The Way of Worship

46 ‘The Lord God says, “The east gate of the inner open space must stay shut during the six working days. But it may be opened on the Day of Rest and on the day of the new moon. ² The ruler will come in through the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the pillar of the gate. The religious leaders will make ready his burnt gift and his peace gifts, and he will worship at the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ The people of the land will also worship at the gate before the Lord on the Days of Rest and on the new moons. ⁴ The burnt gift the ruler gives to the Lord on the Day of Rest will be six lambs that are perfect and a ram that is perfect. ⁵ The grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ⁶ On the day of the new moon he will give a young bull that is perfect, and six lambs and a ram that are perfect. ⁷ He will give a grain gift, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the bull, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ⁸ When the ruler comes in, he must come in through this gateway, and go out the same way. ⁹ But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the special suppers, he who comes in through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. And he who comes in through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one should leave through the same gate that he came in. Each person must go out the gate on the other side from where he came in. ¹⁰ The ruler should come in when the people come in, and leave when they leave. ¹¹ At the special times and special suppers, the grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with a bull, and one-tenth part of a barrel with a ram. A person should give as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ¹² When the ruler brings a free-will gift to the Lord, a burnt gift or a peace gift, the east gate must be opened for him. He will bring his burnt gift and his peace gifts as he does on the Day of Rest. Then he will leave, and the gate will be shut after he goes out.

¹³ “You must bring a one-year-old lamb that is perfect for a burnt gift to the Lord each day. Morning by morning you must bring it. ¹⁴ And you must bring a grain gift with it each morning. Bring one-sixtieth part of a barrel of grain, and one-third part of a large jar of oil to mix with the flour. This is the law for the grain gift to the Lord forever. ¹⁵ In this way the lamb, the grain gift and the oil will be brought each morning for a burnt gift forever.”

¹⁶ ‘The Lord God says, “If the ruler gives some of his land to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. They will own the land for their families. ¹⁷ But if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, it will be his until the year he is set free. Then it will be returned to the ruler. His land may be kept only by his sons. It will belong to them. ¹⁸ The ruler must not take any land from the people, driving them away from what belongs to them. He must give only his own land to his sons, so that My people will not be divided from what belongs to them.”’”

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the door beside the gate into the holy rooms for the religious leaders, toward the north. And I saw a place at the far west end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the religious leaders will boil the guilt gift and the sin gift, and make the grain gift ready. This is so they will not bring them into the outer open space and make the people holy.” ²¹ Then he brought me into the outer open space and led me to its four corners. And in every corner I saw a small open space. ²² In the four corners there were open spaces with walls around them, as long as twenty long steps and as wide as fifteen long steps. All four spaces in the corners were the same in length and width. ²³ There was a fireplace of stone all around in each of them. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the places where those who serve in the house will boil the gifts brought by the people.”

The River Coming from the House of God

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the house. And I saw water flowing from under the doorway toward the east, for the house looked toward the east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. ² He brought me out through the north gate and led me around on the outside to the east gate. And I saw water coming from the south side.

³ Going toward the east, the man numbered 500 long steps, and he led me through the water, which covered my feet. ⁴ He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water, which came up to my knees. He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water. This time it came above my legs. ⁵ Again he numbered 500 long steps, and it was a river that I could not walk through. The water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, and no one could cross it. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he brought me back to the side of the river. ⁷ As I returned, I saw that there were very many trees on both sides of the river. ⁸ He said to me, “These waters go out toward the east country and down into the Arabah, then flow into the Dead sea. When they flow into the sea, the waters there become clean again. ⁹ Every living thing that gathers where the river goes will live. There will be very many fish, because these waters go there and make the salt water clean. So everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside it. They will have places to spread their nets from Engedi to Eneglaim. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But its wet places and pools will not be good for animal life. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up, and they will never stop giving fruit. They will give fruit every month because their water flows from the holy place. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

¹³ The Lord God says, “This is how you should divide the land among the twelve family groups of Israel. Joseph will have two parts. ¹⁴ You must divide the land so each family receives the same amount. For I promised to give this land to your fathers, and it will be your land to own.

¹⁵ “This will be the side of the land: The north side will go from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, and on to Zedad, ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (between the lands of Damascus and Hamath), and to Hazer-hatticon, by the land of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the land will spread from the sea to Hazarenan on the north side of Damascus, with the land of Hamath toward the north. This will be the north side. ¹⁸ The east side of the land will go from between Hauran and Damascus along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the sea in the east. This will be the east side. ¹⁹ The south side of the land will go from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This will be the south side. ²⁰ The west side of the land will be the Great Sea, to a place beside Lebo-hamath. This will be the west side.

²¹ “So divide this land among your family groups of Israel. ²² Divide it by drawing names for yourselves and for the people from other lands who live with you and raise their children among you. You are to think of them as if they were born Israelites. They must be given a share of land with you among the families of Israel. ²³ The man from another country must be given a share of land among the family group he lives with,” says the Lord God.

The Land Divided among the Family Groups

48 “These are the names of the family groups: Dan will have one share of land at the far north. His land will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan beside the land of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath, going from east to west. ² Asher will have one share of land beside Dan, from the east side to the west side. ³ Naphtali will have one share beside Asher, from the east side to the west side. ⁴ Manasseh will have one share beside Naphtali, from the east side to the west side. ⁵ Ephraim will have one share beside Manasseh, from the east side to the west side. ⁶ Reuben will have one share beside Ephraim, from the east side to the west side. ⁷ Judah will have one share beside Reuben, from the east side to the west side.

⁸ “Beside Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the share of land you must set apart as a special gift. It will be as wide as 12,500 long steps, and as long as one of the other shares of land, from the east side to the west side. And the holy place will be in the center of it. ⁹ The gift of land that you will set apart to the Lord will be as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. ¹⁰ There will be a holy part for the religious leaders. It will be as long as 12,500 long steps on the north side, 5,000 long steps on the west side, 5,000 long steps on the east side, and 12,500 long steps on the south side. The holy house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ¹¹ It will be for the religious leaders who are set apart of the sons of Zadok, who have been faithful in serving Me. They did not sin as the Levites did when the people of Israel went the wrong way. ¹² It will belong to them as a special gift from part of the land, a most holy place, beside the land of the Levites. ¹³ The Levites will have land beside the religious leaders, as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. The whole length will be 12,500 long steps, and the width 5,000 long steps. ¹⁴ They must not sell or trade any of it. This is the best part of the land, and it must not pass into other hands. For it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ “The rest of the land, 2,500 long steps in width and 12,500 long steps in length, will be for all the people. It will be for houses and for open fields, and the city will be in the center of it. ¹⁶ The city will be 2,250 long steps on each of its four sides. ¹⁷ And it will have open fields, 125 long steps in width, all around the city. ¹⁸ The rest of the length beside the holy part of the land will be 5,000 long steps toward the east and 5,000 long steps toward the west. This will be where food is grown for those who work in the city. ¹⁹ And the workers of the city, from all the family groups of Israel, will work the ground. ²⁰ The whole piece of land will be as long as 12,500 long steps on each of its four sides. You will set apart the holy piece of land, together with the land for the city.

²¹ “The rest of the land will be for the ruler, on both sides of the holy piece of land and of the land for the city. It will go from the 12,500 long steps of the holy piece of land all the way to the east side, and from the 12,500 long steps all the way to the west side, along the shares for the family groups. It will belong to the ruler. The holy piece of land and the house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ²² So the land of the Levites and the land of the city will be in the center of the ruler’s land. And the ruler’s land will be between the land of Judah and the land of Benjamin.

²³ “As for the rest of the family groups, Benjamin will have one share of land. It will spread from the east side to the west side. ²⁴ Simeon will have one share beside Benjamin, from the east side to the west side. ²⁵ Issachar will have one share beside Simeon, from the east side to the west side. ²⁶ Zebulun will have one share beside Issachar, from the east side to the west side. ²⁷ Gad will have one share beside Zebulun, from the east side to the west side. ²⁸ The south side of Gad’s share will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. ²⁹ This is the land you will give by drawing names to the family groups of Israel for their own. And these are their shares,” says the Lord God.

The Gates of Jerusalem

³⁰ “These will be the gates of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is as long as 2,250 long steps, ³¹ the gates of the city will be given the names of the family groups of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi. ³² The east side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³ The south side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ And the west side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ It will be 9,000 long steps around the city. And the name of the city from that time on will be: ‘The Lord is there.’”