Ezekiel 48
EasyEnglish Bible
Each tribe gets its part of the land
48 ‘This is the list of Israel's tribes, with the land that each tribe will receive:
Dan will receive land at the north border of Israel. Their north border goes east from the Mediterranean Sea along the road to Hethlon, as far as Lebo-Hamath. From there, it goes to Hazar-Enan, on the border between Damascus and Hamath.
Dan's part of the land goes all the way from Israel's border in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
2 South of Dan's land will be the land for Asher.
3 South of Asher's land will be the land for Naphtali.
4 South of Naphtali's land will be the land for Manasseh.
5 South of Manasseh's land will be the land for Ephraim.
6 South of Ephraim's land will be the land for Reuben.
7 South of Reuben's land will be the land for Judah.
8 South of Judah's land will be a special part of the land, with the temple in the middle of it. From east to west, it will be the same size as the parts of the land for Israel's tribes. From north to south, it will be 12½ kilometres.
9 The part that belongs to the Lord for his temple will be 12½ kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. 10 The priests will have a part of this holy land. Their part will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west. It will measure 5 kilometres from north to south. The Lord's temple will be in the middle of this part. 11 This holy part of the land will belong to the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They are the priests who served me faithfully. They did not turn away from me as the other Levites did when Israel's people did not obey me. 12 So the priests will have that special part of the land, next to the part for the Levites. The priests' part will be the most holy part of the land.
13 The Levites will also have a special part, south of the part for the priests. It will be the same size. It will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west, and 5 kilometres from north to south. So the land for the priests and for the Levites will be 12½ kilometres from east to west and 10 kilometres from north to south. 14 The special part of the land that belongs to the Lord is the best of the whole land. You must not give his land to anyone else or sell it to anyone else. It is holy and it belongs to the Lord.
15 The other part of the special land is 12½ kilometres from east to west and 2½ kilometres from north to south. That part is not holy. Ordinary people may use it. They may live there and use the fields. There will be a city in the middle of it. 16 The city will be square, 2,250 metres long on each side. 17 You must leave an open space 125 metres wide on each side of the city. 18 There will be two other pieces of land south of the special holy land. There will be a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the east side of the city and a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the west side. People who live in the city may use these pieces of land to grow crops. 19 There will be people from the different tribes of Israel who live in the city. Any of them may use the land to grow things.
20 The whole of the special land, including the holy part and the part for the city, will be a square. Each side will be 12½ kilometres.
21 The parts of land on each side of the square will belong to the ruler. The part on the east side will go as far as Israel's border in the east. The part on the west side will go as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The holy part of land where the temple is will be in the middle, between them. 22 The land that belongs to the Levites and the priests, as well as the city, will be between the two parts of land that belong to the ruler. The land for Judah will be on the north side of these lands. The land for Benjamin's will be on the south side.
23 The other tribes will each have a part of the land that is south of this special part. The land for each of these tribes will go all the way from Israel's border in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
South of the special land will be the land for Benjamin.
24 South of the Benjamin's land will be the land for Simeon.
25 South of Simeon's land will be the land for Issachar.
26 South of Issachar's land will be the land for Zebulun.
27 South of Zebulun's land will be the land for Gad.
28 The border on the south side of Gad's land goes from Tamar to the springs of water near Meribath Kadesh. From there, it goes along the stream at Egypt's border to the Mediterranean Sea.
29 That is how you must share the land among Israel's tribes. Each part will belong to one tribe and their descendants. I, the Almighty Lord, say this.
The gates of the city
30 These will be the entrance gates on each side of the city. The wall on the north side of the city will be 2,250 metres long. 31 There will be three gates on that side. Each gate will have the name of one of Israel's tribes, one for Reuben, the next for Judah, and the next for Levi. 32 The wall on the east side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Joseph, for Benjamin and for Dan. 33 The wall on the south side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Simeon, for Issachar and for Zebulun. 34 The wall on the west side will also be 2,250 metres long. The three gates on that side will be for Gad, for Asher and for Naphtali. 35 So the walls all around the city will measure 9,000 metres.
From that time on, the name of the city will be, “The Lord is there.” ’
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