one on its right and one on its left. One was the chamber of Pinchas the Outfitter, and one was the Chamber of the Makers of the Chavitin [for the Kohen Gadol's daily offering].

And in the north, the Gate of Nitsots. And it was [built] like a portico and upon it was built an upper story, where from that the Kohanim guarded from above and the Levites from below. It had a door to the Cheil [a low fence around the Temple, which served as a boundary, beyond which entry to those impure was prohibited]. Second to it, the Gate of Sacrifice. Third to it,was the Hall of Fire.

And there were four chambers in the Hall of Fire, like alcoves opening into an auditorium. Two [of the alcoves] were in a consecrated part [of the Hall of Fire] and two in an unconsecrated part, and the ends of the beams [indicating the boundary] separated between consecrated and unconsecrated. And what were they used for? The southwestern one was the Chamber of the Sacrificial Lambs [blemish-free lambs were stored there]. The southeastern one was the Chamber of the Lechem HaPanim [showbread]. [In] the northeastern one the Hasmoneans hid the stones of the altar that were defiled by the kings of Greece. [Through] the northwestern one they [the Kohanim descended to the Room of Immersion [mikvah].

The Hall of Fire had two gates, one opened to the Cheil and one opened to the courtyard. Rabbi Judah said: the one that was open to the courtyard had a small doorway that they [the Kohanim] would enter through it to observe the courtyard.

The Hall of Fire was domed, and was a large room, surrounded with ledges of stone, and the elders of the heads of the household would sleep there with the keys to the courtyard in their hands, and the young Kohanim [slept] with their clothing on the ground.

There was a space there [in the Hall of Fire], one amah [measurement of size] by one amah and there was a tile of marble with a ring installed in it, and a chain that the keys [to the Courtyard] were hanging from. When the time for closing the gates had arrived, [the Kohen] would lift the tile with the ring, and take the keys from the chain, the Kohen would lock the gates from the inside, and a Levite would sleep on the outside. When he had finished locking all the gates, he returned the keys to the chain, and the tile to it's place. He would place his clothes on it [the tile] and go to sleep. If one of them [the Kohanim] experienced a seminal emission [and became impure], he would exit via a tunnel which went under the building, and there were candles lit here and there, until he arrived at the Room of Immersion. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: [They would exit] via the tunnel that went under the Cheil, and would exit through the Tedi [Gate].