Ezekiel 46; Ezekiel 47; Ezekiel 48

1 "'This is what the Lord God says: The east gate of the inner courtyard will stay shut on the six working days, but it will be opened on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon.

2 The ruler will enter from outside through the porch of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests offer the ruler's burnt offering and fellowship offering. The ruler will worship at the entrance of the gateway, and then he will go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening.

3 The people of the land will worship at the entrance of that gateway in the presence of the Lord on the Sabbaths and New Moons.

4 This is the burnt offering the ruler will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day: six male lambs that have nothing wrong with them and a male sheep that has nothing wrong with it.

5 He must give a half-bushel grain offering with the male sheep, but he may give as much grain offering with the lambs as he pleases. He must also give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

6 On the day of the New Moon he must offer a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. He must also offer six lambs and a male sheep that have nothing wrong with them.

7 The ruler must give a half-bushel grain offering with the bull and one-half bushel with the male sheep. With the lambs, he may give as much grain as he pleases. But he must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

8 When the ruler enters, he must go in through the porch of the gateway, and he must go out the same way.

9 "'When the people of the land come into the Lord's presence at the special feasts, those who enter through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. Those who enter through the south gate must go out through the north gate. They must not return the same way they entered; everyone must go out the opposite way.

10 The ruler will go in with the people when they go in and go out with them when they go out.

11 "'At the feasts and regular times of worship one-half bushel of grain must be offered with a young bull, and one-half bushel of grain must be offered with a male sheep. But with an offering of lambs, the ruler may give as much grain as he pleases. He should give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel of grain.

12 The ruler may give an offering as a special gift to the Lord; it may be a burnt offering or fellowship offering. When he gives it to the Lord, the inner east gate is to be opened for him. He must offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offering as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out, and the gate will be shut after he has left.

13 "'Every day you will give a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a burnt offering to the Lord. Do it every morning.

14 Also, you must offer a grain offering with the lamb every morning. For this you will give three and one-third quarts of grain and one and one-third quarts of olive oil, to make the fine flour moist, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a rule that must be kept from now on.

15 So you must always give the lamb, together with the grain offering and the olive oil, every morning as a burnt offering.

16 "'This is what the Lord God says: If the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his sons, that land will belong to the son and then to the son's children. It is their property passed down from their family.

17 But if the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his servants, that land will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the land will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler's sons may keep a gift of land from the ruler.

18 The ruler must not take any of the people's land, forcing them out of their land. He must give his sons some of his own land so my people will not be scattered out of their own land.'"

19 The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gateway to the priests' holy rooms that face north. There I saw a place at the west end.

20 The man said to me, "This is where the priests will boil the meat of the penalty offering and sin offering and bake the grain offering. Then they will not need to bring these holy offerings into the outer courtyard, because that would hurt the people."

21 Then the man brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me to its four corners. In each corner of the courtyard was a smaller courtyard.

22 Small courtyards were in the four corners of the courtyard. Each small courtyard was the same size, seventy feet long and fifty-two and one-half feet wide.

23 A stone wall was around each of the four small courtyards, and places for cooking were built in each of the stone walls.

24 The man said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who work in the Temple will boil the sacrifices offered by the people."

1 The man led me back to the door of the Temple, and I saw water coming out from under the doorway and flowing east. (The Temple faced east.) The water flowed down from the south side wall of the Temple and then south of the altar.

2 The man brought me out through the outer north gate and led me around outside to the outer east gate. I found the water coming out on the south side of the gate.

3 The man went toward the east with a line in his hand and measured about one-third of a mile. Then he led me through water that came up to my ankles.

4 The man measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water that came up to my knees. Then he measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water up to my waist.

5 The man measured about one-third of a mile again, but it was now a river that I could not cross. The water had risen too high; it was deep enough for swimming; it was a river that no one could cross.

6 The man asked me, "Human, do you see this?" Then the man led me back to the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river.

8 The man said to me, "This water will flow toward the eastern areas and go down into the Jordan Valley. When it enters the Dead Sea, it will become fresh.

9 Everywhere the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes the Dead Sea will become fresh, and so where the river goes there will be many living things.

10 Fishermen will stand by the Dead Sea. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places to spread fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea, as many as in the Mediterranean Sea.

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

12 All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both banks of the river, and their leaves will not dry and die. The trees will have fruit every month, because the water for them comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be used for food, and their leaves for medicine."

13 This is what the Lord God says: "These are the borders of the land to be divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts of land.

14 You will divide the land equally. I promised to give it to your ancestors, so this land will belong to you as family property.

15 "This will be the border line of the land: "On the north side it will start at the Mediterranean Sea. It will go through Hethlon, toward Lebo Hamath and on to the towns of Zedad,

16 Berothah, and Sibraim on the border between Damascus and Hamath. Then it will go on to the town of Hazer Hatticon on the border of the country of Hauran.

17 So the border line will go from the Mediterranean Sea east to the town of Hazar Enan, where the land belonging to Damascus and Hamath lies on the north side. This will be the north side of the land.

18 "On the east side the border runs south from a point between Hauran and Damascus. It will go along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel and will continue to the town of Tamar on the Dead Sea. This will be the east side of the land.

19 "On the south side the border line will go east from Tamar all the way to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the south side of the land.

20 "On the west side the Mediterranean Sea will be the border line up to a place across from Lebo Hamath. This will be the west side of your land.

21 "You will divide this land among the tribes of Israel.

22 You will divide it as family property for yourselves and for the foreigners who live and have children among you. You are to treat these foreigners the same as people born in Israel; they are to share the land with the tribes of Israel.

23 In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will give him some land," says the Lord God.

1 "These are the areas of the tribes named here: Dan will have one share at the northern border. It will go from the sea through Hethlon to Lebo Hamath, all the way to Hazar Enan, where Damascus lies to the north. It will stop there next to Hamath. This will be Dan's northern border from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

2 "South of Dan's border, Asher will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

3 "South of Asher's border, Naphtali will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

4 "South of Naphtali's border, Manasseh will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

5 "South of Manasseh's border, Ephraim will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

6 "South of Ephraim's border, Reuben will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

7 "South of Reuben's border, Judah will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

8 "South of Judah's border will be the holy area which you are to give. It will be about seven miles wide and as long and wide as one of the tribes' shares. It will run from the east side to the west side. The Temple will be in the middle of this area.

9 "The share which you will give the Lord will be about seven miles long and three miles wide.

10 The holy area will be divided among these people. The priests will have land about seven miles long on the north and south sides, and three miles wide on the west and east sides. The Temple of the Lord will be in the middle of it.

11 This land is for the priests who are given the holy duty of serving the Lord. They are the descendants of Zadok who did my work and did not leave me when Israel and the Levites left me.

12 They will have as their share a very holy part of the holy portion of the land. It will be next to the land of the Levites.

13 "Alongside the land for the priests, the Levites will have a share about seven miles long and three miles wide; its full length will be about seven miles and its full width about three miles.

14 The Levites are not to sell or trade any of this land. They are not to let anyone else own any of this best part of the land, because it belongs to the Lord.

15 "The rest of the area will be about one and one-half miles wide and seven miles long. It will not be holy but will belong to the city and be used for homes and pastures. The city will be in the middle of it.

16 These are the city's measurements: the north side will be about one mile, the south side about one mile, the east side about one mile, and the west side about one mile.

17 The city's land for pastures will be about four hundred thirty-seven feet on the north, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the south, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the east, and four hundred thirty-seven feet on the west.

18 Along the long side of the holy area there will be left three miles on the east and three miles on the west. It will be used to grow food for the city workers.

19 The city workers from all the tribes of Israel will farm this land.

20 This whole area will be square, seven miles by seven miles. You shall give to the Lord the holy share along with the city property.

21 "Land that is left over on both sides of the holy area and city property will belong to the ruler. That land will extend east of the holy area to the eastern border and west of it to the Mediterranean Sea. Both of these areas run the length of the lands of the tribes, and they belong to the ruler. The holy area with the Holy Place of the Temple will be in the middle.

22 The Levites' land and the city property will be in the middle of the lands belonging to the ruler. Those lands will be between Judah's border and Benjamin's border.

23 "Here is what the rest of the tribes will receive: Benjamin will have one share. It will go from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

24 "South of Benjamin's land, Simeon will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

25 "South of Simeon's land, Issachar will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

26 "South of Issachar's land, Zebulun will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

27 "South of Zebulun's land, Gad will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

28 "The southern border of Gad's land will go east from Tamar on the Dead Sea to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

29 "This is the land you will divide among the tribes of Israel to be their shares," says the Lord God.

30 "These will be the outside borders of the city: The north side will measure more than one mile.

31 There will be three gates facing north: Reuben's Gate, Judah's Gate, and Levi's Gate, named for the tribes of Israel.

32 "The east side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing east: Joseph's Gate, Benjamin's Gate, and Dan's Gate.

33 "The south side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing south: Simeon's Gate, Issachar's Gate, and Zebulun's Gate.

34 "The west side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing west: Gad's Gate, Asher's Gate, and Naphtali's Gate.

35 "The city will measure about six miles around. From then on the name of the city will be The Lord Is There."