Ezekiel 45-48

Easy-to-Read Version

The Division of the Land for Holy Use

45 “You will divide the land for the Israelite tribes by throwing lots. At that time you will separate out a part of the land. It will be a holy part for the Lord. The land will be 25,000 cubits^[a] long and 20,000 cubits^[b] wide.^[c] All this land will be holy. ² A square area that is 500 cubits^[d] long on each side will be for the Temple. There will be an open space around the Temple that is 50 cubits^[e] wide. ³ In the holy area you will measure 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits^[f] wide. The Temple will be in this area. The Temple area will be the Most Holy Place.

⁴ “This holy part of the land will be for the priests, the servants of the Temple. This is where they approach the Lord to serve him. It will be a place for the priests’ houses and a place for the Temple. ⁵ Another area, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, will be for the Levites who serve in the Temple. This land will also become cities for the Levites.

⁶ “And you will give the city an area that is 5000 cubits^[g] wide and 25,000 cubits long. It will be along the side of the holy area. It will be for all the family of Israel. ⁷ The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy area and the land belonging to the city. It will be next to the holy area and the area belonging to the city. It will be the same width as the land that belongs to a tribe. It will go all the way from the west border to the east border. ⁸ This land will be the ruler’s property in Israel. So he will not need to make life hard for my people anymore. But they will give the land to the Israelites for their tribes.”

⁹ This is what the Lord God said: “Enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop being cruel and stealing things from people! Be fair and do what is right! Stop forcing my people out from their homes!” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁰ “Stop cheating people. Use accurate scales and measures! ¹¹ The ephah and the bath must be the same size: A bath and an ephah must both equal 1/10 homer.^[h] Those measures will be based on the homer. ¹² A shekel^[i] must equal 20 gerahs. A mina must equal 60 shekels. It must be equal to 20 shekels plus 25 shekels plus 15 shekels.

¹³ “This is a special offering that you must give:

“Those special offerings are for the grain offerings, for the burnt offerings, and for the fellowship offerings. These offerings are to remove the sins of the people.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁶ “Everyone in the country will give to this offering for the ruler of Israel. ¹⁷ But the ruler must give the things needed for the special holy days. The ruler must provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings for the feast days, for the New Moon, for the Sabbaths, and for all the other special meeting days of the family of Israel. He must give all the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings that are used to make the family of Israel pure.”

¹⁸ This is what the Lord God says: “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. You must use that bull to make the Temple pure. ¹⁹ The priest will take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate to the inner courtyard. ²⁰ You will do the same thing on the seventh day of that month for anyone who has sinned by mistake or without knowing it. So you will make the Temple pure.

Offerings During the Passover

²¹ “On the 14th day of the first month, you must celebrate the Passover. The Festival of Unleavened Bread begins at this time. It continues for seven days. ²² At that time the ruler will offer a bull for himself and for all the people of Israel. The bull will be for a sin offering. ²³ During the seven days of the festival, the ruler will offer seven bulls and seven rams that have nothing wrong with them. They will be burnt offerings to the Lord. The ruler will offer one bull on every day of the seven days of the festival, and he will offer a male goat every day for a sin offering. ²⁴ The ruler will give an ephah^[m] of barley as a grain offering with each bull, and an ephah of barley with each ram. He must give a hin^[n] of oil for each ephah of grain. ²⁵ He must do the same thing for the seven days of the Festival of Shelters. This festival begins on the 15th day of the seventh month. These offerings will be the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil offering.”

The Ruler and the Festivals

46 This is what the Lord God says: “The east gate of the inner courtyard will be closed on the six working days. But it will be opened on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon. ² The ruler will go into the porch of that gate and stand by the gatepost. Then the priests will offer the ruler’s burnt offering and fellowship offerings. The ruler will worship at the opening of that gate and then go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ On the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon, the common people will also worship the Lord at that gate.

⁴ “The ruler will offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the Sabbath. He must provide six lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a ram that has nothing wrong with it. ⁵ He must give an ephah of grain offering with the ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, the ruler can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

⁶ “On the day of the New Moon he must offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. He will also offer six lambs and a ram that have nothing wrong with them. ⁷ The ruler must give an ephah of grain as an offering with the bull and an ephah of grain as an offering with the ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, he can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

⁸ “When the ruler goes in, he must enter at the porch of the east gate—and he must leave that same way.

⁹ “When the common people come to meet with the Lord at the special festivals, whoever enters through the north gate to worship will go out through the south gate, and whoever enters through the south gate will go out through the north gate. People must not return the same way they entered. Each person must go out straight ahead. ¹⁰ The ruler should be there among the people. When the people go in, the ruler will go in with them, and when they go out, the ruler will too.

¹¹ “At the festivals and other special meetings, an ephah of grain as an offering must be offered with each young bull, and an ephah of grain as an offering must be offered with each ram. As for the grain offering with the lambs, the ruler can give as much as he wants. But he must give 1 hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.

¹² “When the ruler gives a freewill offering to the Lord—it might be a burnt offering, a fellowship offering, or a freewill offering—the east gate will be opened for him. Then he will offer his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. After he leaves, the gate will be shut.

The Daily Offering

¹³ “Every day you will provide a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it. It will be for a burnt offering to the Lord. You will provide it every morning. ¹⁴ Also, you will offer a grain offering with the lamb every morning. You will give 1/6 ephah^[o] of flour and 1/3 hin^[p] of oil to make the fine flour moist. It will be the daily grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ So they will give the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning for a burnt offering forever.”

Laws of Inheritance for the Ruler

¹⁶ This is what the Lord God says: “If the ruler gives a gift from part of his land to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. It is their property. ¹⁷ But if the ruler gives a gift from part of his land to one of his slaves, the gift will belong to the slave only until the year of freedom.^[q] Then the gift will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler’s sons will keep a gift of land from the ruler. ¹⁸ And the ruler will not take any of the people’s land or force them to leave their land. He must give some of his own land to his sons. In that way my people will not be forced to lose their land.”

The Special Kitchens

¹⁹ The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gate. He led me to the holy rooms for the priests on the north side. There I saw a place at the west end of the path. ²⁰ The man said to me, “This is where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and will bake the grain offering. Why? So they will not need to bring these offerings out into the outer courtyard. So they will not bring those holy things out where the common people are.”

²¹ Then the man led me out to the outer courtyard. He led me to the four corners of the courtyard. I saw smaller courtyards in each corner of the large courtyard. ²² There was a small, enclosed area in each of the four corners of the courtyard. Each small courtyard was 40 cubits^[r] long and 30 cubits^[s] wide. The four areas measured the same. ²³ There was a brick wall around each of the four small courtyards, and there were places built into the brick walls for cooking. ²⁴ The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve at the Temple cook the sacrifices for the people.”

The Water Flowing From the Temple

47 The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. I saw water coming out from under the east gate of the Temple. (The front of the Temple is on the east side.) The water flowed down from under the south end of the Temple and ran south of the altar. ² The man led me out through the north gate and then around the outside to the outer gate on the east side. The water was flowing out on the south side of the gate.

³ The man walked east with a tape measure in his hand. He measured 1000 cubits.^[t] Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. The water was only ankle deep. ⁴ He measured another 1000 cubits. Then he told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water came up to my knees. Then he measured another 1000 cubits and told me to walk through the water at that place. There the water was waist deep. ⁵ He measured another 1000 cubits, but there the water was too deep to cross. It had become a river. The water was deep enough to swim in. It was a river that was too deep to cross. ⁶ Then the man said to me, “Son of man,^[u] did you pay close attention to the things you saw?”

Then the man led me back along the side of the river. ⁷ As I walked back along the side of the river, I saw many trees on both sides of the water. ⁸ He said to me, “This water flows east, down to the Arabah Valley. ⁹ This water flows into the Dead Sea so that the water in that sea becomes fresh and clean. There are many fish in this water, and all kinds of animals live where this river goes. ¹⁰ You can see fishermen standing by the river all the way from En Gedi to En Eglaim. You can see them throwing their fishing nets and catching many kinds of fish. There are as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the swamps and small marshes will not become fresh. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves never will become dry and fall. The fruit will never stop growing on those trees. The trees will produce fruit every month, because the water for the trees comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be for food, and their leaves will be for healing.”

Division of the Land for the Tribes

¹³ This is what the Lord God says: “These are the borders for dividing the land among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts. ¹⁴ You will divide the land equally. I promised to give this land to your ancestors, so I am giving this land to you.

¹⁵ “These are the borders of the land: On the north side, it goes from the Mediterranean Sea by way of Hethlon where the road turns toward Hamath and on to Zedad, ¹⁶ Berothah, Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath) and Hazer Hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the border will go from the sea to Hazar Enan on the northern border of Damascus and Hamath. This will be on the north side.

¹⁸ “On the east side, the border will go from Hazar Enan between Hauran and Damascus and continue along the Jordan River between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the eastern sea and all the way to Tamar. This will be the eastern border.

¹⁹ “On the south side, the border will go from Tamar all the way to the oasis at Meribah-kadesh. Then it will go along the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the southern border.

²⁰ “On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the border all the way to the area in front of Lebo Hamath. This will be your western border.

²¹ “So you will divide this land among you for the tribes of Israel. ²² You will divide it as a property for yourselves and for the foreigners who live among you and who have had children among you. These foreigners will be residents—they will be like natural born Israelites. You will divide some land for them among the tribes of Israel. ²³ The tribe where that resident lives must give him some land.” This is what the Lord God said!

The Land for the Tribes of Israel

48 “The northern border goes east from the Mediterranean Sea to Hethlon to Hamath Pass and then all the way to Hazar Enan. This is on the border between Damascus and Hamath. The land for the tribes in this group will go from the east of these borders to the west. From north to south, the tribes in this area are Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah.

The Special Section of Land

⁸ “The next area of land will be for a special use. This land is south of Judah’s land. This area is 25,000 cubits^[v] long from north to south. From east to west, it will be as wide as the land that belongs to the other tribes. The Temple will be in the middle of this section of land. ⁹ You will dedicate this land to the Lord. It will be 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits^[w] wide. ¹⁰ This special area of land will be divided among the priests and Levites.

“The priests will get one part of this area. The land will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits^[x] wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. The Lord’s Temple will be in the middle of this area of land. ¹¹ This land is for Zadok’s descendants. These men were chosen to be my holy priests, because they continued to serve me when the other people of Israel left me. Zadok’s family did not leave me like the other people from the tribe of Levi. ¹² This share from this holy part of the land will be especially for these priests. It will be next to the land of the Levites.

¹³ “Next to the land for the priests, the Levites will have a share of the land. It will be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. They will get the full length and width of this land—25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. ¹⁴ The Levites will not sell or trade any of this land. They will not be able to sell any of it. They must not cut up this part of the country, because this land belongs to the Lord—it is very special. It is the best part of the land.

The Shares for the City Property

¹⁵ “There will be an area of land 5000 cubits^[y] wide by 25,000 cubits long that is left over from the land given to the priests and Levites. This land can be for the city, for grasslands for animals, and for building houses. The common people may use this land. The city will be in the middle of it. ¹⁶ These are the city’s measurements: The north side will be 4500 cubits.^[z] The south side will be 4500 cubits. The east side will be 4500 cubits. The west side will be 4500 cubits. ¹⁷ The city will have grasslands. These grasslands will be 250 cubits^[aa] on the north and 250 cubits on the south. They will be 250 cubits on the east and 250 cubits on the west. ¹⁸ What is left of the length along the side of the holy area will be 10,000 cubits on the east and 10,000 cubits on the west. This land will be along the side of the holy area. This land will grow food for the city workers. ¹⁹ The city workers from all the tribes of Israel will farm this land.

²⁰ “This special area of land will be square. It will be 25,000 cubits long by 25,000 cubits wide. You must set apart this area for its special purposes. One part is for the priests, one part is for the Levites, and one part is for the city.

^21-22 “Part of that special land will be for the ruler of the country. That special area of land is square. It is 25,000 cubits long by 25,000 cubits wide. Part of this special land is for the priests, part of it is for the Levites, and part of it is for the Temple. The Temple is in the middle of this area of land. The rest of the land belongs to the ruler of the country. The ruler will get the area between the land of Benjamin and the land of Judah.

^23-27 “South of this special area will be the land for the tribes that lived east of the Jordan River. Each tribe will get a section of land that goes from the eastern border to the Mediterranean Sea. From north to south, these tribes are Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad.

²⁸ “The southern border of Gad’s land will go from Tamar to the oasis at Meribah-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁹ This is the land that you will divide among the tribes of Israel. This is what each group will get.” This is what the Lord God said!

The Gates of the City

³⁰ “These are the gates of the city. The gates will be named for the tribes of Israel.

“The north side of the city will be 4500 cubits long. ³¹ There will be three gates: Reuben’s Gate, Judah’s Gate, and Levi’s Gate.

³² “The east side of the city will be 4500 cubits long. There will be three gates: Joseph’s Gate, Benjamin’s Gate, and Dan’s Gate.

³³ “The south side of the city will be 4500 cubits long. There will be three gates: Simeon’s Gate, Issachar’s Gate, and Zebulun’s Gate.

³⁴ “The west side of the city will be 4500 cubits long. There will be three gates: Gad’s Gate, Asher’s Gate, and Naphtali’s Gate.

³⁵ “The distance around the city will be 18,000 cubits.^[ab] From now on, the name of the city will be the lord is there.^[ac]”