Ezekiel 45; Ezekiel 46; 1 John 2

Ezekiel 45

1 "When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you must set aside a donation to the Lord, a holy portion of the land, eight and one-third [miles] long and six and two-thirds [miles] wide. This entire tract of land will be holy.

2 In this area there will be a square [section] for the sanctuary, 875 by 875 [feet], with 87 and a half feet of open space all around it.

3 From this holy portion, you will measure off an area eight and one-third [miles] long and three and one-third [miles] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place, will stand.

4 It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

5 There will be [another area] eight and one-third [miles] long and three and one-third [miles] wide for the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns to live in.

6 "As the property of the city, you must set aside an area one and two-thirds [of a mile] wide and eight and one-third [miles] long, adjacent to the holy donation [of land]. 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. [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 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, princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of My people." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .

10 "You must have honest balances, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure.

11 The dry measure and the liquid measure will be uniform, with the liquid measure containing five and a half gallons and the dry measure [holding] half a bushel. Their measurement will be one-tenth of the standard larger capacity measure.

12 The shekel will weigh 20 gerahs. Your mina will equal 60 shekels.

13 "This is the contribution you are to offer: Three quarts from five bushels of wheat and three quarts from five bushels of barley.

14 The quota of oil in liquid measures will be one percent of every cor. [The cor equals] 10 liquid measures [or] one standard larger capacity measure, since 10 liquid measures equal one standard larger capacity measure.

15 And [the quota] from the flock is one animal out of every 200 from the well-watered pastures of Israel. [These are] for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the people." [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 must 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 to the inner court.

20 You must do the same thing on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. 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.

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 per bull and half a bushel per ram, along with a gallon of oil for every half bushel.

25 At the festival [that begins] on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he will provide the same things for seven days-the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.

Ezekiel 46

1 "This is what the Lord God says: The gate of the inner court that faces east must be closed during the six days of work, but it will be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the New Moon.

2 The prince should enter from the outside by way of the gate's portico and stand at the doorpost of the gate while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He will bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be closed until evening.

3 The people of the land will also bow in worship before the Lord at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 "The burnt offering that the prince presents to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram.

5 The grain offering will be half a bushel with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be whatever he wants to give, as well as a gallon of oil for every half bushel.

6 On the day of the New Moon, [the burnt offering] is to be a young, unblemished bull, as well as six lambs and a ram without blemish.

7 He will provide a grain offering of half a bushel with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he can afford with the lambs, together with a gallon of oil for every half bushel.

8 When the prince enters, he must go in by way of the gate's portico and go out the same way.

9 "When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed times, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship must go out by way of the south gate, and whoever enters by way of the south gate must go out by way of the north gate. No one must return through the gate by which he entered, but must go out by the opposite gate.

10 When the people enter, the prince will enter with them, and when they leave, he will leave.

11 At the festivals and appointed times, the grain offering will be half a bushel with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he wants to give with the lambs, along with a gallon of oil for every half bushel.

12 "When the prince makes a freewill offering, whether a burnt offering or a fellowship offering as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate that faces east must be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or fellowship offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out, and the gate must be closed after he leaves.

13 "You must offer an unblemished year-old male lamb as a daily burnt offering to the Lord; you will offer it every morning.

14 You must also prepare a grain offering every morning along with it: three quarts, with one-third of a gallon of oil to moisten the fine flour-a grain offering to the Lord. [This is] a permanent statute [to be observed] regularly.

15 They will offer the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering.

16 "This is what the Lord God says: If the prince gives a gift to each of his sons as their inheritance, it will belong to his sons. It will become their property by inheritance.

17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom, when it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it is theirs.

18 The prince must not take any of the people's inheritance, evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his own property."

19 Then he brought me through the entrance that was at the side of the gate, into the priests' holy chambers, which faced north. I saw a place there at the far western end.

20 He said to me, "This is the place where the priests will boil the restitution offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring [them] into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people."

21 Next he brought me into the outer court and led me past its four corners. There was a [separate] court in each of its corners.

22 In the four corners of the [outer] court there were enclosed courts, 70 [feet] long by 52 and a half [feet] wide. All four corner areas had the same dimensions.

23 There was a [stone] wall around the inside of them, around the four of them, with ovens built at the base of the walls on all sides.

24 He said to me: "These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the people's sacrifices."

1 John 2

1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ the righteous One.

2 He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

3 This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.

4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," without keeping His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him:

6 the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command, but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard.

8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one.

14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God's word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

16 For everything that belongs to the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle-is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever.

18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, "Antichrist is coming," even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

21 I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.

24 What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25 And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.

26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

27 The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in Him.

28 So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

29 If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.