² And they said to them ^(A)at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ^(B)“The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

Allotment of the Remaining Land

18 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at ^(A)Shiloh and set up ^(B)the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

^2 (A)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around. ⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(B)the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(C)forty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give ^(D)from the possession of the people of Israel, ^(E)from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

¹⁷ Let the elders ^(A)who rule well be considered worthy of ^(B)double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ^(C)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, ^(D)“The laborer deserves his wages.”

^6 (A)Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[a] or sandals or a staff, for ^(A)the laborer deserves his food.

⁹ The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000^[a] in breadth. ^10 (A)These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. ¹¹ This shall be for ^(B)the consecrated priests, ^(C)the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, ^(D)as the Levites did. ¹² And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. ^13 (E)And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000.^{[b] 14} They ^(F)shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate ^(G)this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

^15 (H)“The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be ^(I)for common use for the city, for dwellings and for ^(J)open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, ¹⁶ and these shall be its measurements: ^(K)the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. ¹⁷ And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. ¹⁸ The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. ^(L)Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.