Ezekiel 47:13–48:34

Borders of the Land

¹³Thus says the Lord God: “These are the ⁱborders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. ^jJoseph shall have two portions. ¹⁴You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I ^kraised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall ^lfall to you as your inheritance.

¹⁵“This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by ^mthe road to Hethlon, as one goes to ⁿZedad, ^16oHamath, ^pBerothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran). ¹⁷Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to ^qHazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

¹⁸“On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side.

¹⁹“The south side, toward the ⁵South, shall be from Tamar to ^rthe waters of ⁶Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.

²⁰“The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side.

²¹“Thus you shall ^sdivide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²²It shall be that you will divide it by ^tlot as an inheritance for yourselves, ^uand for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. ^vThey shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God.

Division of the Land

48“Now these are the names of the tribes: ^aFrom the northern border along the road to Hethlon at the entrance of Hamath, to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus northward, in the direction of Hamath, there shall be one section for ^bDan from its east to its west side; ²by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, one section for ^cAsher; ³by the border of Asher, from the east side to the west, one section for ^dNaphtali; ⁴by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, one section for ^eManasseh; ⁵by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, one section for ^fEphraim; ⁶by the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, one section for ^gReuben; ⁷by the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west, one section for ^hJudah; ⁸by the border of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be ⁱthe district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length the same as one of the other portions, from the east side to the west, with the ^jsanctuary in the center.

⁹“The district that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. ¹⁰To these—to the priests—the holy district shall belong: on the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, on the west ten thousand in width, on the east ten thousand in width, and on the south twenty-five thousand in length. The sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the center. ^11kIt shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are sanctified, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, ^las the Levites went astray. ¹²And this district of land that is set apart shall be to them a thing most ^mholy by the border of the Levites.

¹³“Opposite the border of the priests, the ⁿLevites shall have an area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width; its entire length shall be twenty-five thousand and its width ten thousand. ^14oAnd they shall not sell or exchange any of it; they may not alienate this best part of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

^15p“The five thousand cubits in width that remain, along the edge of the twenty-five thousand, shall be ^qfor general use by the city, for dwellings and common-land; and the city shall be in the center. ¹⁶These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred. ¹⁷The common-land of the city shall be: to the north two hundred and fifty cubits, to the south two hundred and fifty, to the east two hundred and fifty, and to the west two hundred and fifty. ¹⁸The rest of the length, alongside the district of the holy section, shall be ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand to the west. It shall be adjacent to the district of the holy section, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ^19rThe workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. ²⁰The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart the holy district with the property of the city.

^21s“The rest shall belong to the prince, on one side and on the other of the holy district and of the city’s property, next to the twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy district as far as the eastern border, and westward next to the twenty-five thousand as far as the western border, adjacent to the tribal portions; it shall belong to the prince. It shall be the holy district, ^tand the sanctuary of the ¹temple shall be in the center. ²²Moreover, apart from the possession of the Levites and the possession of the city which are in the midst of what belongs to the prince, the area between the border of Judah and the border of ^uBenjamin shall belong to the prince.

²³“As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west, Benjamin shall have one section; ²⁴by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, ^vSimeon shall have one section; ²⁵by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west, ^wIssachar shall have one section; ²⁶by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west, ^xZebulun shall have one section; ²⁷by the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, ^yGad shall have one section; ²⁸by the border of Gad, on the south side, toward the ²South, the border shall be from Tamar to ^zthe waters of ³Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the ^aGreat Sea. ^29bThis is the land which you shall divide by lot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions,” says the Lord God.

The Gates of the City and Its Name

³⁰“These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits ^31c(the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel), the three gates northward: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi; ³²on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan; ³³on the south side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun; ³⁴on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali.