Ezekiel 48

¹⁵This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad,

¹⁶Berothah, and Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan:

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

⁷Your northern border will run from the Great Sea directly to Mount Hor,

⁸and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,

⁴and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;

⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

²⁰And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.

²⁶So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.

²⁷After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Asher:

²⁵Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

¹²When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,

¹³Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

³²The sixth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Naphtali:

³³Their border started at Heleph and the great tree of Zaanannim, passing Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum and ending at the Jordan.

⁷And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

⁸Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

¹Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.

²So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.

²⁹This is what Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh:

³⁰The territory from Mahanaim through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all the towns of Jair that are in Bashan, sixty cities;

²²Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,

²³and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.

⁵And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

¹⁴But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”

⁸The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.

⁹From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.

¹⁴Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the Lord has blessed us abundantly.”

¹⁵Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”

¹The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness that goes up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

²It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.

¹⁵This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:

¹⁶The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau beyond Medeba,

³Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

⁴Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.

³²And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

¹Now the allotment for the clans of the tribe of Judah extended to the border of Edom, to the Wilderness of Zin at the extreme southern boundary:

²Their southern border started at the bay on the southern tip of the Salt Sea,

⁹The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the territory of Judah, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large for them. So the Simeonites received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

³⁵And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

²⁰Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.

²¹But there the Majestic One, our Lord, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals, where no galley with oars will row, and no majestic vessel will pass.

¹“When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the Lord, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. This entire tract of land will be holy.

²Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land.

⁶Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”

³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.

²²But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²¹The remaining area on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, extending eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the holy district toward the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. And in the center of them will be the holy portion and the sanctuary of the temple.

⁴It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

²⁸In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

¹Again the Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

²“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

¹³Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?

¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

¹⁰Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

¹Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel

²at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

⁴⁶and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the Lord to minister before Him.”

¹⁰Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹⁵But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord God.

¹⁶They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

²¹When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it becomes the property of the priests.

⁴It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

³From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

¹⁹and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

⁷Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁵An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.

²⁸Nothing that a man sets apart to the Lord from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.

⁹If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the Lord, any such animal given to the Lord shall be holy.

¹⁰He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.

¹²It will be a special portion for them set apart from the land, a most holy portion adjacent to the territory of the Levites.

³²Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the Lord.

³³He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’”

²⁹You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

²⁰The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the Lord, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.

⁶As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

²⁰So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

²⁶Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

¹⁵in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

²³They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

¹⁶The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.

⁶As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

⁴⁶The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁷the descendants of Keros, the descendants of Sia, the descendants of Padon,

²⁷On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the Lord and for the altar at the place He would choose.

⁴³The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴the descendants of Keros, the descendants of Siaha, the descendants of Padon,

¹Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.

²And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

⁶As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

⁸and these were their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

¹⁶The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.

¹⁷For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.

²²So the Levitical property and the city property will lie in the center of the area belonging to the prince—the area between the borders of Judah and Benjamin.

²⁴My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.

¹¹Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.

⁸Bordering the territory of Judah, from east to west, will be the portion you are to set apart. It will be 25,000 cubits wide, and the length of a tribal portion from east to west. In the center will be the sanctuary.

²³I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.

²⁴I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

¹⁰This will be the holy portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center will be the sanctuary of the Lord.

²¹These were the cities of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

¹⁶Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

¹⁷During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”

¹“Now these are the names of the tribes: At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion bordering the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath and running on to Hazar-enan on the border of Damascus with Hamath to the north, and extending from the east side to the west side.

²Asher will have one portion bordering the territory of Dan from east to west.

¹The second lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah

²and included Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

³³Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon.

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.

⁶May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Issachar:

¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁴Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But Leah replied, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you want to take my son’s mandrakes as well?” “Very well,” said Rachel, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁰The third lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Zebulun: The border of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid.

¹¹It went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.

¹⁹Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

²⁰“God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.

²⁴This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Gad:

²⁵The territory of Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, near Rabbah;

¹⁰And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

¹¹Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

²Then some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Sea; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).

¹⁵This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad,

¹⁹On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern boundary.

²⁰And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.

³from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;

¹In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

¹³So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The Lord has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes.

¹³This is what the Lord God says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions.

¹⁴You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

¹Now Joshua was old and well along in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and well along in years, but very much of the land remains to be possessed.

²This is the land that remains: All the territory of the Philistines and the Geshurites,

²“Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries:

³²On the east side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.

³³On the south side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.

¹⁶and will have these measurements: 4,500 cubits on the north side, 4,500 cubits on the south side, 4,500 cubits on the east side, and 4,500 cubits on the west side.

¹⁶The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.

¹²The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.

¹³There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

²Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.

¹¹Your gates will always stand open; they will never be shut, day or night, so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you, with their kings being led in procession.

¹²I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

²⁵Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

¹⁰“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the Lord.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

³No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.

⁶Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.