Add parallel Print Page Options

Division of the Land

45 “When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you must set aside a section for the Lord as his holy portion. This piece of land will be 8 1⁄3 miles long and 6 2⁄3 miles wide.[a] The entire area will be holy. A section of this land, measuring 875 feet by 875 feet,[b] will be set aside for the Temple. An additional strip of land 87 1⁄2 feet[c] wide is to be left empty all around it. Within the larger sacred area, measure out a portion of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide.[d] Within it the sanctuary of the Most Holy Place will be located. This area will be holy, set aside for the priests who minister to the Lord in the sanctuary. They will use it for their homes, and my Temple will be located within it. The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.[e]

“Adjacent to the larger sacred area will be a section of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 1 2⁄3 miles wide.[f] This will be set aside for a city where anyone in Israel can live.

“Two special sections of land will be set apart for the prince. One section will share a border with the east side of the sacred lands and city, and the second section will share a border on the west side. Then the far eastern and western borders of the prince’s lands will line up with the eastern and western boundaries of the tribal areas. These sections of land will be the prince’s allotment. Then my princes will no longer oppress and rob my people; they will assign the rest of the land to the people, giving an allotment to each tribe.

Rules for the Princes

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord. 10 Use only honest weights and scales and honest measures, both dry and liquid.[g] 11 The homer[h] will be your standard unit for measuring volume. The ephah and the bath[i] will each measure one-tenth of a homer. 12 The standard unit for weight will be the silver shekel.[j] One shekel will consist of twenty gerahs, and sixty shekels will be equal to one mina.[k]

Special Offerings and Celebrations

13 “You must give this tax to the prince: one bushel of wheat or barley for every 60[l] you harvest, 14 one percent of your olive oil,[m] 15 and one sheep or goat for every 200 in your flocks in Israel. These will be the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings that will make atonement for the people who bring them, says the Sovereign Lord. 16 All the people of Israel must join in bringing these offerings to the prince. 17 The prince will be required to provide offerings that are given at the religious festivals, the new moon celebrations, the Sabbath days, and all other similar occasions. He will provide the sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, and peace offerings to purify the people of Israel, making them right with the Lord.[n]

18 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In early spring, on the first day of each new year,[o] sacrifice a young bull with no defects to purify the Temple. 19 The priest will take blood from this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar, and the gateposts at the entrance to the inner courtyard. 20 Do this also on the seventh day of the new year for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance. In this way, you will purify[p] the Temple.

21 “On the fourteenth day of the first month,[q] you must celebrate the Passover. This festival will last for seven days. The bread you eat during that time must be made without yeast. 22 On the day of Passover the prince will provide a young bull as a sin offering for himself and the people of Israel. 23 On each of the seven days of the feast he will prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, consisting of seven young bulls and seven rams without defects. A male goat will also be given each day for a sin offering. 24 The prince will provide a basket of flour as a grain offering and a gallon of olive oil[r] with each young bull and ram.

25 “During the seven days of the Festival of Shelters, which occurs every year in early autumn,[s] the prince will provide these same sacrifices for the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the grain offering, along with the required olive oil.

46 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The east gateway of the inner courtyard will be closed during the six workdays each week, but it will be open on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations. The prince will enter the entry room of the gateway from the outside. Then he will stand by the gatepost while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He will bow down in worship inside the gateway passage and then go back out the way he came. The gateway will not be closed until evening. The common people will bow down and worship the Lord in front of this gateway on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.

“Each Sabbath day the prince will present to the Lord a burnt offering of six lambs and one ram, all with no defects. He will present a grain offering of a basket of choice flour to go with the ram and whatever amount of flour he chooses to go with each lamb, and he is to offer one gallon of olive oil[t] for each basket of flour. At the new moon celebrations, he will bring one young bull, six lambs, and one ram, all with no defects. With the young bull he must bring a basket of choice flour for a grain offering. With the ram he must bring another basket of flour. And with each lamb he is to bring whatever amount of flour he chooses to give. With each basket of flour he must offer one gallon of olive oil.

“The prince must enter the gateway through the entry room, and he must leave the same way. But when the people come in through the north gateway to worship the Lord during the religious festivals, they must leave by the south gateway. And those who entered through the south gateway must leave by the north gateway. They must never leave by the same gateway they came in, but must always use the opposite gateway. 10 The prince will enter and leave with the people on these occasions.

11 “So at the special feasts and sacred festivals, the grain offering will be a basket of choice flour with each young bull, another basket of flour with each ram, and as much flour as the worshiper chooses to give with each lamb. Give one gallon of olive oil with each basket of flour. 12 When the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering or peace offering to the Lord, the east gateway to the inner courtyard will be opened for him, and he will offer his sacrifices as he does on Sabbath days. Then he will leave, and the gateway will be shut behind him.

13 “Each morning you must sacrifice a one-year-old lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. 14 With the lamb, a grain offering must also be given to the Lord—about three quarts of flour with a third of a gallon of olive oil[u] to moisten the choice flour. This will be a permanent law for you. 15 The lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil must be given as a daily sacrifice every morning without fail.

16 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons as his inheritance, it will belong to him and his descendants forever. 17 But if the prince gives a gift of land from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Jubilee, which comes every fiftieth year.[v] At that time the land will return to the prince. But when the prince gives gifts to his sons, those gifts will be permanent. 18 And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I do not want any of my people unjustly evicted from their property.”

The Temple Kitchens

19 In my vision, the man brought me through the entrance beside the gateway and led me to the sacred rooms assigned to the priests, which faced toward the north. He showed me a place at the extreme west end of these rooms. 20 He explained, “This is where the priests will cook the meat from the guilt offerings and sin offerings and bake the flour from the grain offerings into bread. They will do it here to avoid carrying the sacrifices through the outer courtyard and endangering the people by transmitting holiness to them.”

21 Then he brought me back to the outer courtyard and led me to each of its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosure. 22 Each of these enclosures was 70 feet long and 52 1⁄2 feet wide,[w] surrounded by walls. 23 Along the inside of these walls was a ledge of stone with fireplaces under the ledge all the way around. 24 The man said to me, “These are the kitchens to be used by the Temple assistants to boil the sacrifices offered by the people.”

Footnotes

  1. 45:1 As in Greek version, which reads 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 20,000 [cubits] [10.6 kilometers] wide; Hebrew reads 25,000 [cubits] long and 10,000 [cubits] [3 1⁄3 miles or 5.3 kilometers] wide. Compare 45:3, 5; 48:9.
  2. 45:2a Hebrew 500 [cubits] [265 meters] by 500 [cubits], a square.
  3. 45:2b Hebrew 50 cubits [26.5 meters].
  4. 45:3 Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 10,000 [cubits] [5.3 kilometers] wide; also in 45:5.
  5. 45:5 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They will have as their possession 20 rooms.
  6. 45:6 Hebrew 25,000 [cubits] [13.3 kilometers] long and 5,000 [cubits] [2.65 kilometers] wide.
  7. 45:10 Hebrew Use honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.
  8. 45:11a The homer measures about 50 gallons or 220 liters.
  9. 45:11b The ephah is a dry measure; the bath is a liquid measure.
  10. 45:12a The shekel weighs about 0.4 ounces or 11 grams.
  11. 45:12b Elsewhere the mina is equated to 50 shekels.
  12. 45:13 Hebrew 1⁄6 of an ephah from each homer of wheat and 1⁄6 of an ephah from each homer of barley.
  13. 45:14 Hebrew the portion of oil, measured by the bath, is 1⁄10 of a bath from each cor, which consists of 10 baths or 1 homer, for 10 baths are equivalent to a homer.
  14. 45:17 Or to make atonement for the people of Israel.
  15. 45:18 Hebrew On the first day of the first month, of the Hebrew calendar. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in March or April.
  16. 45:20 Or will make atonement for.
  17. 45:21 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March, April, or early May.
  18. 45:24 Hebrew an ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters] of flour . . . and a hin [3.8 liters] of olive oil.
  19. 45:25 Hebrew the festival which begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (see Lev 23:34). This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late September, October, or early November.
  20. 46:5 Hebrew an ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters] of choice flour . . . a hin [3.8 liters] of olive oil; similarly in 46:7, 11.
  21. 46:14 Hebrew 1⁄6 of an ephah [3.7 liters] of flour with 1⁄3 of a hin [1.3 liters] of olive oil.
  22. 46:17 Hebrew until the Year of Release; see Lev 25:8-17.
  23. 46:22 Hebrew 40 [cubits] [21.2 meters] long and 30 [cubits] [15.9 meters] wide.

Israel Fully Restored

45 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance,(A) you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits[a] long and 20,000[b] cubits[c] wide; the entire area will be holy.(B) Of this, a section 500 cubits[d] square(C) is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits[e] around it for open land. In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits[f] wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests,(D) who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.(E) An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.[g](F)

“‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits[h] wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.(G)

“‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions.(H) This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.(I)

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression(J) and do what is just and right.(K) Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 10 You are to use accurate scales,(L) an accurate ephah[i](M) and an accurate bath.[j] 11 The ephah(N) and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both. 12 The shekel[k] is to consist of twenty gerahs.(O) Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.[l]

13 “‘This is the special gift you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah[m] from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah[n] from each homer of barley. 14 The prescribed portion of olive oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath[o] from each cor (which consists of ten baths or one homer, for ten baths are equivalent to a homer). 15 Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings(P) and fellowship offerings to make atonement(Q) for the people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 All the people of the land will be required to give this special offering to the prince in Israel. 17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons(R) and the Sabbaths(S)—at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,[p] grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites.(T)

18 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month(U) on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect(V) and purify the sanctuary.(W) 19 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge(X) of the altar(Y) and on the gateposts of the inner court. 20 You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally(Z) or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.

21 “‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover,(AA) a festival lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast. 22 On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land.(AB) 23 Every day during the seven days of the festival he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams(AC) without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord, and a male goat for a sin offering.(AD) 24 He is to provide as a grain offering(AE) an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin[q] of olive oil for each ephah.(AF)

25 “‘During the seven days of the festival,(AG) which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.(AH)

46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court(AI) facing east(AJ) is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon(AK) it is to be opened. The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico(AL) of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering(AM) and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.(AN) On the Sabbaths(AO) and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway.(AP) The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah,[r] and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin[s] of olive oil for each ephah.(AQ) On the day of the New Moon(AR) he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect.(AS) He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(AT) When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico(AU) of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.(AV)

“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals,(AW) whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. 10 The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out.(AX) 11 At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.(AY)

12 “‘When the prince provides(AZ) a freewill offering(BA) to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.(BB)

13 “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning(BC) you shall provide it.(BD) 14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah[t] with a third of a hin[u] of oil(BE) to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.(BF) 15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular(BG) burnt offering.(BH)

16 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance.(BI) 17 If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom;(BJ) then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. 18 The prince must not take(BK) any of the inheritance(BL) of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.’”

19 Then the man brought me through the entrance(BM) at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north,(BN) which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering[v] and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating(BO) the people.”(BP)

21 He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. 22 In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed[w] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide;[x] each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. 23 Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all around under the ledge. 24 He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 That is, about 8 miles or about 13 kilometers; also in verses 3, 5 and 6
  2. Ezekiel 45:1 Septuagint (see also verses 3 and 5 and 48:9); Hebrew 10,000
  3. Ezekiel 45:1 That is, about 6 1/2 miles or about 11 kilometers
  4. Ezekiel 45:2 That is, about 875 feet or about 265 meters
  5. Ezekiel 45:2 That is, about 88 feet or about 27 meters
  6. Ezekiel 45:3 That is, about 3 1/3 miles or about 5.3 kilometers; also in verse 5
  7. Ezekiel 45:5 Septuagint; Hebrew temple; they will have as their possession 20 rooms
  8. Ezekiel 45:6 That is, about 1 2/3 miles or about 2.7 kilometers
  9. Ezekiel 45:10 An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 3/5 bushel or about 22 liters.
  10. Ezekiel 45:10 A bath was a liquid measure equaling about 6 gallons or about 22 liters.
  11. Ezekiel 45:12 A shekel weighed about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams.
  12. Ezekiel 45:12 That is, 60 shekels; the common mina was 50 shekels. Sixty shekels were about 1 1/2 pounds or about 690 grams.
  13. Ezekiel 45:13 That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms
  14. Ezekiel 45:13 That is, probably about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
  15. Ezekiel 45:14 That is, about 2 1/2 quarts or about 2.2 liters
  16. Ezekiel 45:17 Or purification offerings; also in verses 19, 22, 23 and 25
  17. Ezekiel 45:24 That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters
  18. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, probably about 35 pounds or about 16 kilograms; also in verses 7 and 11
  19. Ezekiel 46:5 That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters; also in verses 7 and 11
  20. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms
  21. Ezekiel 46:14 That is, about 1 1/2 quarts or about 1.3 liters
  22. Ezekiel 46:20 Or purification offering
  23. Ezekiel 46:22 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  24. Ezekiel 46:22 That is, about 70 feet long and 53 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 16 meters wide