Division of the Land

48 “Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, beside Hamath, and running from the east to the west, Dan, one portion. ² Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion. ³ Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, one portion. ⁴ Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion. ⁵ Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion. ⁶ Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, Reuben, one portion. ⁷ Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.

⁸ “And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotment and contribution of land which you shall set apart and offer, 25,000 cubits in width, and in length like one of the [tribal] portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. ⁹ The allotment [of land] that you shall set apart and offer to the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width.

Portion for the Priests

¹⁰ The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, and toward the west 10,000 in width, and toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst of it. ¹¹ It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, and who did not go astray when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray as the [other] Levites did. ¹² And this [land offering] shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy portion beside the border of the [other] Levites. ¹³ Alongside the border of the priests, the [other] Levites shall have 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the width 10,000. ¹⁴ And they shall not sell any of it or exchange it, or allow this choice portion of land to pass to others; for it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ “The remaining [strip of] 5,000 cubits in width and 25,000 in length shall be for the city’s common (secular) use, for a place in which to live and for open country. The city shall be in the midst of it. ¹⁶ These shall be the measurements of it: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500.^{(A) 17} The city shall have open country: toward the north 250 cubits, and toward the south 250, toward the east 250, and toward the west 250. ¹⁸ The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000 cubits to the east and 10,000 to the west; and it shall be beside the holy allotment. The produce from it shall be food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹ The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it. ²⁰ The whole allotment shall be 25,000 by 25,000 cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.

Portion for the Prince

²¹ “The remainder, on both sides of the holy allotment and of the property possessed by the city, shall belong to the prince. In front of the 25,000 cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the [tribal] portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy allotment with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the midst of it. ²² Exclusive of the property of the Levites and of the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.

Portion for Other Tribes

²³ “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion. ²⁴ Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion. ²⁵ Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion. ²⁶ Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion. ²⁷ Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion. ²⁸ And beside the border of Gad, at the south side, southward, the border shall extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook [of Egypt], to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea. ²⁹ This is the land which you shall divide by lot among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance, and these are their several portions,” says the Lord God.

The City Gates

³⁰ “These are the exits of the city: on the north side, [which is to extend] 4,500 cubits by measurement, ³¹ there shall also be gates of the city, named after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. ³² On the east side, 4,500 cubits, also three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. ³³ On the south side, 4,500 cubits, by measurement, also three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ On the west side, 4,500 cubits, three gates: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ The distance around the city shall be 18,000 (4 x 4,500) cubits; and the name of the city from that day [and ever after] shall be, ‘The Lord is There.’”^(B)