Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 407
48:5-27
E ze k iel
395
from east to west. South of Manasseh is Ephraim, and then Reuben, and
then Judah, all of whose boundaries extend from east to west.
“South of Judah is the land set aside for a special purpose. It will be 81/3
miles wide and will extend as far east and west as the tribal territories, with
the Temple at the center.
“The area set aside for the Lord’s Temple will be 81/3 miles long and 62/3
miles wide. For the priests there will be a strip of land measuring 81/3 miles
long by 31/3 miles wide, with the Lord’s Temple at the center. This area is
set aside for the ordained priests, the descendants of Zadok who served
me faithfully and did not go astray with the people of Israel and the rest
of the Levites. It will be their special portion when the land is distributed,
the most sacred land of all. Next to the priests’ territory will lie the land
where the other Levites will live.
“The land allotted to the Levites will be the same size and shape as that
belonging to the priests—81/3 miles long and 31/3 miles wide. Together
these portions of land will measure 81/3 miles long by 62/3 miles wide.
None of this special land may ever be sold or traded or used by others, for
it belongs to the Lord; it is set apart as holy.
“An additional strip of land 81/3 miles long by 12/3 miles wide, south of
the sacred Temple area, will be allotted for public use—homes, pasture
lands, and common lands, with a city at the center. The city will measure
11/2 miles on each side—north, south, east, and west. Open lands will
surround the city for 150 yards in every direction. Outside the city there
will be a farming area that stretches 31/3 miles to the east and 31/3 miles to
the west along the border of the sacred area. This farmland will produce
food for the people working in the city. Those who come from the various
tribes to work in the city may farm it. This entire area—including the sa
cred lands and the city—is a square that measures 81/3 miles on each side.
“The areas that remain, to the east and to the west of the sacred lands
and the city, will belong to the prince. Each of these areas will be 81/3 miles
wide, extending in opposite directions to the eastern and western borders
of Israel, with the sacred lands and the sanctuary of the Temple in the
center. So the prince’s land will include everything between the territories
allotted to Judah and Benjamin, except for the areas set aside for the sacred
lands and the city.
“These are the territories allotted to the rest of the tribes. Benjamin’s
territory lies just south of the prince’s lands, and it extends across the entire
land of Israel from east to west. South of Benjamin’s territory lies that of
Simeon, also extending across the land from east to west. Next is the terri
tory of Issachar with the same eastern and western boundaries.
“Then comes the territory of Zebulun, which also extends across the
land from east to west. The territory of Gad is just south of Zebulun with
