Category: Ezekiel

[45:18] The Sovereign Lord said, “On the first day of the first month you are to sacrifice a bull without any defects and purify the Temple.

[45:19] The priest will take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the altar, and on the posts of the gateways to the inner courtyard.

[45:20] On the seventh day of the month you are to do the same thing on behalf of anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will keep the Temple holy.

[45:21] “On the fourteenth day of the first month you will begin the celebration of the Passover Festival. For seven days everyone will eat bread made without yeast.

[45:22] On the first day of the festival the ruling prince must offer a bull as a sacrifice for his sins and for those of all the people.

[45:23] On each of the seven days of the festival he is to sacrifice to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without any defects and burn them whole. He is also to sacrifice a male goat each day as a sin offering.

[45:24] For each bull and each ram that is sacrificed, there is to be an offering of half a bushel of grain and three quarts of olive oil.

[45:25] “For the Festival of Shelters, which begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the prince will offer on each of the seven days the same sacrifice for sin, the same offerings to be burned whole, and the same offerings of grain and olive oil.”

[46:1] The Sovereign Lord says, “The east gateway to the inner courtyard must be kept closed during the six working days, but it is to be opened on the Sabbath and at the New Moon Festival.

[46:2] The ruling prince will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway and stand beside the posts of the gate while the priests burn his sacrifices whole and offer his fellowship offerings. There at the gate he must worship and then go back out. The gate must not be shut until evening.

[46:3] Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the Lord in front of the gate.

[46:4] On the Sabbath the prince is to bring to the Lord, as sacrifices to be burned whole, six lambs and one ram, all without any defects.

[46:5] With each ram he is to bring an offering of half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb he is to bring whatever he wants to give. For each half-bushel of grain offering he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.

[46:6] At the New Moon Festival he will offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram, all without any defects.

[46:7] With each bull and each ram the offering is to be half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb the offering is to be whatever the prince wants to give. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain.

[46:8] The prince must leave the entrance room of the gateway and go out by the same way he went in.

[46:9] “When the people come to worship the Lord at any festival, those who enter by the north gate are to leave by the south gate after they have worshiped, and those who enter by the south gate are to leave by the north gate. No one may go out by the same way he entered, but must leave by the opposite gate.

[46:10] The prince is to come in when the people come, and leave when they leave.

[46:11] On the feast days and at the festivals the grain offering will be half a bushel with each bull or ram, and whatever the worshiper wants to give with each lamb. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain.

[46:12] “When the ruling prince wants to make a voluntary offering to the Lord, either an offering to be burned whole or a fellowship offering, the east gate to the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He is to make the offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath, and the gate is to be closed after he goes back out.”

[46:13] The Lord says, “Every morning a one-year-old lamb without any defects is to be burned whole as an offering to the Lord. This offering must be made every day.

[46:14] Also an offering of five pounds of flour is to be made every morning, along with one quart of olive oil for mixing with the flour. The rules for this offering to the Lord are to be in force forever.

[46:15] The lamb, the flour, and the olive oil are to be offered to the Lord every morning forever.”

[46:16] The Sovereign Lord commands: “If the ruling prince gives any of the land he owns to one of his sons as a present, it will belong to that son as a part of his family property.

[46:17] But if the ruling prince gives any of his land to anyone who is in his service, it will become the prince's property again when the Year of Restoration comes. It belongs to him, and only he and his sons can own it permanently.

[46:18] The ruling prince must not take any of the people's property away from them. Any land he gives to his sons must be from the land that is assigned to him, so that he will not oppress any of my people by taking their land.”

[46:19] Then the man took me to the entrance of the rooms facing north near the gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. These are holy rooms for the priests. He pointed out a place on the west side of the rooms

[46:20] and said, “This is the place where the priests are to boil the meat offered as sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings, and to bake the offerings of flour, so that nothing holy is carried to the outer courtyard, where it might harm the people.”

[46:23] Each one had a stone wall around it, with fireplaces built against the wall.

[46:24] The man told me, “These are the kitchens where the Temple servants are to boil the sacrifices the people offer.”

[47:1] The man led me back to the entrance of the Temple. Water was coming out from under the entrance and flowing east, the direction the Temple faced. It was flowing down from under the south part of the Temple past the south side of the altar.

[47:2] The man then took me out of the Temple area by way of the north gate and led me around to the gate that faces east. A small stream of water was flowing out at the south side of the gate.

[47:3] With his measuring rod the man measured 560 yards downstream to the east and told me to wade through the stream there. The water came only to my ankles.

[47:4] Then he measured another 560 yards, and the water came up to my knees. Another 560 yards farther down, the water was up to my waist.

[47:5] He measured 560 yards more, and there the stream was so deep I could not wade through it. It was too deep to cross except by swimming.

[47:6] He said to me, “Mortal man, note all this carefully.” Then the man took me back to the riverbank,

[47:7] and when I got there, I saw that there were very many trees on each bank.

[47:8] He said to me, “This water flows through the land to the east and down into the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When it flows into the Dead Sea, it replaces the salt water of that sea with fresh water.

[47:9] Wherever the stream flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish. The stream will make the water of the Dead Sea fresh, and wherever it flows, it will bring life.

[47:10] From the Springs of Engedi all the way to the Springs of Eneglaim, there will be fishermen on the shore of the sea, and they will spread out their nets there to dry. There will be as many different kinds of fish there as there are in the Mediterranean Sea.

[47:11] But the water in the marshes and ponds along the shore will not be made fresh. They will remain there as a source of salt.

[47:12] On each bank of the stream all kinds of trees will grow to provide food. Their leaves will never wither, and they will never stop bearing fruit. They will have fresh fruit every month, because they are watered by the stream that flows from the Temple. The trees will provide food, and their leaves will be used for healing people.”

[47:13] The Sovereign Lord said, “These are the boundaries of the land that is to be divided among the twelve tribes, with the tribe of Joseph receiving two sections.

[47:14] I solemnly promised your ancestors that I would give them possession of this land; now divide it equally among you.

[47:15] “The northern boundary runs eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Hethlon, to Hamath Pass, to the city of Zedad,

[47:16] to the cities of Berothah and Sibraim (they are located between the territory of the kingdom of Damascus and that of the kingdom of Hamath), and to the city of Ticon (located by the border of the district of Hauran).

[47:17] So the northern boundary runs from the Mediterranean eastward to Enon City, with the border regions of Damascus and Hamath to the north of it.

[47:18] “The eastern boundary runs south from a point between the territory of Damascus and that of Hauran, with the Jordan River forming the boundary between the land of Israel on the west and Gilead on the east, as far as Tamar on the Dead Sea.

[47:19] “The southern boundary runs southwest from Tamar to the oasis of Kadesh Meribah and then northwest along the Egyptian border to the Mediterranean Sea.

[47:20] “The western boundary is formed by the Mediterranean and runs north to a point west of Hamath Pass.

[47:21] “Divide this land among your tribes;

[47:22] it is to be your permanent possession. The foreigners who are living among you and who have had children born here are also to receive their share of the land when you divide it. They are to be treated like full Israelite citizens and are to draw lots for shares of the land along with the tribes of Israel.

[47:23] All foreign residents will receive their share with the people of the tribe among whom they are living. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

[48:8] The next section of the land is to be set apart for special use. It is to be 10 miles wide from north to south, and the same length from east to west as the sections given to the tribes. The Temple will be located within this section.

[48:9] In the center of this section, a special area 10 miles by 8 miles is to be dedicated to the Lord.

[48:10] The priests are to have a portion of this holy area. From east to west their portion is to measure 10 miles, and from north to south, 4 miles. The Temple of the Lord is to be located in the middle of this area.

[48:11] This holy area is to be for the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They served me faithfully and did not join the rest of the Israelites in doing wrong, as the other members of the tribe of Levi did.

[48:12] So they are to have a special area next to the area belonging to the Levites, and it will be the holiest of all.

[48:13] The Levites also are to have a special area, south of that of the priests. It too is to be 10 miles from east to west, by 4 miles from north to south.

[48:14] The area dedicated to the Lord is the best part of all the land, and none of it may be sold or exchanged or transferred to anyone else. It is holy and belongs to the Lord.

[48:15] The part of the special area that is left, 10 miles by 2 miles, is not holy, but is for the general use of the people. They may live there and use the land. The city is to be in the center of it,

[48:16] and it will be a square, 2,520 yards on each side.

[48:17] All around the city on each side there will be an open space 140 yards across.

[48:18] The land that is left after the city has been built in the area immediately to the south of the holy area—4 miles by 2 miles on the east and 4 miles by 2 miles on the west—is to be used as farmland by the people who live in the city.

[48:19] Anyone who lives in the city, no matter which tribe he comes from, may farm that land.

[48:20] And so the total area in the center of the section which was set apart will be a square measuring 10 miles on each side, and it will include the area occupied by the city.

[48:20] – Benjamin – Simeon – Issachar – Zebulun – Gad

[48:28] On the south side of the portion given to the tribe of Gad, the boundary runs southwest from Tamar to the oasis of Kadesh, and then northwest along the Egyptian border to the Mediterranean Sea.

[48:29] The Sovereign Lord said, “That is the way the land is to be divided into sections for the tribes of Israel to possess.”