Ezekiel 44-48

Tree of Life Version

Prince at the Eastern Gate

44 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the Sanctuary looking east. It was shut. ² Adonai said to me: “This gate is to be shut. It must not be opened. No one may enter through it, for Adonai God of Israel has entered through it. So it is to be kept shut. ³ Only the prince, since he is a prince, will sit there to eat bread before Adonai. He will enter by way of the porch of the gate and go out the same way.”

Levitical Priesthood

⁴ Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the House. I looked, and behold, the glory of Adonai filled the House of Adonai. So I fell upon my face. ⁵ Adonai said to me, “Son of man, set your heart, behold with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of Adonai’s House and all its laws. Set your heart to the entrance of the House, with all exits of the Sanctuary. ⁶ Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Enough of your abominations, house of Israel! ⁷ You brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My Sanctuary, to profane it—My House—when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood. They have broken My covenant, to add to all your abominations. ⁸ You have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set keepers of My service in My Sanctuary to please yourselves.’”

⁹ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, may enter My Sanctuary, not any foreigner who is among Bnei-Yisrael. ¹⁰ For the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray after their idols, will bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they will be ministers in My Sanctuary, overseers of the gates of the House and ministering in the House. They will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people. They will stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them”—it is a declaration of Adonai. “They will bear their iniquity. ¹³ They will not come near to Me, to minister to Me as kohanim, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy. They will bear their shame and their abominations, which they have committed.

¹⁴ “Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the House, for all its service and for all that will be done in it. ¹⁵ So the Levitical kohanim, the sons of Zadok who kept charge of My Sanctuary when Bnei-Yisrael wandered from Me, will draw near to Me to minister to Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood”—it is declaration of Adonai. ¹⁶ “They are ones who will enter My Sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister to Me. They will keep My charge. ¹⁷ It will be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they will be clothed with linen garments. No wool will come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They will have linen turbans upon their heads and linen underclothes upon their loins; they will not wear anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ Before they go out to the outer court—to the outer courtyard to the people—they must take off their garments in which they minister and leave them in the holy chambers. They will put on other garments, so they do not consecrate the people while in their garments. ²⁰ They must not shave their heads or let their locks grow long, but must carefully trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ No kohen may drink wine before entering the inner court. ²² None may take a widow or a divorced woman as his wife, for they must take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a kohen.

²³ “They will teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and explain to them the difference between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a lawsuit, they will stand to judge, and judge in accordance with My ordinances. They will keep My laws and My statutes in all My moadim and keep My Shabbatot holy. ²⁵ They must not come near a dead person to defile themselves—only for a father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister who had no husband may they defile themselves. ²⁶ After he is cleansed, they will count seven days for him. ²⁷ On the day he goes into the Sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the Sanctuary, he is to offer his sin offering.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

²⁸ “It will be an inheritance for them. I am their inheritance. Do not give them any possession in Israel for I am their possession. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. ³⁰ The first of all the firstfruits of everything and every offering of every kind from all your offerings will belong to the kohanim. You will also give the kohen the first of your dough, to make a blessing to rest on your house. ³¹ The kohanim may not eat any carcass, whether bird or beast, that dies of itself or is torn.”

Levitical Land

45 “When you allot the land for inheritance, set apart an offering to Adonai, a holy portion of the land. The length will be 25,000 and the width will be 10,000.^[a] It will be holy within all its surrounding borders. ² Out of this, there will be the Holy Place, 500 long by 500 wide, square all around, and 50 cubits for the open land surrounding it. ³ From this area you are to measure a length of 25,000 and a width of 10,000, in which will be the Sanctuary, which is most holy. ⁴ It is to be the holy portion of the land, for the kohanim ministering in the Sanctuary, who draw near to serve Adonai. It will be a place for their houses as well as a place consecrated for the Sanctuary. ⁵ An area 25,000 long by 10,000 wide will be for the Levites, the ministers of the House. It will be a possession for themselves—20 chambers.

⁶ “You will give the city possession of an area 5,000 wide by 25,000 long, alongside the offering of the holy allotment. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Allotment

⁷ “The prince will have a portion on either side of the holy allotment and the city’s property, adjacent to the holy offering and the city’s property, on the west side westward and on the east side eastward. Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions, from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. ⁸ It will be land for him as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress My people. They will give land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

⁹ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “Let it be enough for you, princes of Israel. Get rid of violence and destruction, execute justice and righteousness, take away your oppression from My people”—it is a declaration of Adonai. ¹⁰ “You are to have just balances, an honest dry measure and an honest liquid measure. ^{[b] 11} The dry and liquid measure will be of a uniform measure: the bath will contain a tenth part of a homer, and the ephah a tenth part of a homer; the standard measure will be the homer. ¹² The shekel will be 20 gerahs; 20 plus 25 plus 15 shekels will be your mina.

¹³ “This is the offering that you are to set apart: a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of wheat, a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of barley, ¹⁴ along with the set portion of oil—a bath of oil—as the tithe of the bath for each kor, which is ten baths (or a homer, since ten baths are a homer), ¹⁵ and one lamb of the flock out of 200, from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offering, burnt offering and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for them.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁶ “All the people of the land must give this contribution to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the prince’s role to give the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the feasts, New Moons and Shabbatot, in all the moadim of the house of Israel. He will prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

Offerings for Moadim

¹⁸ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “In the first month, in the first day of the month, take a young bull without blemish and purify the Sanctuary. ¹⁹ The kohen will take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it upon the doorposts of the House and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ So you will do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. So you will make atonement for the House.

²¹ “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will have the Passover, a feast of seven days when matzah will be eaten. ²² On that day the prince will prepare a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. ²³ He will prepare a burnt offering to Adonai for the seven days of the feast—seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily for seven days and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ He will prepare as a grain offering, an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram and a hin of oil for each ephah. ²⁵ He will do this in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the Feast, for seven days, for sin offering as well as burnt offering, grain offering as well as oil.”

46 Thus says Adonai Elohim: “The gate of the inner court that faces the east will be shut for the six working days. On Yom Shabbat it will be opened and in the day of the New Moon it will be opened. ² The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside, and stand by the post of the gate. Then the kohanim will prepare his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings. He will worship at the threshold of the gate, and then go out. The gate will not be shut until the evening. ³ The people of the land will worship at the door of that gate before Adonai on Shabbatot and New Moons.

⁴ “The burnt offering that the prince offers to Adonai on Yom Shabbat will be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵ The grain offering will be an ephah for the ram. The grain offering for the lambs will be a gift of his hand and a hin of oil for an ephah. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon it will be a young bull without blemish, six lambs and a ram—they must be without blemish. ⁷ He will prepare a grain offering, an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram, for the lambs whatever his hand may reach and a hin of oil for an ephah. ⁸ When the prince enters, he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and he will also exit by that way. ⁹ When the people of the land come before Adonai at the moadim, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will exit by way of the south gate. Whoever enters by way of the south gate must exit by way of north gate. He should not return by the way of the gate where he came in, since he must exit straight ahead. ¹⁰ When they enter, the prince will come in among them. When they go out, they will go out together.

¹¹ “At the feasts and the moadim, the grain offering will be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs a gift of his hand and a hin of oil for an ephah. ¹² Now if the prince prepares a freewill offering, burnt offering or fellowship offerings as a freewill offering to Adonai, the gate for him facing east must be opened for him. Then he will prepare his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings as he does on Yom Shabbat. Then he will go out. After he exits, the gate should be shut.

¹³ “You are to prepare a lamb of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering to Adonai daily—morning by morning you are to prepare it. ¹⁴ Also you will prepare a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour—a grain offering to Adonai continually. It is perpetual statute. ¹⁵ They will prepare the lamb, the grain offering and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.”

¹⁶ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it will belong to his sons. It will be their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives of his inheritance as a gift to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty, when it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will belong to his sons. ¹⁸ The prince must not take from the people’s inheritance, evicting them wrongfully out of their property. He must give inheritance to his sons out of his own property, so that My people will not be displaced, anyone from his own property.”

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance that was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the kohanim, looking north. Behold, there was a place at the far western end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the kohanim will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, where they will bake the grain offering, so they do not bring them into the outer court, to consecrate the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer courtyard and led me past the four corners of the courtyard. Behold, in every corner of the courtyard there was another courtyard. ²² In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courts, 40 cubits long by 30 wide—these four in the corners had the same size. ²³ There was a row of masonry surrounding them, surrounding the four. Boiling places were built under the surrounding rows. ²⁴ He said to me, “These are the boiling places where the ministers of the House will boil the sacrifices of the people.”

River of Life

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the House. Behold, water was flowing out from under the threshold of the House eastward—for the front of the House faced east. The water was flowing down from under the right side of the House, south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around outside by the way of the outer gate, the way of the gate looking east. Behold, water was trickling out from the right side.

³ When the man went out eastward with a line in his hand, he measured a 1,000 cubits. Then he led me into the water—water to the ankles. ⁴ Again he measured a 1,000, and led me into the water—water to the knees. Again he measured a 1,000, and he led me into the water—water up to the waist. ⁵ Again he measured a 1,000, and now it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen, water to swim in—a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”

Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I had returned, behold, there were very many trees on one side and on the other, along the bank of the river. ^{[c] 8} Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region. They go down to the Arabah and enter the sea. When they arrive at the sea, the waters of the sea will flow and will become fresh. ^{[d] 9} It will be that every living creature that swarms will live wherever the rivers go. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because this water goes there and makes the salt water fresh. So everything will be healed and live wherever the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand by it; from En-gedi to En-eglaim, it will be a place for spreading of nets. Their fish will be of many different kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea, a huge quantity. ¹¹ Its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be set aside for salt. ¹² On the river, on its bank, on this side and that side, will grow every kind of tree for food. Its leaf will not wither; its fruit will not fail; it will bear new fruit every month, because its water flows out from the Sanctuary. Its fruit will be for food and its leaf will be for healing.”

Borders of the Holy Land

¹³ Thus says Adonai Elohim, “This will be the border, by which you will divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel, Joseph receiving two portions. ¹⁴ You will inherit it, each one like another, as I lifted My hand to give to your fathers. So this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

¹⁵ “This will be the boundary of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea, by way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad— ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath, as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the border from the sea will be Hazar-enon at the border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern side.

¹⁸ The east side, between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead and the land of Israel, will be by the Jordan. You will measure from the northern border to the eastern sea. This will be the eastern side.

¹⁹ The south side southward will be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the Wadi of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This will be the southern side toward the south.

²⁰ The west side will be the Great Sea, from the southern border as far as the front of the entrance of Hamath. This will be the western side.

²¹ You are to divide this land for yourselves to the tribes of Israel. ²² So you are to divide it by lot for an inheritance for you and for the outsiders who dwell among you, whoever bears children among you. They will be to you like the native-born of Bnei-Yisrael; they will be allotted an inheritance along with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe the outsider lives, there you will give him his inheritance.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

48 “Now these are the names of the tribes: Dan’s portion will be from the northern frontier, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar-enan at the northern border of Damascus, beside Hamath, and from eastern side to the sea. ² Next to the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west will be Asher’s one, ³ Next to the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west will be Naphtali’s one. ⁴ Next to the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, will be Manasseh’s one. ⁵ Next to the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west will be Ephraim’s one. ⁶ Next to the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, will be Reuben’s one. ⁷ Next to the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, will be Judah’s one.

⁸ By Judah’s border, from the east side to the west, will be the contribution which you will set aside, 25,000 cubits in width and in length like one of the portions, from the east side to the west. The Sanctuary will be in the midst of it. ⁹ The allotment that you will set apart to Adonai will be 25,000 in length and 10,000 in width. ¹⁰ The holy allotment will be apportioned for these—for the kohanim. Toward the north it will be 25,000 cubits and toward the west 10,000 in width, toward the east 10,000 in width and toward the south 25,000 in length. Adonai’s Sanctuary will be in the midst of it. ¹¹ The sanctified portion will be for the kohanim of the sons of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites went astray when Bnei-Yisrael went astray. ¹² It will be for them a portion set apart from the offering of the land, most holy, by the border of the Levites.

¹³ Alongside the border of the kohanim, the Levites will have 25,000 in length and 10,000 in width. The entire length will be 25,000 and the width 10,000. ¹⁴ They must not sell or exchange any of it or transfer the choice portion of the land, for it is holy to Adonai. ¹⁵ The 5,000 that remain in the width, in front of the 25,000 thousand, will be for common use, for the city, for living and for pastureland.

“The city will be in the midst of it, ¹⁶ and will have these measurements: the north side; 4,500; the south side 4,500; the east side, 4,500; and the west side, 4,500. ¹⁷ The city will have open land: toward the north 250, toward the south 250, toward the east 250, and toward the west 250. ¹⁸ The remainder of the length, according to the holy allotment, will be 10,000 eastward and 10,000 westward. It will be alongside the holy allotment. Its produce will be food for those who serve the city. ¹⁹ Those who serve the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, will till it. ²⁰ The whole allotment will be 25,000 by 25,000, square; you will set apart the holy allotment with the property of the city.

²¹ “What is remaining from this side and on the other of the holy allotment and the city property will be for the prince. What is adjacent to the 25,000 of the allotment toward the eastern border, and westward adjacent to the 25,000 toward the western border, alongside the portions, will be for the prince. The holy allotment and the Sanctuary of the House will be in the midst of it. ²² The property of the Levites and the property of the city will be in the middle of what belongs to the prince; what belongs to the prince will be between Judah’s border and Benjamin’s border.

²³ As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, will be Benjamin’s one. ²⁴ Next to the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, will be Simeon’s one. ²⁵ Next to the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, will be Issachar’s one. ²⁶ Next to the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, will be Zebulon’s one. ²⁷ Next to the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, will be Gad’s one. ²⁸ Next to the territory of Gad, at the south side southward, the border will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Wadi, to the Great Sea. ²⁹ This is the land that you will divide by lot to the tribes of Israel as an inheritance, and these are their portions.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

³⁰ “These are the exits of the city: on the north side, 4,500 by measure, ³¹ will be the gates of the city named after of the tribes of Israel—three gates northward—the Reuben Gate, one; the Judah Gate, one; the Levi Gate, one. ³² At the east side, 4,500, will be three gates: the Joseph Gate, one; the Benjamin Gate, one; Dan Gate, one. ³³ At the south side, 4,500 by measure, will be three gates: the Simeon Gate, one; the Issachar Gate, one; the Zebulun Gate, one. ³⁴ At the west side, 4,500, with their three gates: the Gad Gate, one; the Asher Gate, one; the Naphtali Gate, one. ³⁵ It will be 18,000 cubits all around.

“From that day on, the name of the city will be: ‘Adonai Is There.’”