Ezekiel 45–48

1“‘“Moreover, when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land. The length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the width shall be ten thousand. It shall be holy in all its border all around.

2Of this there shall be a five hundred by five hundred square for the holy place, and fifty cubits for its pasture lands all around.

3Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a width of ten thousand. In it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy.

4It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to Yahweh. It shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

5Twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, as a possession for themselves, for twenty rooms.

6“‘“You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.

7“‘“What is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy allotment and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy allotment and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward, and in length corresponding to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

8In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel. My princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

9“‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Enough, you princes of Israel! Remove violence and plunder, and execute justice and righteousness! Stop dispossessing my people!” says the Lord Yahweh.

10“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.

11The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer. Its measure shall be the same as the homer.

12The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

13“‘“This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat, and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley,

14and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, one tenth of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer),

15and one lamb of the flock out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel—for a meal offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” says the Lord Yahweh.

16“All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.

17It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

18“‘The Lord Yahweh says: “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without defect, and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.

19The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.

20So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple. So you shall make atonement for the house.

21“‘“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

22On that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.

23The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without defect daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.

24He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

25“‘“In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the feast, he shall do like that for seven days. He shall make the same provision for sin offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the oil.”

1“‘The Lord Yahweh says: “The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

2The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

3The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

4The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh shall be on the Sabbath day, six lambs without defect and a ram without defect;

5and the meal offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

6On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without defect, six lambs, and a ram. They shall be without defect.

7He shall prepare a meal offering: an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

8When the prince enters, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by its way.

9“‘“But when the people of the land come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him.

10The prince shall go in with them when they go in. When they go out, he shall go out.

11“‘“In the feasts and in the appointed holidays, the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

12When the prince prepares a free will offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a free will offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out; and after his going out one shall shut the gate.

13“‘“You shall prepare a lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily. Morning by morning you shall prepare it.

14You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance.

15Thus they shall prepare the lamb, the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.”

16“‘The Lord Yahweh says: “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It shall belong to his sons. It is their possession by inheritance.

17But if he gives of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.

18Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.”’”

19Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked toward the north. Behold, there was a place on the back part westward.

20He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering, that they not bring them out into the outer court, to sanctify the people.”

21Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.

22In the four corners of the court there were courts enclosed, forty cubits long and thirty wide. These four in the corners were the same size.

23There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around.

24Then he said to me, “These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.”

1He brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, waters flowed out from under the threshold of the temple eastward, for the front of the temple faced toward the east. The waters came down from underneath, from the right side of the temple, on the south of the altar.

2Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me around by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looks toward the east. Behold, waters ran out on the right side.

3When the man went out eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.

4Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through waters that were to the waist.

5Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be walked through.

6He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and caused me to return to the bank of the river.

7Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8Then he said to me, “These waters flow out toward the eastern region and will go down into the Arabah. Then they will go toward the sea and flow into the sea which will be made to flow out; and the waters will be healed.

9It will happen that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, will live. Then there will be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river comes.

10It will happen that fishermen will stand by it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceedingly many.

11But its swamps and marshes will not be healed. They will be given up to salt.

12By the river banks, on both sides, will grow every tree for food, whose leaf won’t wither, neither will its fruit fail. It will produce new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary. Its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for healing.”

13The Lord Yahweh says: “This shall be the border by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.

14You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers. This land will fall to you for inheritance.

15“This shall be the border of the land: “On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;

16Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.

17The border from the sea shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

18“The east side, between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side.

19“The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook, to the great sea. This is the south side southward.

20“The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as opposite the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.

21“So you shall divide this land to yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.

22You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who will father children among you. Then they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

23In whatever tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord Yahweh.

1“Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion.

2“By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion.

3“By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one portion.

4“By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion.

5“By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion.

6“By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion.

7“By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.

8“By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand reeds in width, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.

9“The offering that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in width.

10For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in width, and toward the east ten thousand in width, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length; and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in the middle of it.

11It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a most holy thing, by the border of the Levites.

13“Alongside the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. All the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the width ten thousand.

14They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated, for it is holy to Yahweh.

15“The five thousand cubits that are left in the width, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for pasture lands; and the city shall be in the middle of it.

16These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17The city shall have pasture lands: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty.

18The remainder of the length, alongside the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward; and it shall be alongside the holy offering. Its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.

19Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.

20All the offering shall be a square of twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand. You shall offer it as a holy offering, with the possession of the city.

21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.

22Moreover, from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the middle of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.

23“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.

24“By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.

25“By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.

26“By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion.

27“By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion.

28“By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook, to the great sea.

29“This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord Yahweh.

30“These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure;

31and the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

32“At the east side four thousand five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.

33“At the south side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.

34“At the west side four thousand five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.

35“It shall be eighteen thousand reeds in circumference; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’