45TH CHAPTER

Land for the Priests, Levites, and the Prince

1 “ ‘Divide the land by drawing lots for the property you will inherit. Set aside an area 43,750 feet long and 35,000 feet wide for the Lord. The entire area will be holy. 2 An area of 875 feet square will be for the holy place with an open area 87½ feet wide. 3 Measure off an area 43,750 feet long and 17,500 feet wide. The holy place, that is, the most holy place, will be in this area. 4 This holy part of the land will belong to the priests who serve in the holy place, the priests who come near to serve the Lord. They will use this place for their homes, and it will be the location for the holy place. 5 An area 43,750 feet long and 17,500 feet wide will belong to the Levites who serve in the temple. It will be given to them so that they have cities to live in. 

6 “ ‘You must designate an area 8,750 feet wide and 43,750 feet long as the city’s property. It will be located alongside the holy area. It will belong to all the people of Israel. 

7 “ ‘The prince will have all the land on both sides of the holy area and on both sides of the property belonging to the city. From the western boundary of the holy area, his land will extend to the Mediterranean Sea. From the eastern boundary of the holy area, his land will extend to the eastern border ⸤of the country⸥. His territory will be as large as the territory of one of the tribes. 8 This land will belong to the prince in Israel. Then my princes will no longer oppress my people. They will give land to each tribe of the nation of Israel. 

Honest Weights and Measures for the Lord’s People

9 “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I’ve had enough of you, you princes of Israel. Stop your violence and looting, and do what is fair and right. Stop evicting my people, declares the Almighty Lord. 10 You must have honest scales and honest dry and liquid measures. 11 The dry and liquid measures must always be the same: The ephah and the bath should hold the same as one-tenth of a homer. The homer must be the standard measure.a 12 One shekel must weigh 20 gerahs. One mina must weigh 60 shekels.b

Rules for Worship

13 “ ‘This is the contribution you must give to the Lord: seventeen percent of your wheat and seventeen percent of your barley. 14 You must give one percent of your olive oil using the standard measure. 15 You must take one sheep out of every 200 from the well-watered pastures of Israel. You must sacrifice them with grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make peace with the Lord, declares the Almighty Lord. 16 All the common people must give this contribution to the prince in Israel. 17 Then the prince is responsible to provide burnt offerings, grain offerings, and wine offerings at the annual festivals, the New Moon Festivals, the weekly days of rest—holy days, and all the other appointed festivals of the nation of Israel. He must prepare offerings for sin, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make peace with the Lord for the nation of Israel. 

18 “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: On the first day of the first month, take a young bull that has no defects and remove sin from the holy place. 19 The priest must take some blood from the offering for sin and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorposts of the gateways of the inner courtyard. 20 You must do the same on the seventh day of the month for everyone who unintentionally does something wrong and is unaware of it. So you must make peace with the Lord for the temple. 

21 “ ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, you will celebrate the Passover, a festival lasting seven days when unleavened bread is eaten. 22 At that time the prince must prepare for himself and for all the common people a young bull as an offering for sin. 23 Every day during the seven days of the festival, he must prepare burnt offerings for the Lord: seven young bulls that have no defects, seven rams that have no defects, and one male goat as an offering for sin. 24 He must also give as a grain offering a half-bushel for each young bull and a half-bushel for each ram. He must also give one gallon of olive oil for every half-bushel of grain. 25 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, at the Festival of Booths, he must do the same as on those seven days. He must prepare the same offerings for sin, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and olive oil.