Ezekiel 48
Division of the Land
“Now these are the names of the tribes: aFrom the northern border along the road to Hethlon at the entrance of Hamath, to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus northward, in the direction of Hamath, there shall be one section for bDan from its east to its west side; 2 by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, one section for aAsher; 3 by the border of Asher, from the east side to the west, one section for aNaphtali; 4 by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, one section for aManasseh; 5 by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, one section for aEphraim; 6 by the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, one section for aReuben; 7 by the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west, one section for aJudah; 8 by the border of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be athe district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length the same as one of the other portions, from the east side to the west, with the bsanctuary in the center.
9 “The district that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. 10 To these—to the priests—the holy district shall belong: on the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, on the west ten thousand in width, on the east ten thousand in width, and on the south twenty-five thousand in length. The sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the center. 11 aIt shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are sanctified, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, bas the Levites went astray. 12 And this district of land that is set apart shall be to them a thing most aholy by the border of the Levites.
13 “Opposite the border of the priests, the aLevites shall have an area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width; its entire length shall be twenty-five thousand and its width ten thousand. 14 aAnd they shall not sell or exchange any of it; they may not alienate this best part of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 a“The five thousand cubits in width that remain, along the edge of the twenty-five thousand, shall be bfor general use by the city, for dwellings and common-land; and the city shall be in the center. 16 These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred. 17 The common-land of the city shall be: to the north two hundred and fifty cubits, to the south two hundred and fifty, to the east two hundred and fifty, and to the west two hundred and fifty. 18 The rest of the length, alongside the district of the holy section, shall be ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand to the west. It shall be adjacent to the district of the holy section, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 aThe workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. 20 The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart the holy district with the property of the city.
21 a“The rest shall belong to the prince, on one side and on the other of the holy district and of the city’s property, next to the twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy district as far as the eastern border, and westward next to the twenty-five thousand as far as the western border, adjacent to the tribal portions; it shall belong to the prince. It shall be the holy district, band the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the center. 22 Moreover, apart from the possession of the Levites and the possession of the city which are in the midst of what belongs to the prince, the area between the border of Judah and the border of aBenjamin shall belong to the prince.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west, Benjamin shall have one section; 24 by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, aSimeon shall have one section; 25 by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west, aIssachar shall have one section; 26 by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west, aZebulun shall have one section; 27 by the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, aGad shall have one section; 28 by the border of Gad, on the south side, toward the South, the border shall be from Tamar to athe waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the bGreat Sea. 29 aThis is the land which you shall divide by lot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions,” says the Lord God.
The Gates of the City and Its Name
30 “These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits 31 a(the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel), the three gates northward: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi; 32 on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan; 33 on the south side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun; 34 on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. 35 All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; aand the name of the city from that day shall be: bTHE LORD IS THERE.”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
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