Ezekiel 45:1-9
New English Translation
The Lord’s Portion of the Land
45 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment[a] to the Lord, a holy portion from the land; the length will be 8¼ miles[b] and the width 3⅓ miles.[c] This entire area will be holy.[d] 2 Of this area a square 875 feet[e] by 875 feet will be designated for the sanctuary, with 87½ feet[f] set aside for its open space round about. 3 From this measured area you will measure a length of 8¼ miles[g] and a width of 3⅓ miles;[h] in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It will be a holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.[i] 5 An area 8¼ miles[j] in length and 3⅓ miles[k] in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities[l] in which they will live.
6 “‘Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment, you will allot for the city an area 1⅔ miles[m] wide and 8¼ miles[n] long; it will be for the whole house of Israel.
7 “‘For the prince there will be land on both sides of the holy allotment and the allotted city, on the west side and on the east side; it will be comparable in length to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border 8 of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
9 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people,[o] declares the Sovereign Lord.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “a contribution.”
- Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers). The measuring units here are the Hebrew “long” cubit, consisting of a cubit (about 18 inches or 45 cm) and a handbreadth (about 3 inches or 7.5 cm), for a total of 21 inches (52.5 cm). Because modern readers are not familiar with the cubit as a unit of measurement, and due to the additional complication of the “long” cubit as opposed to the regular cubit, all measurements have been converted to American standard miles (one mile = 5,280 feet), with the Hebrew measurements and the metric equivalents given in the notes.
- Ezekiel 45:1 tc The LXX reads “20,000 cubits.”tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:1 tn Heb “holy it is in all its territory round about.”
- Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “500 cubits” (i.e., 262.5 meters); the phrase occurs twice in this verse.
- Ezekiel 45:2 tn Heb “50 cubits” (i.e., 26.25 meters).
- Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:3 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:4 tc The LXX apparently understood “open land” instead of “sanctuary.”
- Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:5 tn Heb “10,000 cubits” (i.e., 5.25 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:5 tc The translation follows the LXX here. The MT reads “twenty.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:246.
- Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “5,000 cubits” (i.e., 2.625 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:6 tn Heb “25,000 cubits” (i.e., 13.125 kilometers).
- Ezekiel 45:9 sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.
Ezekiel 45:1-9
Christian Standard Bible
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. 2 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. 3 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] 4 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. 5 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]
6 “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. 7 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. 8 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.
9 “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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 45:1 Lit 25,000 cubits, also in vv. 3,5,6
- 45:1 LXX reads 20,000 cubits; MT reads 10,000 cubits
- 45:2 Lit square all around
- 45:2 Lit 500 by 500 cubits
- 45:2 Lit 50 cubits
- 45:3 Lit this measured portion
- 45:3 Lit 10,000 cubits, also in v. 5
- 45:3 Lit be
- 45:5 LXX; MT, Syr, Tg, Vg read possession—20 chambers
- 45:6 Lit 5,000 cubits
- 45:9 Lit Enough of you
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