He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings at their death.

When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger.

“This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.

Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.

They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.

They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

“‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

Israel Fully Restored

“‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide; the entire area will be holy.

In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, 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.

It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land, a most holy portion, bordering the territory of the Levites.

They must not sell or exchange any of it. This is the best of the land and must not pass into other hands, because it is holy to the Lord.