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The Lord’s Portion of the Land

45 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment[a] to the Lord, a holy portion from the land; the length will be 8¼ miles[b] and the width 3⅓ miles.[c] This entire area will be holy.[d] Of this area a square 875 feet[e] by 875 feet will be designated for the sanctuary, with 87½ feet[f] set aside for its open space round about. From this measured area you will measure a length of 8¼ miles[g] and a width of 3⅓ miles;[h] in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. It will be a holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.[i] An area 8¼ miles[j] in length and 3⅓ miles[k] in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities[l] in which they will live.

“‘Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment, you will allot for the city an area 1⅔ miles[m] wide and 8¼ miles[n] long; it will be for the whole house of Israel.

“‘For the prince there will be land on both sides of the holy allotment and the allotted city, on the west side and on the east side; it will be comparable in length to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people,[o] declares the Sovereign Lord. 10 You must use just balances,[p] a just dry measure (an ephah),[q] and a just liquid measure (a bath).[r] 11 The dry and liquid measures will be the same: The bath will contain a tenth of a homer,[s] and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure. 12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs. Sixty shekels[t] will be a mina for you.

13 “‘This is the offering you must offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat, a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley, 14 and as the prescribed portion of olive oil, one-tenth of a bath from each cor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer); 15 and one sheep from each flock of 200, from the watered places of Israel, for a grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offering, to make atonement for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 All the people of the land will contribute[u] to this offering for the prince of Israel. 17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offering, and the drink offering at festivals, on the new moons and Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he will provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

18 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you must take an unblemished young bull and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorpost of the gate of the inner court. 20 This is what you must do on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins inadvertently or through ignorance; so you will make atonement for the temple.

21 “‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will celebrate the Passover, and for the seven days of the festival bread made without yeast will be eaten. 22 On that day the prince will provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 23 And during the seven days of the feast he will provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams, all without blemish, on each of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 He will provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a gallon[v] of olive oil for each ephah of grain.[w] 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast,[x] he will make the same provisions for the sin offering, burnt offering, and grain offering, and for the olive oil, for the seven days.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “a contribution.”
  2. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers). The measuring units here are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard miles (one mile = 5,280 feet), with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes.
  3. Ezekiel 45:1 tc The LXX reads “20,000 cubits.”tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  4. Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “holy it is in all its territory round about.”
  5. Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “500 cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters); the phrase occurs twice in this verse.
  6. Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “50 cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
  7. Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  8. Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  9. Ezekiel 45:4 tc The LXX apparently understood “open land” instead of “sanctuary.”
  10. Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  11. Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
  12. Ezekiel 45:5 tc The translation follows the LXX here. The MT reads “twenty.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:246.
  13. Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “5,000 cubits” (i.e., 2.625 kilometers).
  14. Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
  15. Ezekiel 45:9 sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.
  16. Ezekiel 45:10 sn Previous legislation regarding this practice may be found in Lev 19:35-36; Deut 25:13-16; Mic 6:10-12.
  17. Ezekiel 45:10 tn Heb “ephah,” which was 1/2 bushel.
  18. Ezekiel 45:10 tn Heb “bath,” a liquid measure, was 5 1/2 gallons.
  19. Ezekiel 45:11 sn The homer was about 5 bushels as a dry measure and 55 gallons as a liquid measure.
  20. Ezekiel 45:12 tn Heb “twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels.”
  21. Ezekiel 45:16 tn Heb “will be.”
  22. Ezekiel 45:24 tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.
  23. Ezekiel 45:24 tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.
  24. Ezekiel 45:25 sn That is, the Feast of Temporary Shelters, traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles (Exod 23:16; 34:22; Deut 16:16).

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)

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