Division of the Land

45 “When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you must set aside a section for the Lord as his holy portion. This piece of land will be 8 1⁄3 miles long and 6 2⁄3 miles wide.^[a] The entire area will be holy.

²⁹ “These are the allotments that will be set aside for each tribe’s exclusive possession. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!

²⁰ On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. ²¹ In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders^[a] in the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

¹³ Then Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide among yourselves by sacred lot. The Lord has commanded that the land be divided among the nine and a half remaining tribes.

⁸ “South of Judah is the land set aside for a special purpose. It will be 8 1⁄3 miles^[a] wide and will extend as far east and west as the tribal territories, with the Temple at the center.

⁹ “The area set aside for the Lord’s Temple will be 8 1⁄3 miles long and 6 2⁄3 miles wide.^{[b] 10} For the priests there will be a strip of land measuring 8 1⁄3 miles long by 3 1⁄3 miles wide,^[c] with the Lord’s Temple at the center. ¹¹ This area is set aside for the ordained priests, the descendants of Zadok who served me faithfully and did not go astray with the people of Israel and the rest of the Levites. ¹² It will be their special portion when the land is distributed, the most sacred land of all. Next to the priests’ territory will lie the land where the other Levites will live.

¹³ “The land allotted to the Levites will be the same size and shape as that belonging to the priests—8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide. Together these portions of land will measure 8 1⁄3 miles long by 6 2⁄3 miles wide.^{[d] 14} None of this special land may ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the Lord; it is set apart as holy.

¹⁵ “An additional strip of land 8 1⁄3 miles long by 1 2⁄3 miles wide,^[e] south of the sacred Temple area, will be allotted for public use—homes, pasturelands, and common lands, with a city at the center. ¹⁶ The city will measure 1 1⁄2 miles^[f] on each side—north, south, east, and west. ¹⁷ Open lands will surround the city for 150 yards^[g] in every direction. ¹⁸ Outside the city there will be a farming area that stretches 3 1⁄3 miles to the east and 3 1⁄3 miles to the west^[h] along the border of the sacred area. This farmland will produce food for the people working in the city. ¹⁹ Those who come from the various tribes to work in the city may farm it. ²⁰ This entire area—including the sacred lands and the city—is a square that measures 8 1⁄3 miles^[i] on each side.

²¹ “The areas that remain, to the east and to the west of the sacred lands and the city, will belong to the prince. Each of these areas will be 8 1⁄3 miles wide, extending in opposite directions to the eastern and western borders of Israel, with the sacred lands and the sanctuary of the Temple in the center. ²² So the prince’s land will include everything between the territories allotted to Judah and Benjamin, except for the areas set aside for the sacred lands and the city.

²³ “These are the territories allotted to the rest of the tribes. Benjamin’s territory lies just south of the prince’s lands, and it extends across the entire land of Israel from east to west.

²¹ “Divide the land within these boundaries among the tribes of Israel. ²² Distribute the land as an allotment for yourselves and for the foreigners who have joined you and are raising their families among you. They will be like native-born Israelites to you and will receive an allotment among the tribes.

² A section of this land, measuring 875 feet by 875 feet,^[a] will be set aside for the Temple. An additional strip of land 87 1⁄2 feet^[b] wide is to be left empty all around it. ³ Within the larger sacred area, measure out a portion of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide.^[c] Within it the sanctuary of the Most Holy Place will be located. ⁴ This area will be holy, set aside for the priests who minister to the Lord in the sanctuary. They will use it for their homes, and my Temple will be located within it. ⁵ The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.^[d]

⁶ “Adjacent to the larger sacred area will be a section of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 1 2⁄3 miles wide.^[e] This will be set aside for a city where anyone in Israel can live.

⁷ “Two special sections of land will be set apart for the prince. One section will share a border with the east side of the sacred lands and city, and the second section will share a border on the west side. Then the far eastern and western borders of the prince’s lands will line up with the eastern and western boundaries of the tribal areas.