Ezekiel 48
1 Now these are the names of the tribes, —At the northern extremity, beside the Hethlon road—as one entereth Hamath, Hazar-enan the boundary of Damascus northwards by the side of Hamath, and so they shall be his as east side and west-Dan, one.
“Here is a list of the tribes of Israel [and the territory that each tribe is to receive]: [The tribe of] Dan will be allotted land at the northern boundary [of Israel]: It will extend east from the Mediterranean Sea east to Hethlon [city], then from there to Hamath Pass, and on to [the town of] Hazar-Enan south of Damascus, between Damascus and Hamath. The tribe of Dan will receive land on the northern border [of Israel] from the eastern end [of the country] west to the [Mediterranean] Sea.
2 And, on the boundary of Dan from the east side unto the west side, —Asher one
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Asher.
3 And, on the boundary of Asher from the east side even unto the west side, - Naphtali one.
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Naphtali.
4 And, on the boundary of Naphtali from the east side unto the west side, — Manasseh one.
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Manasseh.
5 And, on the boundary of Manasseh from the east side unto the west side, — Ephraim, one.
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Ephraim.
6 And, on the boundary of Ephraim from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben one.
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Reuben.
7 And, on the boundary of Reuben from the east side unto the west side, — Judah one.
South of their land will be the territory [for the tribe] of Judah.
8 And, on the boundary of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the heave-offering which ye shall offer up, five and twenty thousand in breadth and, in length, like one of the portions from the east side unto the west side, so shall the sanctuary be in the midst thereof.
South of their land will be an area set apart for special use. The temple will be in the center of that area.
9 the heave-offering which ye shall offer up to Yahweh shall be in length, five and twenty thousand, and in breadth, twenty thousand.
It must be (8.3 miles/13.3 km.) long and (6.7 miles/10.6 km.) wide.
10 And pertaining to these, shall he the holy offering, even for the priests, northwards, five and twenty thousand, and westward, a breadth of ten thousand, and eastward, a breadth of ten thousand and southward, a length of five and twenty thousand, —so shall the sanctuary of Yahweh be in the midst thereof: —
For the priests, there must be a strip of land (8.3 miles/13.3 km.) long and (3.3 miles/5.3 km.) wide. The temple will be in the center of that area.
11 for the priests that are hallowed—the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, —who went not astray when the sons of Israel went astray, as, the Levites, went astray.
That area is for the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They are ones who served me faithfully and did not turn away from me, like most of the descendants of Levi and the other Israeli people did.
12 So then they shall have an offering out of the offering of the land a holy of holies, —toward the boundary of the Levites;
When the land is distributed, that area must be given to the priests; it is land that is very sacred. It will be next to the land that will be given to the other descendants of Levi.
13 the Levites boundary answering to the boundary of the priests, five and twenty thousand in length and in breadth, ten thousand, —all the length five and twenty thousand, and the breadth twenty thousand.
The land that will be allotted to the [other] descendants of Levi will be the same size as the land allotted to the priests. So together, those two portions of land will be (8.3 miles/13.3 km.) long and (6.6 miles/10.6 km.) wide.
14 And they shall not sell thereof, nor shall one exchange or alienate the first-fruits of the land, —for it is holy unto Yahweh.
None of this special land will ever be permitted to be sold or traded or used by other people, because it belongs to me, Yahweh. It is set apart for me.
15 And the five thousand that are left in the breadth, facing the five and twenty thousand, common shall it be to the city, for dwelling and for open space, —and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
The rest [of that sacred area, a strip of land] (8.3 miles/13.3 km.) long and (1.7 miles/2.65 km.) wide will be allotted for other people to use. It will be land where they will be permitted to build homes and have pasturelands. There will be a city at the center.
16 These moreover shall be the measures thereof the north side, four thousand and five hundred, and the south side, four thousand and five hundred, —and the east side, four thousand and five hundred, and the west side, four thousand and five hundred.
The city will be square, (1.5 miles/2.4 km.) on each side.
17 And the open space of the city shall be, northward, two hundred and fifty, and southward, two hundred and fifty, —and eastward, two hundred and fifty, and westward, two hundred and fifty,
Around the city there will be an area for farming, that will be (150 yards/135 meters) in each direction.
18 And the residue in length answering to the offering of the holy portion, shall be ten thousand on the east and ten thousand on the west, so shall it answer to the offering of the holy portion, - and the increase thereof shall be for food, for them who serve the city.
Outside the city, to the east and to the west, there will be a farming area. It will extend (3 miles/4.8 km.) to the east and (3 miles/4.8 km.) to the west. [Men who work there] will produce food for the people who work in the city.
19 And they who serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
[Some of] those who come from the various Israeli tribes to work in the city may also work on the farmland.
20 All the offering shall be five and twenty thousand, by five and twenty thousand, —foursquare, shall ye offer up the offering of the holy portion, towards the possession of the city.
That entire special area, including the sacred lands and the city, will be a square that is (8.3 miles/13.3 km.) on each side.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on this side and on that side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, facing the five and twenty thousand of the offering, as far as the east boundary, and westward, facing the five and twenty thousand by the west boundary, answering to the portions for the prince, - thus shall it be the holy offering, with the sanctuary of the house in the midst thereof.
The areas to the east and to the west of the sacred area and the city will belong to the king. One area will extend east to the eastern boundary of Israel and the other will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea. The sacred area in which the temple is located will be in the middle.
22 And out of the possession of the Levites and out of the possession of the city, in the midst of that which is for the prince, shall it be: between the boundary of Judah, and the boundary of Benjamin, for the prince shall it be.
The area that belongs to the king will be between the land [of the tribe] of [to the north] and the land [of the tribe] of Benjamin [to the south].
23 And the residue of the tribes, —from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one.
South of that special area, each of the other tribes must be allotted one portion of land that extends from the eastern [boundary of Israel] west [to the Mediterranean Sea]. [Beginning at the north] will be land for [the tribe of] Benjamin.
24 And on the boundary of Benjamin from the east side unto the west side, Simeon one.
South of their land will be the territory for [the tribe of] Simeon.
25 And on the boundary of Simeon from the east side unto the west side, Issachar one.
South of their land will be the territory for [the tribe of] Issachar.
26 And on the boundary of Issachar. from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun, one.
South of their land will be the territory for [the tribe of] Zebulun.
27 And on the boundary of Zebulun from the east side unto the west side, Gad, one.
South of their land will be the territory for [the tribe of] Gad.
28 And on the boundary of Gad, by the south side southward, - so shall there be a boundary from Tamar [unto] the waters of Meribath-kadish, towards the torrent-bed, as far as the great sea.
The southern boundary of [the tribe of] Gad will extend south from Tamar to the springs at Meribah-Kadesh, and from there [to the west] along the dry riverbed at the border of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot for inheritance to the tribes of Israel, —and these shall be their portions, Declareth My Lord Yahweh,
That is the land that you must allot to the tribes of Israel, to belong to them permanently. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.”
30 And these are the exits of the city, —on the north side, four thousand five hundred measures,
These will be the exits from the city: On the north side, which will be (1.5 miles/2.4 km.) long,
31 And the gates of the city, shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel; three gates, northward, -the gate of Reuben, one the gate of Judah, one the gate of Levi one;
there must be three gates; each one will have the name of one of the tribes of Israel. The first one will be named for Reuben, the next for Judah, the next for Levi.
32 and on the east side, four thousand and five hundred, with three gates, — even the gate of Joseph, one the gate of Benjamin, one the gate of Dan, one;
On the east side, [also] (1.5 miles/2.4 km.) long, will be gates named for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan.
33 and on the south side, four thousand and five hundred in measure, with three gates, — the gate of Simeon, one the gate of Issachar, one the gate of Zebulun, one;
On the south side, [also] (1.5 miles/2.4 km.) long, will be gates named for Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun.
34 on the west side, four thousand and five hundred, their gates three, —the gate of Gad, one the gate of Asher, one, the gate of Naphtali one.
On the west side, [also] (1.5 miles/2.4 km.) long, will be gates named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
35 Round about, eighteen thousand. And the name of the city, from the day of Yahweh shall [continue to] be the name thereof.
[So] the distance around the city will thus be (6 miles/9.6 km.). And from that time on, the name of the city will be ‘Yahweh Is There’.’
