Ezekiel 46–48

Rules for Worship

46“ ‘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. ²The 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. ³The people of the land will worship at the entrance of that gateway in the presence of the Lord on the Sabbaths and New Moons. ⁴This 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. ⁵He 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. ⁶On 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. ⁷The 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. ⁸When 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. ¹⁰The 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. ¹²The 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. ¹⁴Also, 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. ¹⁵So you must always give the lamb, together with the grain offering and the olive oil, every morning as a burnt offering.

Rules for the Ruler

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. ¹⁷But 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. ¹⁸The 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.’ ”

The Special Kitchens

¹⁹The 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. ²⁰The 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.”

²¹Then 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. ²²Small 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. ²³A stone wall was around each of the four small courtyards, and places for cooking were built in each of the stone walls. ²⁴The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who work in the Temple will boil the sacrifices offered by the people.”

The River from the Temple

47The 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. ²The 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.

³The 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. ⁴The 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. ⁵The 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. ⁶The man asked me, “Human, do you see this?”

Then the man led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river. ⁸The 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. ⁹Everywhere 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. ¹⁰Fishermen 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. ¹¹But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. ¹²All 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.”

Borders of the Land

¹³This 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. ¹⁴You 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, ¹⁶Berothah, 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. ¹⁷So 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. ²²You 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. ²³In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will give him some land,” says the Lord God.

Dividing the Land

48“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. ¹⁰The…