by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, says the Lord
GOD.”
Lamentation over the King of
Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the L
ORD came to me:
12“Son of man, raise a lamentation over
the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“You were the signet of
perfection,
pfull of wisdom
and perfect in beauty.
13You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your
covering,
carnelian, topaz, and jasper,
chrysolite, beryl, and onyx,
sapphire,
q carbuncle,
and emerald;and wrought in gold were your settings
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.
14With an anointed guardian cherub I placed
you;
s
you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you
walked.
15You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till iniquity was found in you.
16In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence, and you
sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the
mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out
from the midst of the stones of fire.
17Your heart was proud because of your
beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of
your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
18By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade
you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought forth fire from the midst of
you;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes upon the
earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
19All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more for ever.”
Prophecy against Sidon
20 The word of the L
ORD came to me:
21“Son of man, set your face toward
Si'don, and prophesy against her
22and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, I am against you, O
Si'don,
and I will manifest my glory in the midst of
you.
And they shall know that I am the
LORD
when I execute judgments in her,
and manifest my holiness in her;
23for I will send pestilence into her,
and blood into her streets;
and the slain shall fall in the midst of
her,
by the sword that is against her on every
side.
Then they will know that I am the
LORD.
24 “And for
the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a
thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them
with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.
Future Blessings for Israel
25 “Thus says the Lord GOD: When I
gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are
scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the
nations, then they shall dwell in their own land which I gave to my
servant Jacob. 26And they shall dwell securely in it, and
they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell
securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who
have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the
LORD their God.”
Prophecy against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on
the twelfth day of the month, the word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3speak, and say, Thus says
the Lord GOD:
“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
4I will put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to
your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of
your streams,
with all the fish of your streams
which stick to your scales.
5And I will cast you forth into the
wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall upon the open field,
and not be gathered and buried.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds
of the air
I have given you as food.
6 “Then all the
inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the L
ORD. Because you
u have been a
staff of reed to the house of Israel; 7when they grasped you with
the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they
leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to
shake;
v 8therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I
will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and
beast;
9and the
land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will
know that I am the L
ORD.
“Because you
w said,
‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10therefore, behold, I
am against you, and against your streams, and I will make the land
of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Sye'ne, as
far as the border of Ethiopia.
11No foot of man shall pass through it, and
no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited
forty years.
12And I will make the land of Egypt a
desolation in the midst of desolated countries; and her cities
shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste.
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them
among the countries.
13 “For thus
says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the
Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered;
14and I will
restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of
Path'ros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly
kingdom. 15It
shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt
itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they
will never again rule over the nations. 16And it shall never
again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their
iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that
I am the Lord GOD.”
17 In the
twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the
month, the word of the L
ORD came to
me:
18“Son of man, Nebuchadrez'zar king of
Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made
bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his
army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had
performed against it.
19Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I
will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon; and
he shall carry off its wealth
x and despoil
it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20I have given
him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored,
because they worked for me, says the Lord GOD.
21 “On that
day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and
I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the
LORD.”
Lamentation for Egypt
30
The word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“Son of
man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Wail, ‘Alas for the
day!’
3 For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near;
it will be a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
4A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Ethiopia,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and her wealth is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down.
5Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and
Libya,y and the people of the land that is in
league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6“Thus says the LORD:
Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and her proud might shall come down;
from Migdol to Sye'ne
they shall fall within her by the
sword,
says the Lord GOD.
7And she
z shall be
desolated in the midst of desolated countries
and her cities shall be in the midst of
cities that are laid waste.
8Then they will know that I am the
LORD,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day
swift
a messengers shall go forth from me to terrify the
unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the
day of Egypt’s doom; for behold, it comes!
10 “Thus says the Lord
GOD:
I will put an end to the wealth
b of
Egypt,by the hand of Nebuchadrez'zar king of
Babylon.
11He and his people with him, the most
terrible of the nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the
land;
and they shall draw their swords against
Egypt,
and fill the land with the slain.
12And I will dry up the Nile,
and will sell the land into the hand of evil
men;
I will bring desolation upon the land and
everything in it,
by the hand of foreigners;
I, the LORD,
have spoken.
13 “Thus says the
Lord GOD:
I will destroy the idols,
and put an end to the images, in
Memphis;
there shall no longer be a prince in the
land of Egypt;
so I will put fear in the land of
Egypt.
14I will make Path'ros a desolation,
and will set fire to Zoan,
and will execute acts of judgment upon
Thebes.
15And I will pour my wrath upon
Pelu'sium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelu'sium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and its walls broken down.
c17The young men of On and of Pibe'seth shall
fall by the sword;
and the women shall go into captivity.
18At Tehaph'nehes the day shall be
dark,
when I break there the dominion of
Egypt,
and her proud might shall come to an
end;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into
captivity.
19Thus I will execute acts of judgment upon
Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the
LORD.”
Prophecy against Pharaoh
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month,
on the seventh day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of
Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to
heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong
to wield the sword. 22Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I
am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the
strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword
fall from his hand. 23I will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. 24And I will strengthen
the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but
I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like
a man mortally wounded. 25I will strengthen the arms of the king of
Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know
that I am the LORD. When I put my
sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, he shall stretch it out
against the land of Egypt; 26and I will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will
know that I am the LORD.”
The Towering Cedar
31
In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the
month, the word of the L
ORD came to
me:
2“Son of
man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his
multitude:
“Whom are you like in your
greatness?
3 Behold, I will liken you
d to a cedar in
Lebanon,
with fair branches and forest shade,
and of great height,
its top among the clouds.
e4The waters nourished it,
the deep made it grow tall,
round the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
to all the trees of the forest.
5So it towered high
above all the trees of the forest;
its boughs grew large
and its branches long,
from abundant water in its shoots.
6All the birds of the air
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the
field
brought forth their young;
and under its shadow
dwelt all great nations.
7It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches;
for its roots went down
to abundant waters.
8The cedars in the garden of God could
not rival it,
nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
the plane trees were as nothing
compared with its branches;
no tree in the garden of God
was like it in beauty.
9I made it beautiful
in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of Eden envied it,
that were in the garden of God.
10 “Therefore thus says
the Lord GOD: Because it
g towered high
and set its top among the clouds,h and its heart
was proud of its height, 11I will give it into the hand of a mighty
one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness
deserves. I have cast it out.
12Foreigners, the most terrible of the
nations, will cut it down and leave it. On the mountains and in all
the valleys its branches will fall, and its boughs will lie broken
in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the
earth will go from its shadow and leave it.
13Upon its ruin will
dwell all the birds of the air, and upon its branches will be all
the beasts of the field.
14All this is in order that no trees by the
waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the
clouds,
h and
that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height; for
they are all given over to death, to the nether world among mortal
men, with those who go down to the Pit.
15 “Thus says the Lord
GOD: When it goes down to Sheol I will make the deep mourn
for
i it, and
restrain its rivers, and many waters shall be stopped; I will
clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field
shall faint because of it. 16I will make the nations quake at the sound
of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to
the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon,
all that drink water, will be comforted in the nether world.
17They also shall go
down to Sheol with it, to those who are slain by the sword; yes,
those who dwelt under its shadow among the nations shall
perish.
j 18Whom are you thus like in glory and in
greatness among the trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with
the trees of Eden to the nether world; you shall lie among the
uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
“This is Pharaoh and all his
multitude, says the Lord GOD.”
Lamentation over Pharaoh
32
In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the
month, the word of the L
ORD came to
me:
2“Son of
man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to
him:
“You consider yourself a lion among
the nations,
but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you burst forth in your rivers,
trouble the waters with your feet,
and foul their rivers.
I will throw my net over you
with a host of many peoples;
and I
k will haul you
up in my dragnet.4And I will cast you on the ground,
on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the air to
settle on you,
and I will gorge the beasts of the whole
earth with you.
5I will strew your flesh upon the
mountains,
and fill the valleys with your
carcass.
l6I will drench the land even to the
mountains
with your flowing blood;
and the watercourses will be full of
you.
7When I blot you out, I will cover the
heavens,
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8All the bright lights of heaven
will I make dark over you,
and put darkness upon your land,
says the Lord GOD.
9 “I will trouble the
hearts of many peoples, when I carry you captive
m among the
nations, into the countries which you have not known.
10I will make
many peoples appalled at you, and their kings shall shudder because
of you, when I brandish my sword before them; they shall tremble
every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your
downfall.
11For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of
the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
12I will cause your
multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most
terrible among the nations.
“They shall bring to nothing the pride
of Egypt,
and all its multitude shall perish.
13I will destroy all its beasts
from beside many waters;
and no foot of man shall trouble them any
more,
nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble
them.
14Then I will make their waters clear,
and cause their rivers to run like
oil,
says the Lord GOD.
15When I make the land of Egypt
desolate
and when the land is stripped of all that
fills it,
when I strike all who dwell in it,
then they will know that I am the
LORD.
16This is a lamentation which shall be chanted; the
daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all
her multitude, shall they chant it, says the Lord
GOD.”
17 In the twelfth year, in
the first month,
n on the
fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 18“Son of man,
wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send them down, her and the
daughters of majestic nations, to the nether world, to those who
have gone down to the Pit:
19‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down, and be laid with the
uncircumcised.’
20 They shall fall amid those
who are slain by the sword,
o and with her
shall lie all her multitudes.p 21The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with
their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: ‘They have come
down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the
sword.’
22 “Assyria is
there, and all her company, their graves round about her, all of
them slain, fallen by the sword; 23whose graves are set in the uttermost parts
of the Pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them
slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the
living.
24 “E'lam is
there, and all her multitude about her grave; all of them slain,
fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the nether
world, who spread terror in the land of the living, and they bear
their shame with those who go down to the Pit. 25They have made her a
bed among the slain with all her multitude, their graves round
about her, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for
terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear
their shame with those who go down to the Pit; they are placed
among the slain.
26 “Me'shech
and Tu'bal are there, and all their multitude, their graves round
about them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they
spread terror in the land of the living.
27And they do not lie with
the fallen mighty men of old
q who went down
to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under
their heads, and whose shieldsr are upon
their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of
the living. 28So you shall be broken and lie among the
uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29 “E'dom is
there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are
laid with those who are slain by the sword; they lie with the
uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.
30 “The
princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians,
who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror
which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those
who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go
down to the Pit.
31 “When
Pharaoh sees them, he will comfort himself for all his multitude,
Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord GOD.
32For he
s spread terror
in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid among the
uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and
all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.”
The Watchman’s Duty
33 The word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them,
If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a
man from among them, and make him their watchman; 3and if he sees the
sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the
people; 4then
if any one who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take
warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be
upon his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did
not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had
taken warning, he would have saved his life. 6But if the watchman
sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the
people are not warned, and the sword comes, and takes any one of
them; that man is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will
require at the watchman’s hand.
7 “So you, son
of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever
you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
8If I say to
the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not
speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your
hand. 9But if
you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from
his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your
life.
10 “And you,
son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said:
‘Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste
away because of them; how then can we live?’
11Say to them, As I
live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back,
turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of
Israel?
12And
you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the
righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses; and as for
the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns
from his wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by
his righteousness
t when he
sins. 13Though I say to the righteous that he shall
surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and commits
iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in
the iniquity that he has committed he shall die.
14Again, though I say
to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns
from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15if the wicked
restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and
walks in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall
surely live, he shall not die.
16None of the sins that he has committed
shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and
right, he shall surely live.
17 “Yet your
people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just’; when it
is their own way that is not just. 18When the righteous turns from his
righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for it. 19And when the wicked
turns from his wickedness, and does what is lawful and right, he
shall live by it. 20Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is
not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you
according to his ways.”
The Fall of Jerusalem
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the
tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a man who had escaped
from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has
fallen.”
22Now
the hand of the L
ORD had been upon me
the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by
the time the man came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened,
and I was no longer mute.
The Survivors in Judah
23 The word of the LORD came to me: 24“Son of man, the inhabitants of these
waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was
only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many;
the land is surely given us to possess.’ 25Therefore say to
them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood, and
lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then
possess the land? 26You resort to the sword, you commit
abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife;
shall you then possess the land? 27Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by
the sword; and him that is in the open field I will give to the
beasts to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and in
caves shall die by pestilence. 28And I will make the land a desolation and a
waste; and her proud might shall come to an end; and the mountains
of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through.
29Then they
will know that I am the LORD, when I
have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their
abominations which they have committed.
30 “As for
you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the
walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to
his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes
forth from the L
ORD.’
31And they come to you
as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear
what you say but they will not do it; for with their lips they show
much love, but their heart is set on their gain.
32And behold, you are to them
like one who sings love songs
u with a
beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what
you say, but they will not do it. 33When this
comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a
prophet has been among them.”
Israel’s False Shepherds
34 The
word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“Son of
man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,* prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding
yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3You eat the fat, you
clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but
you do not feed the sheep. 4The weak you have not strengthened, the sick
you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the
strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought,
and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were
scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for
all the wild beasts. 6My sheep were scattered, they wandered over
all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered
over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for
them.
7 “Therefore,
you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my
sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the
wild beasts, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds
have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed
themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9therefore, you
shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
10Thus says
the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will
require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the
sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue
my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for
them.
God, the True Shepherd
11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold,
I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12As a shepherd seeks
out his flock when some of his sheep
v have been
scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue
them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of
clouds and thick darkness. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples,
and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their
own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the
fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14I will feed
them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel
shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing
land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of
Israel.
15I
myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie
down, says the Lord GOD.
16I will seek the lost, and I will bring
back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will
strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch
over;
w I will
feed them in justice.
17 “As for you, my
flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and
sheep, rams and he-goats.
18Is it not enough for you to feed on the
good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of
your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must foul the
rest with your feet?
19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden
with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your
feet?
20 “Therefore,
thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge
between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21Because you push with
side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till
you have scattered them abroad,
22I will save my flock, they shall no longer
be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
* 23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my
servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be
their shepherd.
24And I, the L
ORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall
be prince among them; I, the L
ORD,
have spoken.
25 “I will
make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the
land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep
in the woods.
26And I will make them and the places round
about my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their
season; they shall be showers of blessing.
27And the trees of the
field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its
increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall
know that I am the L
ORD, when I break
the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who
enslaved them.
28They shall no more be a prey to the
nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them; they shall
dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
29And I will provide for them
prosperous
x plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with
hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the
nations. 30And they shall know that I, the
L
ORD their God, am with them, and that
they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD.
31And you are my sheep,
the sheep of my pasture,
y and I am your
God, says the Lord GOD.”
Prophecy against Mount Seir
35 The
word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“Son of
man, set your face against Mount Se'ir, and prophesy against it,
3and say to
it, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Mount Se'ir,
and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a
desolation and a waste. 4I will lay your cities waste, and you shall
become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the
LORD. 5Because you cherished perpetual enmity, and
gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the
time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment;
6therefore, as I live,
says the Lord GOD, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall
pursue you; because you are guilty of blood,z therefore blood shall pursue you.
7I will make
Mount Se'ir a waste and a desolation; and I will cut off from it
all who come and go. 8And I will fill your mountains with the
slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines
those slain with the sword shall fall. 9I will make you a
perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then
you will know that I am the LORD.
10 “Because
you said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be
mine, and we will take possession of them,’—although
the L
ORD was there—
11therefore, as I live, says
the Lord GOD, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy
which you showed because of your hatred against them; and I will
make myself known among you,
a when I judge
you. 12And you shall know that I, the
L
ORD, have heard all the revilings
which you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying,
‘They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour.’
13And you
magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied
your words against me; I heard it.
14Thus says the Lord GOD: For the rejoicing
of the whole earth I will make you desolate.
15As you rejoiced over
the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so
I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Se'ir, and all
E'dom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the L
ORD.
Blessings on Israel
36
“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel,
and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the L
ORD.
2Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you,
‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our
possession,’ 3therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the
Lord GOD: Because, yes, because they made you desolate, and crushed
you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest
of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the
people; 4therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the
word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and
the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the
deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest
of the nations round about; 5therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I speak in
my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations, and against all
E'dom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with
wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might
possessb it and plunder it.
6Therefore
prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains
and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I speak in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the
reproach of the nations; 7therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear
that the nations that are round about you shall themselves suffer
reproach.
8 “But you, O
mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches, and yield
your fruit to my people Israel; for they will soon come home.
9For, behold,
I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and
sown; 10and I
will multiply men upon you, the whole house of Israel, all of it;
the cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt;
11and I will
multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be
fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former
times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will
know that I am the LORD. 12Yes, I will let men
walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you,
and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave
them of children. 13Thus says the Lord GOD: Because men say to
you, ‘You devour men, and you bereave your nation of
children,’ 14therefore you shall no longer devour men
and no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord GOD;
15and I will
not let you hear any more the reproach of the nations, and you
shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer
cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord GOD.”
A New Heart and New Spirit
16 The word of the LORD came to me: 17“Son of man, when the house of Israel
dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their
doings; their conduct before me was like the uncleanness of a woman
in her impurity. 18So I poured out my wrath upon them for the
blood which they had shed in the land, for the idols with which
they had defiled it. 19I scattered them among the nations, and
they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance with their
conduct and their deeds I judged them. 20But when they came to
the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in
that men said of them, ‘These are the people of the
LORD, and yet they had to go out of
his land.’ 21But I had concern for my holy name, which
the house of Israel caused to be profaned among the nations to
which they came.
22 “Therefore
say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for
your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the
sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to
which you came.
23And I will vindicate the holiness of my
great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which
you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am
the L
ORD, says the Lord GOD, when
through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
24For I will take you
from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring
you into your own land.
25I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and
you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your
idols I will cleanse you.
26A new heart I will give you, and a new
spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27And I will put my
spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be
careful to observe my ordinances.
28You shall dwell in the land which I gave to
your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29And I will
deliver you from all your uncleannesses; and I will summon the
grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
30I will make the fruit
of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may
never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.
31Then you will remember your evil ways, and
your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves for
your iniquities and your abominable deeds.
32It is not for your
sake that I will act, says the Lord GOD; let that be known to you.
Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
33 “Thus says
the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your
iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste
places shall be rebuilt. 34And the land that was desolate shall be
tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of
all who passed by. 35And they will say, ‘This land that
was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and
desolate and ruined cities are now inhabited and fortified.’
36Then the
nations that are left round about you shall know that I, the
LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places,
and replanted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.
37 “Thus says
the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do
for them: to increase their men like a flock.
38Like the flock for
sacrifices,
c like
the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the
waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that
I am the LORD.”
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The
hand of the L
ORD was upon me, and he
brought me out by the Spirit of the L
ORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley;
d it was full of bones.*
2And he led me
round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the
valley;d and behold, they were very dry.
3And he said to
me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered,
“O Lord GOD, you know.” 4Again he said to me, “Prophesy to
these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the
LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones:
Behold, I will cause breathe to enter you, and you shall live.
6And I will lay
sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover
you with skin, and put breathe in you, and you shall live; and you
shall know that I am the L
ORD.”
7 So I prophesied as
I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8And as I
looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them,
and skin had covered them; but there was no spirit in them.
9Then he said to me,
“Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the
spirit,
f Thus
says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O
spirit,f and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live.” 10So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and
stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.
11 Then he said to
me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is
lost; we are clean cut off.’
12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you
from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the
land of Israel.
13And you shall know that I am the
L
ORD, when I open your graves, and
raise you from your graves, O my people.
14And I will put my
Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your
own land; then you shall know that I, the L
ORD, have spoken, and I have done it, says the
L
ORD.”
The Two Sticks
15 The word of the L
ORD came to me:
16“Son of man, take a stick and write
on it, ‘For Judah, and the children of Israel associated with
him’; then take another stick and write upon it, ‘For
Joseph (the stick of E'phraim) and all the house of Israel
associated with him’;
17and join them together into one stick, that
they may become one in your hand.
18And when your people say to you,
‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’
19say to them, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph
(which is in the hand of E'phraim) and the tribes of Israel
associated with him; and I will join
g with it the
stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my
hand. 20When the sticks on which you write are in
your hand before their eyes,
21then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from the nations among which
they have gone, and will gather them from all sides, and bring them
to their own land;
22and I will make them one nation in the
land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over
them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer
divided into two kingdoms.
23They shall not defile themselves any more
with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their
transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in
which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David
shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They
shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.
25They shall dwell in
the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob;
they and their children and their children’s children shall
dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince
for ever.
26I will make a covenant of peace with them;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will
bless
h them
and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them
for evermore. 27My dwelling place shall be with them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28Then the nations will
know that I the L
ORD sanctify Israel,
when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for
evermore.”
Prophecy against Gog
38
* The word of the L
ORD came
to me:
2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land
of Ma'gog, the chief prince of Me'shech and Tu'bal, and prophesy
against him 3and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I
am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Me'shech and Tu'bal;
4and I will
turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you
forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed
in full armor, a great company, all of them with buckler and
shield, wielding swords; 5Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of
them with shield and helmet; 6Gomer and all his hordes; Beth''-togar'mah
from the uttermost parts of the north with all his
hordes—many peoples are with you.
7 “Be ready
and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are assembled about you,
and be a guard for them.
8After many days you will be mustered; in the
latter years you will go against the land that is restored from
war, the land where people were gathered from many nations upon the
mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste; its people
were brought out from the nations and now dwell securely, all of
them.
9You
will advance, coming on like a storm, you will be like a cloud
covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with
you.
10 “Thus says
the Lord GOD: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and
you will devise an evil scheme 11and say, ‘I will go up against the
land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who
dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no
bars or gates’; 12to seize spoil and carry off plunder; to
assail the waste places which are now inhabited, and the people who
were gathered from the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods,
who dwell at the center of the earth. 13Sheba and De'dan and
the merchants of Tar'shish and all its villages will say to you,
‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts
to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away
cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’
14 “Therefore, son of
man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day
when my people Israel are dwelling securely, you will bestir
yourself
i 15and come from your place out of the
uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of
them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army;
16you will come up
against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the
latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may
know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before
their eyes.
17 “Thus says
the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my
servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for
years that I would bring you against them?
18But on that day, when
Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord GOD, my
wrath will be roused.
19For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath
I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land
of Israel;
20the fish of the sea, and the birds of the
air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that
creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the
earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be
thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble
to the ground.
21I
will summon every kind of terror
j against
Gog,k says
the Lord GOD; every man’s sword will be against his
brother. 22With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter
into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and
the many peoples that are with him, torrential rains and
hailstones, fire and brimstone.
23So I will show my greatness and my holiness
and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will
know that I am the L
ORD.
The Fall of Gog
39
“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus
says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of
Me'shech and Tu'bal;
2and I will turn you about and drive you forward, and
bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you
against the mountains of Israel; 3then I will strike your bow from your left
hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.
4You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel,
you and all your hordes and the peoples that are with you; I will
give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the wild beasts to
be devoured. 5You shall fall in the open field; for I have
spoken, says the Lord GOD. 6I will send fire on Magog and on those who
dwell securely in the islands; and they shall know that I am the
LORD.
7 “And my holy
name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will
not let my holy name be profaned any more; and the nations shall
know that I am the LORD, the Holy One
in Israel. 8Behold, it is coming and it will be brought
about, says the Lord GOD. That is the day of which I have
spoken.
9 “Then those
who dwell in the cities of Israel will go forth and make fires of
the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bows and arrows,
handpikes and spears, and they will make fires of them for seven
years; 10so
that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down
any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the
weapons; they will despoil those who despoiled them, and plunder
those who plundered them, says the Lord GOD.
11 “On that day I will
give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the
Travelers
l east of
the sea; it will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his
multitude will be buried; it will be called the Valley of
Ha'mon-gog.m 12For seven months the house of Israel will
be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.
13All the people of the
land will bury them; and it will redound to their honor on the day
that I show my glory, says the Lord GOD.
14They will set apart men to
pass through the land continually and bury
n those
remaining upon the face of the land, so as to cleanse it; at the
end of seven months they will make their search. 15And when these pass
through the land and any one sees a man’s bone, then he shall
set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley
of Ha'mon-gog.
16(A
city Hamo'nah
o is there
also.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 “As for you, son of
man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and
to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from
all sides to the sacrificial feast which I am preparing for you, a
great sacrificial feast upon the mountains of Israel, and you shall
eat flesh and drink blood.
18You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and
drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of
lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19And you
shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are
drunk, at the sacrificial feast which I am preparing for you.
20And you
shall be filled at my table with horses and riders, with mighty men
and all kinds of warriors,’ says the Lord GOD.
Israel to be Restored
21 “And I will set my glory among the
nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have
executed, and my hand which I have laid on them. 22The house of Israel
shall know that I am the LORD their
God, from that day forward. 23And the nations shall know that the house
of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they
dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and
gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by
the sword. 24I
dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their
transgressions, and hid my face from them.
25 “Therefore
thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob,
and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be
jealous for my holy name. 26They shall forget their shame, and all the
treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely
in their land with none to make them afraid, 27when I have brought
them back from the peoples and gathered them from their
enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness
in the sight of many nations. 28Then they shall know that I am the
LORD their God because I sent them
into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own
land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any
more; 29and I
will not hide my face any more from them, when I pour out my Spirit
upon the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.”
The Vision of Measuring the
Temple
40 * In the twenty-fifth year of our
exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month,
in the fourteenth year after the city was conquered, on that very
day, the hand of the L
ORD was upon me,
2and
brought me in the visions of God into the land of Israel, and set
me down upon a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a
city opposite me.p 3When he brought me there, behold, there was a man, whose
appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring
reed in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. 4And the man said to
me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your
ears, and set your mind upon all that I shall show you, for you
were brought here in order that I might show it to you; declare all
that you see to the house of Israel.”
5 And behold, there was a
wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of
the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits,
each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length; so he measured the
thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6Then he went into the
gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold
of the gate, one reed deep;
q 7and the side rooms, one reed long, and one
reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and
the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner
end, one reed.
8Then he measured the vestibule of the
gateway, eight cubits;
9and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule
of the gate was at the inner end.
10And there were three side rooms on either
side of the east gate; the three were of the same size; and the
jambs on either side were of the same size.
11Then he measured the
breadth of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the breadth
of the gateway, thirteen cubits.
12There was a barrier before the side rooms,
one cubit on either side; and the side rooms were six cubits on
either side.
13Then
he measured the gate from the back
r of the one
side room to the backr of the other,
a breadth of five and twenty cubits, from door to door.
14He measured also the
vestibule, twenty cubits; and round about the vestibule of the
gateway was the court.
s 15From the front of the gate at the entrance
to the end of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.
16And the
gateway had windows round about, narrowing inwards into their jambs
in the side rooms, and likewise the vestibule had windows round
about inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.
17 Then he brought
me into the outer court; and behold, there were chambers and a
pavement, round about the court; thirty chambers fronted on the
pavement.
18And the pavement ran along the side of the
gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower
pavement.
19Then
he measured the distance from the inner front of
t the lower
gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred
cubits.
Then he went before me to the north,
20and behold, there was
a gate
u which
faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court. He measured
its length and its breadth. 21Its side rooms, three on either side, and
its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the
first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth
twenty-five cubits.
22And its windows, its vestibule, and its
palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate which faced
toward the east; and seven steps led up to it; and its vestibule
was on the inside.
23And opposite the gate on the north, as on
the east, was a gate to the inner court; and he measured from gate
to gate, a hundred cubits.
24 And he led me
toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south; and he
measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the same size as the
others. 25And
there were windows round about in it and in its vestibule, like the
windows of the others; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth
twenty-five cubits. 26And there were seven steps leading up to
it, and its vestibule was on the inside; and it had palm trees on
its jambs, one on either side. 27And there was a gate on the south of the
inner court; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a
hundred cubits.
28 Then he brought
me to the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south
gate; it was of the same size as the others; 29Its side rooms, its
jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others; and
there were windows round about in it and in its vestibule; its
length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
30And there
were vestibules round about, twenty-five cubits long and five
cubits broad. 31Its vestibule faced the outer court, and
palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight
steps.
32 Then he brought
me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate;
it was of the same size as the others. 33Its side rooms, its
jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as the others; and
there were windows round about in it and in its vestibule; its
length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
34Its
vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its
jambs, one on either side; and its stairway had eight steps.
35 Then he brought
me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same size as
the others.
36Its
side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same size as
the others;
v and it
had windows round about; its length was fifty cubits, and its
breadth twenty-five cubits. 37Its vestibule
w faced the
outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on either
side; and its stairway had eight steps.
38 There was a chamber with
its door in the vestibule of the gate,
x where the
burnt offering was to be washed. 39And in the vestibule
of the gate were two tables on either side, on which the burnt
offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering were to be
slaughtered.
40And
on the outside of the vestibule
y at the
entrance of the north gate were two tables; and on the other side
of the vestibule of the gate were two tables. 41Four tables were on
the inside, and four tables on the outside of the side of the gate,
eight tables, on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered.
42And there
were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit
and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high,
on which the instruments were to be laid with which the burnt
offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered.
43And hooks, a
handbreadth long, were fastened round about within. And on the
tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
44 Then he brought me from
without into the inner court, and behold, there were two
chambers
z in the
inner court, onea at the side
of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the
southb gate
facing north. 45And he said to me, This chamber which faces
south is for the priests who have charge of the temple,
46and the chamber which
faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these
are the sons of Za'dok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come
near to the L
ORD to minister to him.
47And he
measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits
broad, foursquare; and the altar was in front of the temple.
48 Then he brought me to the
vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule,
five cubits on either side; and the breadth of the gate was
fourteen cubits; and the sidewalls of the gate were three
cubits
c on
either side. 49The length of the vestibule was twenty
cubits, and the breadth twelve
d cubits; and
ten steps led upe to it; and
there were pillars beside the jambs on either side.
41 Then
he brought me to the nave, and measured the jambs; on each side six
cubits was the breadth of the jambs.
f 2And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the
sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side; and he
measured the length of the nave forty cubits, and its breadth,
twenty cubits. 3Then he
went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance,
two cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, six cubits; and the
sidewallsg of the entrance, seven cubits.
4And he measured
the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty
cubits, beyond the nave. And he said to me, “This is the most
holy place.”
5 Then he measured
the wall of the temple, six cubits thick; and the breadth of the
side chambers, four cubits, round about the temple.
6And the side chambers were
in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There
were offsets
h all
around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side
chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the
temple. 7And the
side chambers became broader as they rose
i from story to
story, corresponding to the enlargement of the
offsetj from story to
story round about the temple; on the side of the temple a stairway
led upward, and thus one went up from the lowest story to the top
story through the middle story. 8I saw also that the
temple had a raised platform round about; the foundations of the
side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits.
9The thickness of the outer
wall of the side chambers was five cubits; and the part of the
platform which was left free was five cubits.
k Between the
platforml of the temple
and the 10chambers of the court was a breadth of
twenty cubits round about the temple on every side.
11And the doors of the
side chambers opened on the part of the platform that was left
free, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south;
and the breadth of the part that was left free was five cubits
round about.
12 The building that
was facing the temple yard on the west side was seventy cubits
broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round
about, and its length ninety cubits.
13 Then he measured
the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building
with its walls, a hundred cubits long; 14also the breadth of
the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.
15 Then he measured the
length of the building facing the yard which was at the west and
its walls
m on
either side, a hundred cubits.
The nave of the temple and the inner room
and the outer
n vestibule 16were paneled
o and round
about all three had windows with recessedp frames. Over
against the threshold the temple was paneled with wood round about,
from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were
covered), 17to
the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the
outside. And on all the walls round about in the inner room and the
nave were carved likenesses
q 18of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree
between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces:
19the face of a man
toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion
toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the
whole temple round about;
20from the floor to above the door cherubim
and palm trees were carved on the wall.
r21 The doorposts of
the nave were squared; and in front of the holy place was something
resembling
22an
altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits
broad;
s its
corners, its base,t and its walls
were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table which is
before the LORD.”
23The nave and
the holy place had each a double door.
24The doors had two
leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door.
25And on the doors of
the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved
on the walls; and there was a canopy of wood in front of the
vestibule outside.
26And there were recessed windows and palm
trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule.
u
42 Then
he led me out into the inner
v court, toward the north, and he
brought me to the chambers which were opposite the temple yard and
opposite the building on the north.
2The length of the building which was on the north
sidew was
x a hundred cubits, and the breadth
fifty cubits.
3Adjoining the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner
court, and facing the pavement which belonged to the outer court,
was galleryy against gallery
y in three stories.
4And before the
chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits
long,z and their doors were on the
north.
5Now the upper
chambers were narrower, for the galleriesy took more away from them than from
the lower and middle chambers in the building.
6For they were
in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the
outera court; hence the upper chambers
were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle
ones.
7And there was a
wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward the outer court,
opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long. 8For the chambers on
the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those opposite the
temple were a hundred cubits long. 9Below these chambers was an entrance on the
east side, as one enters them from the outer court, 10where the outside wall
begins.b
On the south
c also,
opposite the yard and opposite the building, there were
chambers 11with
a passage in front of them; they were similar to the chambers on
the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same
exits
d and
arrangements and doors. 12And below the south chambers was an entrance
on the east side, where one enters the passage, and opposite them
was a dividing wall.
e13 Then he said to
me, “The north chambers and the south chambers opposite the
yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the
LORD shall eat the most holy
offerings; there they shall put the most holy offerings—the
cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, for the
place is holy. 14When the priests enter the holy place, they
shall not go out of it into the outer court without laying there
the garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they shall
put on other garments before they go near to that which is for the
people.”
15 Now when he had
finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out
by the gate which faced east, and measured the temple area round
about.
16He
measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred cubits
by the measuring reed.
17Then he turned and measured
f the north
side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 18Then he turned and
measured
f the
south side, five hundred cubits by the measuring reed.
19Then he
turned to the west side and measured, five hundred cubits by the
measuring reed.
20He measured it on the four sides. It had a
wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits
broad, to make a separation between the holy and the common.
The Glory of the Lord Entering the
Temple
43
Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east.
2And
behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the
sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the
earth shone with his glory. 3Andg the vision I saw was like the vision
which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and
h like the vision which I had seen by
the river Che'bar; and I fell upon my face.
4As the glory of
the LORD entered the temple by the
gate facing east, 5the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into
the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
6 While the
man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the
temple;
7and he
said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and
the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst
of the sons of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no
more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their
harlotry, and by the dead bodies
i of their
kings, 8by setting their threshold by my threshold
and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between
me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations
which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger.
9Now let them
put away their idolatry and the dead bodies
i of their
kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst for
ever.
10 “And you, son of
man, describe to the house of Israel the temple and its appearance
and plan,
j that
they may be ashamed of their iniquities. 11And if they are ashamed of
all that they have done, portray
k the temple,
its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form;
and make known to them all its ordinances and all its laws; and
write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform
all its lawsl and all its
ordinances. 12This is the law of the temple: the whole
territory round about upon the top of the mountain shall be most
holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.
The Altar
13 “These are the dimensions of the
altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its
base shall be one cubit high,
m and one cubit
broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be
the heightx of the
altar: 14from the base on the ground to the lower
ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the
smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of
one cubit;
15and
the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting
upward, four horns, one cubit high.
n 16The altar hearth shall be square, twelve
cubits long by twelve broad.
17The ledge also shall be square, fourteen
cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit
broad, and its base one cubit round about. The steps of the altar
shall face east.”
18 And he said to
me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the
ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for
offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it,
19you shall
give to the Levitical priests of the family of Za'dok, who draw
near to me to minister to me, says the Lord GOD, a bull for a sin
offering. 20And you shall take some of its blood, and
put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of
the ledge, and upon the rim round about; thus you shall cleanse the
altar and make atonement for it. 21You shall also take the bull of the sin
offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to
the temple, outside the sacred area. 22And on the second day
you shall offer a he-goat without blemish for a sin offering; and
the altar shall be cleansed, as it was cleansed with the bull.
23When you
have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish
and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24You shall present
them before the LORD, and the priests
shall sprinkle salt upon them and offer them up as a burnt offering
to the LORD. 25For seven days you
shall provide daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull and a
ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. 26Seven days shall they
make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it.
27And when
they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the
priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your
peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord
GOD.”
The Closed Gate
44
Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which
faces east; and it was shut.
2And heo said to me, “This gate shall
remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it;
for the L
ORD, the God of Israel, has
entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut.
3Only the prince
may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the
gate, and shall go out by the same way.”
Those Admitted to the Temple
4 Then he brought me by way of the
north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked, and behold,
the glory of the L
ORD filled the
temple of the L
ORD; and I fell upon my
face.
5And the
L
ORD said to me, “Son of man,
mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I
shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the
L
ORD and all its laws; and mark well
those who may be admitted to
p the temple
and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary.
6And say to the
rebellious house,
q to the house
of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let there be
an end to all your abominations, 7in admitting foreigners,
uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning
it,
r when
you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. Yous have broken
my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not kept
charge of my holy things; but you have set foreigners to keep my
charge in my sanctuary.
9 “Therefore
t thus says the
Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all
the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my
sanctuary. 10But the Levites who went far from me, going
astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall
bear their punishment.
11They shall be ministers in my sanctuary,
having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving in the
temple; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for
the people, and they shall attend on the people, to serve them.
12Because they
ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block
of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn
concerning them, says the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their
punishment.
13They shall not come near to me, to serve me
as priest, nor come near any of my sacred things and the things
that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, because of
the abominations which they have committed.
14Yet I will appoint
them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all
that is to be done in it.
The Levitical Priests
15 “But the Levitical priests, the
sons of Za'dok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people
of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to
me; and they shall attend on me to offer me the fat and the blood,
says the Lord GOD;
16they shall enter my sanctuary, and they
shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my
charge.
17When
they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen
garments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they
minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.
18They shall have linen
turbans upon their heads, and linen breeches upon their loins; they
shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.
19And when
they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off
the garments in which they have been ministering, and lay them in
the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, lest they
communicate holiness to the people with their garments.
20They shall not shave
their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the
hair of their heads.
21No priest shall drink wine, when he enters
the inner court.
22They shall not marry a widow, or a divorced
woman, but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel, or a
widow who is the widow of a priest.
23They shall teach my people the difference
between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish
between the unclean and the clean.
24In a controversy they shall act as judges,
and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep
my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall
keep my sabbaths holy.
25They shall not defile themselves by going
near to a dead person; however, for father or mother, for son or
daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile
themselves.
26After
he is defiled,
u he shall
count for himself seven days, and then he shall be
clean.v 27And on the day that he goes into the holy
place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he
shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord GOD.
28 “They shall have
no
w inheritance; I am their inheritance: and you shall give
them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
29They shall
eat the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering;
and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30And the first of all
the first fruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from
all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also
give to the priests the first of your coarse meal, that a blessing
may rest on your house.
31The priests shall not eat of anything,
whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn.
The Holy District
45
“When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart
for the L
ORD a portion of the land as
a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty
x thousand cubits broad; it shall
be holy throughout its whole extent.
2Of this a
square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the
sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3And in the holy
district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand
cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the
sanctuary, the most holy place. 4It shall be the holy portion of the land; it
shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and
approach the LORD to minister to him;
and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the
sanctuary. 5Another
section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits
broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as
their possession for cities to live in.y
6 “Alongside
the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the
possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and
twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole
house of Israel.
7 “And to the
prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and
the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the
property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in
length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the
western to the eastern boundary of the land. 8It is to be his
property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people;
but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to
their tribes.
9 “Thus says
the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and
oppression, and execute justice and righteousness; cease your
evictions of my people, says the Lord GOD.
Just Weights and Measures
10 “You shall have just balances, a
just ephah, and a just bath.
11The ephah and the bath shall be of the same
measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah
one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure.
12The shekel shall be
twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten shekels
shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty
shekels.
z
Offerings
13 “This is the offering which you
shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one
sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley,
14and as the fixed portion of
oil,
a one
tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor,b like the
homer, contains ten baths); 15and one sheep from every flock of two
hundred, from the families
c of Israel.
This is the offering for cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and
peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord
GOD. 16All
the people of the land shall give
d this offering
to the prince in Israel. 17It shall be the prince’s duty to
furnish the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and drink offerings,
at the feasts, the new moons, and the sabbaths, all the appointed
feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings,
cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make
atonement for the house of Israel.
Feasts
18 “Thus says the Lord GOD: In the
first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young
bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary. 19The priest shall take
some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts
of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the
posts of the gate of the inner court. 20You shall do the same
on the seventh day of the month for any one who has sinned through
error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the
temple.
21 “In the
first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall
celebrate the feast of the passover, and for seven days unleavened
bread shall be eaten. 22On that day the prince shall provide for
himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin
offering. 23And on the seven days of the festival he
shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without
blemish, on each of the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin
offering. 24And he shall provide as a cereal offering
an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to
each ephah. 25In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day
of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the
same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and cereal
offerings, and for the oil.
Other Ordinances of the Temple
46
“Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that
faces east shall be shut on the six working days; but on the
sabbath day it shall be opened and on the day of the new moon it
shall be opened.
2The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from
without, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The
priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and
he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go
out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 3The people of the land
shall worship at the entrance of that gate before the
LORD on the sabbaths and on the new
moons. 4The
burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without
blemish and a ram without blemish; 5and the cereal offering with the ram shall
be an ephah, and the cereal offering with the lambs shall be as
much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
6On the day of
the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, and six
lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish; 7as a cereal offering
he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram,
and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of
oil to each ephah. 8When the prince enters, he shall go in by
the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same
way.
9 “When the
people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the
north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and he who
enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one
shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall
go out straight ahead. 10When they go in, the prince shall go in
with them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
11 “At the
feasts and the appointed seasons the cereal offering with a young
bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs
as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an
ephah. 12When
the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or
peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him;
and he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he
does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has
gone out the gate shall be shut.
13 “He shall
provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to
the L
ORD daily; morning by morning he
shall provide it.
14And
he shall provide a cereal offering with it morning by morning, one
sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the
flour, as a cereal offering to the L
ORD; this is the ordinance for the continual burnt
offering.
e 15Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the
oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a continual burnt
offering.
16 “Thus says the Lord
GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of
f his
inheritance, it shall belong to his sons, it is their property by
inheritance. 17But if he makes a gift out of his
inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of
liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep
a gift from his inheritance.
18The prince shall not take any of the
inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property; he
shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so
that none of my people shall be dispossessed of his
property.”
19 Then he brought
me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the
north row of the holy chambers for the priests; and there I saw a
place at the extreme western end of them. 20And he said to me,
“This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt
offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the cereal
offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and
so communicate holiness to the people.”
21 Then he brought
me forth to the outer court, and led me to the four corners of the
court; and in each corner of the court there was a court—
22in the four corners
of the court were small
g courts, forty
cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same
size. 23On the inside, around each of the four
courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the
rows round about.
24Then he said to me, “These are the
kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the
sacrifices of the people.”
Water Flowing from the Temple
47 Then he brought me back to the door of the
temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of
the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the
water was flowing down from below the right side of the threshold
of the temple, south of the altar.
2Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led
me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the
east;h and the water was coming out on
the right side.
3 Going on eastward
with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and
then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. 4Again he measured a
thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again
he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up
to the loins. 5Again he measured a thousand, and it was a
river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it
was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed
through. 6And
he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
Then he led me back along the bank of the
river.
7As I
went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the
one side and on the other.
8And he said to me, “This water flows
toward the eastern region and goes down into the Ar'abah; and when
it enters the stagnant waters of the sea,
i the water
will become fresh. 9And wherever the river
j goes every
living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many
fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the
seak may
become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10Fishermen
will stand beside the sea; from En-ge'di to En-eg'laim it will be a
place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many
kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11But its swamps and
marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.
12And on the
banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of
trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail,
but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for
them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and
their leaves for healing.”
New Boundaries of the Land
13 Thus says the Lord GOD: “These are
the boundaries by which you shall divide the land for inheritance
among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14And you
shall divide it equally; I swore to give it to your fathers, and
this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 “This shall be the
boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way
of Heth'lon to the entrance of Ha'math, and on to Ze'dad,
l 16Bero'thah, Sib'raim (which lies on the
border between Damascus and Ha'math), as far as Hazer-hat'ticon,
which is on the border of Hau'ran.
17So the boundary shall run from the sea to
Ha'zar-e'non, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the
border of Ha'math to the north.
m This shall be
the north side.
18 “On the east side,
the boundary shall run from Ha'zar-e'non
n between
Hau'ran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land
of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Ta'mar.o This shall be
the east side.
19 “On the
south side, it shall run from Ta'mar as far as the waters of
Meribath'-ka'desh, thence along the Brook of Egypt to the Great
Sea. This shall be the south side.
20 “On the
west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite
the entrance of Ha'math. This shall be the west side.
21 “So you
shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel.
22You shall
allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who
reside among you and have begotten children among you. They shall
be to you as native-born sons of Israel; with you they shall be
allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23In whatever tribe the
alien resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, says the
Lord GOD.
The Tribal Portions
48
“These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern
border, from the sea by way
p of Heth'lon to the entrance of
Ha'math, as far as Ha'zar-e'non (which is on the northern border of
Damascus over against Hamath), and
q extending from the east side to the
west,
r Dan, one portion.
2Adjoining the
territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one
portion. 3Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the
east side to the west, Naph'tali, one portion. 4Adjoining the
territory of Naph'tali, from the east side to the west, Manas'seh,
one portion. 5Adjoining the territory of Manas'seh, from
the east side to the west, E'phraim, one portion. 6Adjoining the
territory of E'phraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one
portion. 7Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the
east side to the west, Judah, one portion.
8 “Adjoining
the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be
the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits
in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from
the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it.
9The portion which you
shall set apart for the L
ORD shall be
twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty
s thousand in
breadth. 10These shall be the allotments of the holy
portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five
thousand cubits on the northern side, ten thousand cubits in
breadth on the western side, ten thousand in breadth on the eastern
side, and twenty-five thousand in length on the southern side, with
the sanctuary of the L
ORD in the midst
of it.
11This
shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons
t of Za'dok,
who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel
went astray, as the Levites did. 12And it shall belong
to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a
most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites.
13And alongside the territory
of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment twenty-five
thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in breadth. The whole
length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the breadth
twenty
u thousand. 14They shall not sell or exchange any of it;
they shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is
holy to the L
ORD.
15 “The
remainder, five thousand cubits in breadth and twenty-five thousand
in length, shall be for ordinary use for the city, for dwellings
and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city;
16and these shall be its dimensions: the north
side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four
thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred,
and the west side four thousand five hundred.
17And the city shall
have open land: on the north two hundred and fifty cubits, on the
south two hundred and fifty, on the east two hundred and fifty, and
on the west two hundred and fifty.
18The remainder of the length alongside the
holy portion shall be ten thousand cubits to the east, and ten
thousand to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion.
Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.
19And the workers of
the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it.
20The whole portion
which you shall set apart shall be twenty-five thousand cubits
square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the
city.
21 “What
remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of
the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the twenty-five
thousand cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and
westward from the twenty-five thousand cubits to the west border,
parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The
holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple in its midst,
22and the property of
the Levites and the property of the city,
v shall be in
the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the
prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory
of Benjamin.
23 “As for the
rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one
portion. 24Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from
the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25Adjoining the
territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Is'sachar, one
portion. 26Adjoining the territory of Is'sachar, from
the east side to the west, Zeb'ulun, one portion. 27Adjoining the
territory of Zeb'ulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one
portion. 28And
adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run
from Ta'mar to the waters of Meribath'-ka'desh, thence along the
Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. 29This is the land which you shall allot as
an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their
several portions, says the Lord GOD.
30 “These shall be the
exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be four thousand
five hundred cubits by measure,
31three gates, the gate of Reuben, the
gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being
named after the tribes of Israel.
32On the east side, which is to be four
thousand five hundred cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the
gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.
33On the south side,
which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure, three
gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Is'sachar, and the gate of
Zeb'ulun.
34On
the west side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits,
three gates,
w the
gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naph'tali.
35The circumference of
the city shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the
city henceforth shall be, The L
ORD is
there.”