Ezekiel - The Old Testament

¹ ' "This is the list of the tribes. One portion in the far north by way of Hethlon to the Pass of Hamath, to Hazer-Enon, with the territory of Damascus to the north, and marching with Hamath, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Dan.

² One portion bordering Dan, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Asher.

³ One portion bordering Asher, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Naphtali.

⁴ One portion bordering Naphtali, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Manasseh.

⁵ One portion bordering Manasseh, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Ephraim.

⁶ One portion bordering Ephraim, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Reuben.

⁷ One portion bordering Reuben, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Judah.

⁸ One portion bordering Judah, from the eastern limit to the western limit, is the portion which you must set aside, twenty-five thousand cubits wide, and as long as each of the other portions from the eastern limit to the western limit. The sanctuary will be in the centre of it.

⁹ "The portion which you must set aside for Yahweh must be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide.

¹⁰ This sacred portion must belong to the priests, being, on the north side, twenty-five thousand cubits; on the west side ten thousand cubits wide, on the east side ten thousand cubits wide and on the south side twenty-five thousand cubits long; the sanctuary of Yahweh will be in the centre of it.

¹¹ This will be for the consecrated priests, those of the sons of Zadok who maintained my liturgy and did not go astray with the straying Israelites, as the Levites went astray.

¹² And so their portion must be taken out of the especially holy portion of the land, near the territory of the Levites.

¹³ The territory of the Levites, like the territory of the priests, must be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide -- the whole length being twenty-five thousand and the width ten thousand.

¹⁴ It will be illegal for them to sell or exchange any part of it, and the domain can never be alienated, since it is consecrated to Yahweh.

¹⁵ As regards the remainder, an area of five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand, this must be for the common use of the city, for houses and pastures. In the middle will be the city.

¹⁶ These will be its dimensions: on the north side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the south side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits.

¹⁷ The pasture land of the city must extend two hundred and fifty cubits to the north, two hundred and fifty to the south, two hundred and fifty to the east, two hundred and fifty to the west.

¹⁸ One strip, contiguous to the sacred portion, must be left over, consisting of ten thousand cubits to eastward and ten thousand to westward, marching with the sacred portion; this will bring in a revenue for feeding the municipal workmen.

¹⁹ And the municipal workmen, drawn from all the tribes of Israel, will farm it.

²⁰ The portion must have a total area of twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand. You must allocate a square area from the sacred portion to constitute the city.

²¹ What is left over will be for the prince, on either side of the sacred portion and of the property of the city, marching with the twenty-five thousand cubits to eastward to the eastern frontier, and marching with the twenty-five thousand cubits to westward to the western frontier-- running parallel with the other portions and belonging to the prince. In the centre will be the sacred portion and the sanctuary of the Temple.

²² Thus, apart from the property of the Levites and the property of the city which lie in the middle of the prince's portion, everything between the borders of Judah and the borders of Ben- jamin must belong to the prince.

²³ "As regards the rest of the tribes: One portion from the eastern limit to the western limit: Benjamin.

²⁴ One portion bordering Benjamin, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Simeon.

²⁵ One portion bordering Simeon, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Issachar.

²⁶ One portion bordering Issachar, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Zebulun.

²⁷ One portion bordering Zebulun, from the eastern limit to the western limit: Gad.

²⁸ On the southern border of Gad, on the south side, the border will run from Tamar to the Waters of Meribah in Kadesh, to the Wadi and the Great Sea.

²⁹ This is how you must distribute the country to the tribes of Israel as their heritage, and these must be their portions -- declares the Lord Yahweh.

³⁰ "Here are the exits from the city. On the north side, four thousand five hundred cubits are to be measured off.

³¹ The gates of the city are to be named after the tribes of Israel. Three gates to the north: one the gate of Reuben; one the gate of Judah; one the gate of Levi.

³² On the east side, there will be four thousand five hundred cubits and three gates: one the gate of Joseph; one the gate of Benjamin; one the gate of Dan.

³³ On the south side, four thousand five hundred cubits are to be measured off, and there are to be three gates: one the gate of Simeon; one the gate of Issachar; one the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴ On the west side, there will be four thousand five hundred cubits and three gates: one the gate of Gad; one the gate of Asher; one the gate of Naphtali.

³⁵ Total perimeter: eighteen thousand cubits. "The name of the city in future must be: Yahweh-is-there." '