[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.