The Sacred Portion of the Land

45 “When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance,(A) set aside a donation to the Lord, a holy portion of the land,(B) 8⅓ miles[a] long and 6⅔ miles[b] wide. This entire region will be holy. In this area there will be a square section[c] for the sanctuary, 875 by 875 feet,[d](C) with 87½ feet[e] of open space all around it. From this holy portion,[f] you will measure off an area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles[g] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place,(D) will stand.[h] It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who approach to serve the Lord.(E) It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary. There will be another area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide for the Levites who minister in the temple;(F) it will be their possession for towns to live in.[i]

“As the property of the city, set aside an area 1⅔ miles[j] wide and 8⅓ miles long, adjacent to the holy donation of land.(G) It will be for the whole house of Israel. And the prince will have the area on each side of the holy donation of land and the city’s property, adjacent to the holy donation and the city’s property, stretching to the west on the west side and to the east on the east side.(H) Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. This will be his land as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people(I) but give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

“This is what the Lord God says: You have gone too far,[k](J) princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right.(K) Put an end to your evictions of my people.” This is the declaration of the Lord God. 10 “You are to have honest scales, an honest dry measure,[l] and an honest liquid measure.[m](L) 11 The dry measure[n] and the liquid measure[o] will be uniform, with the liquid measure containing 5½ gallons[p] and the dry measure holding half a bushel.[q] Their measurement will be a tenth of the standard larger capacity measure.[r] 12 The shekel[s] will weigh twenty gerahs.(M) Your mina will equal sixty shekels.

The People’s Contribution to the Sacrifices

13 “This is the contribution you are to offer: Three quarts[t] from six bushels[u] of wheat and[v] three quarts from six bushels of barley. 14 The quota of oil in liquid measures[w] will be one percent of every[x] cor. The cor equals ten liquid measures or one standard larger capacity measure,[y] since ten liquid measures equal one standard larger capacity measure. 15 And the quota from the flock is one animal out of every two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the people.”(N) This is the declaration of the Lord God. 16 “All the people of the land must take part in this contribution for the prince in Israel. 17 Then the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed times of the house of Israel—will be the prince’s responsibility. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 “This is what the Lord God says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and apply it to the temple doorposts, the four corners of the altar’s ledge, and the doorposts of the gate of the inner court.(O) 20 You are to do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance.(P) In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you are to celebrate the Passover, a festival of seven days during which unleavened bread will be eaten.(Q) 22 On that day the prince will provide a bull as a sin offering on behalf of himself and all the people of the land. 23 During the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord on each of the seven days, along with a male goat each day for a sin offering. 24 He will also provide a grain offering of half a bushel[z] per bull and half a bushel per ram, along with a gallon[aa] of oil for every half bushel. 25 At the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,[ab](R) he will provide the same things for seven days—the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.

Footnotes

  1. 45:1 Lit 25,000 cubits, also in vv. 3,5,6
  2. 45:1 LXX reads 20,000 cubits; MT reads 10,000 cubits
  3. 45:2 Lit square all around
  4. 45:2 Lit 500 by 500 cubits
  5. 45:2 Lit 50 cubits
  6. 45:3 Lit this measured portion
  7. 45:3 Lit 10,000 cubits, also in v. 5
  8. 45:3 Lit be
  9. 45:5 LXX; MT, Syr, Tg, Vg read possession—20 chambers
  10. 45:6 Lit 5,000 cubits
  11. 45:9 Lit Enough of you
  12. 45:10 Lit an honest ephah
  13. 45:10 Lit and an honest bath
  14. 45:11 Lit The ephah
  15. 45:11 Lit the bath
  16. 45:11 Lit one-tenth of a homer
  17. 45:11 Lit one-tenth of a homer
  18. 45:11 Lit be based on the homer
  19. 45:12 A shekel is about two-fifths of an ounce of silver
  20. 45:13 Lit One-sixth of an ephah
  21. 45:13 Lit a homer
  22. 45:13 LXX, Vg; MT reads and you are to give
  23. 45:14 Lit oil, the bath, the oil
  24. 45:14 Lit be a tenth of the bath from the
  25. 45:14 Lit 10 baths, a homer
  26. 45:24 Lit an ephah
  27. 45:24 Lit a hin
  28. 45:25 = the Festival of Shelters

The Holy District

45 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty[a] thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its entire extent. Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. In the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.(A) Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities to live in.[b](B)

“Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.(C)

“And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary(D) of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.(E)

“Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God.(F)

Weights and Measures

10 “You shall have honest balances, an honest ephah, and an honest bath.[c](G) 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall make a mina for you.(H)

Offerings

13 “This is the offering that you shall make: one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil[d] one-tenth of a bath[e] from each cor (the cor,[f] like the homer, contains ten baths), 15 and one sheep from every flock of two hundred from the pastures of Israel. This is the offering for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and offerings of well-being, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God.(I) 16 All the people of the land shall join in making this offering in Israel through the prince. 17 This shall be the obligation of the prince regarding the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the festivals, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed festivals of the house of Israel: he shall provide the purification offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the offerings of well-being, to make atonement for the house of Israel.(J)

Festivals

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull of the herd without blemish and purify the sanctuary.(K) 19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the purification offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court.(L) 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.(M)

21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Festival of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.(N) 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a purification offering.(O) 23 And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a purification offering.(P) 24 He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the festival, he shall make the same provision for purification offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings and for the oil.(Q)

Footnotes

  1. 45.1 Gk: Heb ten
  2. 45.5 Gk: Heb as their holding, twenty chambers
  3. 45.10 A Heb measure of volume
  4. 45.14 Cn: Heb oil, the bath the oil
  5. 45.14 A Heb measure of volume
  6. 45.14 Vg: Heb homer