EZEKIEL 42

Chambers of the Temple

1 Then he (the angel) brought me out into the outer courtyard, toward the north; and he led me to the [attached] chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building to the north.

2 Along the length, one hundred cubits, was the north door; and the width was fifty cubits.

3 Opposite the twentycubitswhich belonged to the inner courtyard, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer courtyard, was gallery (balcony) corresponding to gallery in three stories.

4 In front of the [attached] chambers was an inner walkway ten cubits wideand onehundredcubits long; and their entrances were on the north.

5 Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took away morespacefrom them than from the chambers on the lower and middle stories of the building;

6 for they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the [outer] courtyards; thereforethe upper chamberswereset back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.

7 And the outer wall, by the side of the chambers, toward the outer courtyard facing the chambers, was fifty cubits long.

8 For the length of the chambers which were in the outer courtyard was fifty cubits,whilethe length ofthose facing the temple was a hundred cubits.

9 Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer courtyard.

10 In the width of the wall of the courtyard toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, were chambers;

11 and a passage in front of them was like the appearance of the [attached] chambers on the north,andthey had the same length and width, and all their exits were like both theirarrangements and their entrances.

12 And like the entrances of the chambers that were toward the south there was an entrance at the head of the walkway, the walkway in front of thedividing wall toward the east, as one enters them.

13 Then he (the angel) said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, are the holy chambers where the priests who are close to the Lordshall eat the most holyofferings. There they shall place the most holy things–the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering–for the place is holy.

14 When the priests enter [the Holy Place], they shall not go out from the sanctuary into the outer courtunless they lay there their garments in which they minister, for these are holy (set apart). They shall put on other garments before they approach that which is for the people.”

15 Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out toward the gate which faced east and measured the outer area all around.

16 He measured the east side with the measuringrod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.

17 He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.

18 He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod.

19 He turned about to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring rod.

20 He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy [the temple proper] and that which was common [the outer area].

EZEKIEL 43

Vision of the Glory of God Filling the Temple

1 Then he (the angel) led me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.

2 And behold, the gloryandbrilliance of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east; and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

3 And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision I saw beside the River Chebar [near Babylon]; and I fell face downward.

4 And the gloryandbrilliance of the Lordentered thetemple by way of the gate facing toward the east.

5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard; and behold, the gloryandbrilliance of the Lordfilled the temple.

6 And I heard One speaking to me from the temple, while a man was standing beside me.

7 And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man,this isthe place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons (descendants) of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their [idolatrous] prostitution and by the corpsesandmonuments of their kings in their graves,

8 by setting their threshold by My threshold and their doorpost beside My doorpost, with [only] the wall between Me and them. They have defiledanddesecrated My holy name by the vile atrocities which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.

9 Now let them put far away from Me their [idolatrous] prostitution and the corpsesandmonuments of their kings, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 “As for you, son of man,describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins; and let them measure its plan [in detail].

11 If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple (house), its layout, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its statutes and do them.

12 This is the law of the temple: Its entirearea all around on the top of the mountain(Mount Moriah)shall bemost holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar of Sacrifice

13 “And these are the measurements of the altar [of burnt offering] in cubits (the cubit being a [long] cubit [the length of a forearm] and a hand width): thebaseshall bea cubit [long] and a cubit wide, with its border on its edge all around it of a span [in width]. And thisshall be the height ofthebase of the altar.

14 From the base on the ground to the lower ledgeshall betwo cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledgeshall befour cubits and the width one cubit.

15 The altar hearthshall befour cubits high, and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns [one from each corner, each one cubit high].

16 Now the altar hearthshall betwelvecubitslong by twelve wide, square in its four sides.

17 The ledgeshall befourteencubitslong by fourteen wide on its four sides, and the border around itshall behalf a cubit; and its baseshall bea cubit all around, and its steps shall face the east.”

The Offerings

18 And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘These are the statutesandregulations for [the use of] the altar on the day that it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.

19 ~‘You shall give to the priests, the Levites who are from the descendants of Zadok, who are close to Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering [as a memorial to Christ’s sacrifice].

20 ~‘And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns [of the altar of burnt offering] and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border all around; thus you shall cleanse it (from sin) and make atonement for it.

21 ~‘You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.

22 ‘On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull.

23 ~‘When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.

24 ~‘You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

25 ~‘For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.

26 ~‘For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so the priests shall consecrate it [to receive offerings].

27 ~‘When they have completed these days, on the eighth day and from then onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord God.”

EZEKIEL 44

Gate for the Prince

1 Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.

2 Then the Lordsaid to me, “Thisgate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.

3 As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch (portico) of the gate and shall go out the same way.”

4 Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; I looked, and behold, the gloryandbrilliance of the Lordfilled the house of the Lord, and I fell face downward.

5 The Lordsaid to me, “Son of man, pay careful attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lordand all its laws; and pay careful attention to the entering of the house [by people], with all the departuresfromthe sanctuary [of people, those who are allowed to enter the temple and all those who are excluded from the sanctuary].

6 You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough of all your repulsive acts, O house of Israel!

7 In that you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to polluteandprofane it–My house–when you offered My bread, the fat, and the blood; andthey made My covenant void –thisin addition to all yourotherrepulsive acts.

8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have chosenforeigners[to please yourselves] and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.”

9 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.

10 But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bearthe punishment fortheir sinandguilt.

11 Yet they shall minister in My sanctuary, having oversight [as guards] at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

12 Because the priests ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of sin to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My handandhave sworn [an oath] against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bearthe punishment fortheir sinandguilt.

13 And they shall not come near to Me to serve as priests to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shameandtheir disgrace and [the consequences of] their repulsive acts which they have committed.

14 Yet I will appoint them as caretakers of the temple, for all its service and for all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of My sanctuary when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God.

16 “They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and they shall perform [the priestly] duty to me.

17 It shall be that when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner courtyard and within the temple (house).

18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments on theirloins; they shall not dress themselves withanything which makes themsweat.

19 When they go out into the outer court, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off the garments in which they have been ministering and leave them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other clothing so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their [ceremonial] garments.

20 Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not allow their hair to grow long; they shall only cut shortortrim their hair.

21 Nor shall any priest drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard.

22 And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman; but they shall marry virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who was previously married to a priest.

23 The priests shall teach My peoplethe differencebetween the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the (ceremonially) unclean and the clean.

24 In a controversy they shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My Sabbaths.

25 They shall not go to a dead person todefilethemselves;except for father or for mother, for son or for daughter, for brother or for sister who has had no husband; they may defile themselves.

26 After he is cleansed [from the defilement of a corpse], seven days more shall elapse for him [before returning to the temple].

27 On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” says the Lord God.

28 “It [their ministry to Me] shall be as an inheritance to them, for I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property (land) in Israel, for I am their possession.

29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing (offering) in Israel [dedicated by a solemn vow to God] shall be theirs.

30 The first of all the first fruits of every kind, and every contributionandoffering of every kind, from all your contributionsandofferings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priest the first of your coarse mealandbread dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house.

31 The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.

EZEKIEL 45

The Lord’s Portion of the Land

1 “Moreover, when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall [set apart and] offer an allotment (contribution) to the Lord, a holy portion of the land [to be used for sacred purposes]. The length shall be 25,000cubits,and the width shall be 20,000cubits. It shall be holy (set apart for sacred use) within its every area.

2 Of this there shall be a square plot five hundred by five hundredcubitsin perimeter for the holy place, and fifty cubits for the open space around it.

3 And in this area you shall measure off a portion 25,000cubitsin length and 10,000cubitsin width. And in it shall be the sanctuary which is most holy.

4 It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

5 Andanother portion of land25,000cubitslong and 10,000 cubits wide shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the temple (house), and they shall possess it as a place in which to live.

6 “You shall give the city possession ofan area5,000cubitswide and 25,000cubitslong, alongside the portion set aside as a holy section. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

Portion for the Prince

7 “The prince shall havelandon either side of the portion set aside as a holy section and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy section and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

8 This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall givethe rest ofthe land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

9 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop yourforceful seizure of property from My people,” says the Lord God.

10 “You shall have just balancesandweights [on your scales and just measures], a just ephah [dry volume measure] and a just bath [liquid measure].

11 The ephah and the bath [measures] shall be the same quantity, the bath containing one tenth of a homer and the ephah one tenth of a homer; their standard [measure] shall be according to the homer.

12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels [added together, a total of sixty] shall be your maneh (mina).

13 “This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley;

14 and the prescribed portion of oil, (namely,the bath of oil), a tenth part of a bath [of oil] fromeachkor (which isten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer);

15 and [you shall offer] one sheep out of every flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel–for a grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings to make atonement for [those who brought] them,” says the Lord God.

16 “All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.

17 It shall be the prince’sresponsibility to providethe burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings at the feasts, on the New Moons and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepareandprovide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

18 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “In the firstmonth,on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary (from sin).

19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.

20 You shall do this on the seventh [day] of the month for everyone who goes astray [and sins through error or ignorance] and for him who is naive; so shall you make atonement for the temple (house).

21 “In the firstmonth,on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.

23 And for the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lordseven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day for the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering.

24 He shall provide as a grain offering [to be offered] with each bull an ephah [of grain], an ephah with each ram, and a hin of oil with each ephah [of grain].

25 In the seventhmonth,on the fifteenth day of the month at the feast, he shall provide [offerings] like these for the seven days, as the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”

EZEKIEL 46

The Prince’s Offerings

1 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “The gate of the inner courtyard that faces east shall be shut during the six working days, but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the New Moon.

2 The prince shall enter by the porch (portico) of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall prepareandprovide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worshipat the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until evening.

3 The people of the land shall also worship at the entrance of that gate before the Lordon the Sabbaths and on the New Moons.

4 The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lordon the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish.

5 The grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.

6 On the day of the New Moonhe shall offera young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, without blemish.

7 And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, and a hin of oil with an ephah.

8 When the prince enters, he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way.

9 But when the people of the land come before the Lordat the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate through which he entered, but shall go out straight ahead [through the opposite gate].

10 When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.

11 “At the feasts and the appointed festivals the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the lambsas much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.

12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings voluntarily to the Lord, the gate that faces east shall be opened for him, and he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he goes out the gate shall be shut.

13 “And you [priests] shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lordeach day; morning by morning you shall provide it.

14 Also you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one-sixth of an ephah with one-third of a hin of oil to sprinkle on the finely-milled flour. This is a perpetual ordinance for a continual grain offering to the Lord.

15 Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering and the oil every morning as a continual burnt offering.”

16 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons from his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons [permanently]; it is their possession by inheritance.

17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his until the year of liberty [the Year of Jubilee]; after that it shall be returned to the prince. His inheritanceshall beonly his sons’ [permanently]; it shall belong to them.

18 Moreover, the prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance by oppressionandby evicting them from their property; he shall give his sons an inheritance from his own possession, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”

The Boiling Places

19 Then he [my guide] brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced the north; and behold, a place was there at their extreme westward end.

20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil (cook) the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard to transmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out into the outer courtyard and led me across to the four corners of the courtyard; and behold, in every corner of the courtyardthere was a smallcourtyard.

22 In the four corners of the courtyardthere wereenclosed courtyards, fortycubitslong and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.

23 There wasa rowof masonryall around inside them, around [each of] the four courtyards, and it was made with cooking hearths under the rows all around.

24 Then he said to me, “These are thekitchens of the cooks, where the ministers (Levites) of the temple shall boil (cook) the sacrifices of the people.”

EZEKIEL 47

Water from the Temple

1 Then he [my guide] brought me back to the door of the house [the temple of the Lord]; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house (temple) toward the east, for the front of the temple was facing east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.

2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by the way ofthe gatethat faces east. And behold, water was spurting out from the south side [of the gate].

3 When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water that was ankle-deep.

4 Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me through the water, water that was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand [cubits] and led me throughthe water,waterreachingthe hips.

5 Again he measured a thousand [cubits];and it wasa river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen,enoughwater to swim in, a river that could not be crossed [by wading].

6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.

7 Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

8 Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah (the Jordan Valley); then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the watersof the Dead Seashall be healedandbecome fresh.

9 It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be a very great number of fish, because these waters go there so that the waters of the sea are healedandbecome fresh; so everything will live wherever the river goes.

10 And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it [at the banks of the Dead Sea]; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be dry places to spread nets. Their fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh [and wholesome for animal life]; they will [as the river subsides] be left encrusted with salt.

12 By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow allkinds oftrees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They shall bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Boundaries and Division of the Land

13 Thus says the Lord God, “Thisshall bethe boundary by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Josephshall havetwo portions.

14 You shall divide it as an inheritance, each one equally with the other. I lifted up My handandswore to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance.

15 “And this shall be the boundary of the land on the north side: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Zedad,

16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; [as far as] Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.

17 So the boundary will extend from the [Mediterranean] Sea to Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north, northward, is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

18 “The east side, from between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel,shall bethe Jordan; from thenorthborder to the eastern sea you shall measure. This is the east side.

19 “The south side, southward, from Tamar [near the Dead Sea]shall extendas far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook of Egypt and to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea. This is the south side toward the south.

20 “The west sideshall bethe Great [Mediterranean] Sea, from thesouthborder to a point opposite Lebo-hamath [north of Mount Hermon]. This is the west side.

21 “So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.

22 You shall divide it by lot as an inheritance among yourselves and among the foreigners who stay among you, who give birth to sons among you. They shall be to you as the native-born [in the country] among the children (descendants) of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

23 In whatever tribe the foreigner resides, there shall you give him his inheritance,” says the Lord God.

EZEKIEL 48

Division of the Land

1 “Now these are the names of the tribes: from the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, beside Hamath, and running from the east to the west, Dan, oneportion.

2 Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, oneportion.

3 Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, oneportion.

4 Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, oneportion.

5 Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, oneportion.

6 Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, Reuben, oneportion.

7 Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, oneportion.

8 “And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotmentandcontribution of land which you shall set apartandoffer, 25,000cubitsin width, and in length like one of the [tribal] portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.

9 The allotment [of land] that you shall set apartandoffer to the Lordshall be25,000cubitsin length and 10,000 in width.

Portion for the Priests

10 The holy allotment shall be for these,namelyfor the priests, toward the north 25,000cubits in length,and toward the west 10,000 in width, and toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the Lordshall be in the midst of it.

11 It shall befor the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, and who did not go astray when the children (descendants) of Israel went astray as the [other] Levites did.

12 And this [land offering] shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy portion beside the border of the [other] Levites.

13 Alongside the border of the priests, the [other] Levitesshall have25,000cubitsin length and 10,000 in width. The whole lengthshall be25,000cubitsand the width 10,000.

14 And they shall not sell any of it or exchange it, or allow this choiceportionof land to passto others;for it is holy to the Lord.

15 “The remaining [strip of] 5,000cubitsin width and 25,000 in length shall be for the city’s common (secular) use, for a place in which to live and for open country. The city shall be in the midst of it.

16 Theseshall bethe measurements of it: the north side 4,500cubits,the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500.

17 The city shall have open country: toward the north 250cubits,and toward the south 250, toward the east 250, and toward the west 250.

18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000cubitsto the east and 10,000 to the west; and it shall be beside the holy allotment. The produce from it shall be food for the workers of the city.

19 The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it.

20 The whole allotmentshall be25,000 by 25,000cubits;you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.

Portion for the Prince

21 “The remainder, on both sides of the holy allotment and of the property possessed by the city,shall belongto the prince. In front of the 25,000cubitsof the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the [tribal] portions,it shall befor the prince. The holy allotment with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the midst of it.

22 Exclusive of the property of the Levites and of the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince,everythingbetween the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.

Portion for Other Tribes

23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, oneportion.

24 Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, oneportion.

25 Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, oneportion.

26 Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, oneportion.

27 Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, oneportion.

28 And beside the border of Gad, at the south side, southward, the border shall extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Brook [of Egypt], to the Great [Mediterranean] Sea.

29 This is the land which you shall divide by lot among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance, and these are theirseveralportions,” says the Lord God.

The City Gates

30 “These are the exits of the city: on the north side, [which is to extend] 4,500cubitsby measurement,

31 there shall also be gates of the city,namedafter the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.

32 On the east side, 4,500cubits,also three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.

33 On the south side, 4,500cubits,by measurement, also three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.

34 On the west side, 4,500cubits,three gates: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.

35 The distance around the city shall be 18,000 (4 x 4,500)cubits;and the name of the city from that day [and ever after]shall be,‘The Lordis There.’”

LAMENTATIONS 1

The Sorrows of Zion

1 How solitaryandlonely sits the city [Jerusalem]

That was [once] full of people!

How like a widow she has become.

She who was great among the nations!

The princess among the provinces,

Has become a forced laborer!

2 She weeps bitterly in the night

And her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks;

Among all her lovers (political allies)

She has no one to comfort her.

All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;

They have become her enemies.

3 Judah has gone into exile under affliction

And under harsh servitude;

She dwells among the [pagan] nations,

But she has found no rest;

All her pursuers have overtaken her

In the midst of [her] distress.

4 The roads to Zion are in mourning

Because no one comes to the appointed feasts.

All her gates are desolate;

Her priests are groaning,

Her virgins are grievedandsuffering,

And she suffers bitterly.

5 Her adversaries have become her masters,

Her enemies prosper;

For the Lordhas caused her grief

Because of the multitude of her transgressions;

Her young children have gone

Into captivity before the enemy.

6 All her beautyandmajesty

Have departed from the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

Her princes have become like deer

That have found no pasture;

They have fled without strength

Before the pursuer.

7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness

Jerusalem remembers all her precious things

That she had from the days of old,

When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,

And no one helped her,

The enemy saw her,

They mocked at her downfall.

8 Jerusalem sinned greatly;

Therefore she has become an unclean thing [and has been removed].

All who honored her [now] despise her

Because they have seen her nakedness;

Even she herself groans and turns [her face] away.

9 Her (ceremonial) uncleanness was on her skirts;

She did not [seriously] consider her future.

Therefore she has come down [from throne to slavery] in an astonishing manner;

She has no comforter.

“O Lord” [cries Jerusalem], “look at my affliction,

For the enemy has magnified himself [in triumph]!”

10 The adversary has spread out his hand

Over all her preciousanddesirable things;

For she has seen the [Gentile] nations enter her sanctuary (the Jerusalem temple)–

The ones whom You commanded

That they should not enter into Your congregation [not even in the outer courts].

11 All her people groan, seeking bread;

They have exchanged their desirableandprecious things for food

To restore their lives.

“See, O Lord, and consider

How despisedandrepulsive I have become!”

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass this way?

Look and see if there is any pain like my pain

Which was severely dealt out to me,

Which the Lordhas inflicted [on me] on the day of His fierce anger.

13 “From on high He sent fire into my bones,

And it prevailedover them.

He has spread a net for my feet;

He has turned me back.

He has made me desolateandhopelessly miserable,

Faint all the day long.

14 “The yoke of my transgressions is bound;

By His hand they are knitandwoven together.

They have come upon my neck.

He has made my strength fail;

The Lord has put me into the hand

Ofthose against whomI cannot stand.

15 “The Lord has rejected all the strong men

In my midst;

He has proclaimed an established time against me

To crush my young men.

The Lord has trampled down as in a wine press

The Virgin Daughter of Judah.

16 “I weep for these things;

My eyes overflow with tears,

Because a comforter,

One who could restore my soul, is far away from me.

My children are desolateandperishing,

For the enemy has prevailed.”

17 Zion stretches out her hands,

But there is no comforter for her.

The Lordhas commanded concerning Jacob

That his neighbors should be his enemies;

Jerusalem has become a filthy thing [an object of contempt] among them.

18 “The Lordis righteousandjust;

For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).

Hear now, all you peoples,

And look at my pain;

My virgins and my young men

Have gone into captivity.

19 “I [Jerusalem] called to my lovers (political allies), but they deceived me.

My priests and my elders perished in the city

While they looked for food to restore their strength.

20 “See, O Lord, how distressed I am!

My spirit is deeply disturbed;

My heart is overturned within meandcannot rest,

For I have been very rebellious.

In the street the sword killsandbereaves;

In the house there is [famine, disease and] death!

21 “People have heard that I groan,

That I have no comforter [in You].

All my enemies have heard of my desperation;

They are delighted [O Lord] that You have done it.

Oh, that You would bring the day [of judgment] which You have proclaimed

So that they will become like me.

22 “Let all their wickedness come before You;

And deal with them as You have dealt with me

Because of all my transgressions;

For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

LAMENTATIONS 2

God’s Anger over Israel

1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)

With a cloud in His anger!

He has cast down from heaven to the earth

The gloryandsplendor of Israel

And has not remembered His footstool

In the day of His anger.

2 The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared

All the country places of Jacob.

In His wrath He has thrown down

The strongholds of the Daughter of Judah (Jerusalem).

He has brought them down to the ground [in disgrace];

He has debased the kingdom and its princes.

3 In fierce anger He has cut offanddestroyed

Everyhorn of Israel.

He has withdrawn His right hand

From the presence of the enemy.

And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire

Consuming all around.

4 He has bent His bow like an enemy;

He has set His right hand like an adversary

And slain all that were delightfulandpleasing to the eye;

In the tent of the Daughter of Zion

He has poured out His wrath like fire.

5 The Lord has become like an enemy;

He has swallowed up Israel.

He has swallowed up all its palaces;

He has destroyed its strongholds

And multiplied in the Daughter of Judah

Mourning and lamentation (expressions of grief).

6 And He has violently broken down His temple like a [fragile] gardenhedge;

He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.

The Lordhas caused the appointed feast and Sabbath

To be forgotten in Zion

And has despisedandrejected the king and the priest

In the indignation of His anger.

7 The Lord has rejected His altar;

He has abandoned His sanctuary.

He has given into the hand of the enemy

The walls of her palaces;

They have made a noise in the house of the Lord

As on a day of an appointed feast.

8 The Lorddetermined to lay in ruins

The [city] wall of the Daughter of Zion.

He has stretched out a line,

He has not stopped His hand from destroying.

He has caused the rampart and the wall to lament (mourn in grief);

They have languished together.

9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;

He has destroyed and broken her bars.

Her king and her princes are [exiled] among the nations;

The law is no more.

Also, her prophets no longer find

Vision from the Lord.

10 The elders of the Daughter of Zion

Sit on the ground keeping silent;

They have thrown dust on their heads,

They have covered themselves with sackcloth.

The virgins of Jerusalem

Have bowed their heads to the ground.

11 My eyes fail because of tears [mourns Jeremiah],

My spirit is deeply disturbed;

My heart is poured out on the earth [in grief]

Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem],

When little ones and infants faint

In the streets of the city.

12 They cry to their mothers,

“Where is grain and wine?”

As they faint like a wounded man

In the streets of the city,

As their life [slips away and] is poured out

In their mothers’ arms.

13 How shall I console you?

To what shall I compare you,

O Daughter of Jerusalem?

With what shall I compare you, so that I may comfort you,

O Virgin Daughter of Zion?

For your ruin is as vast as the sea;

Who can heal you?

14 Your prophets have seen (imagined) for you

False and foolishvisions;

And they have not exposed your wickedness

To restore you from captivity [by teaching you to repent],

But they have seen (imagined)anddeclared to you false and misleading oracles.

15 All who pass along the way

Clap their handsin derisionat you;

They scoff and shake their heads

At the Daughter of Jerusalem, saying,

“Is this the city that was called

‘The perfection of beauty,

The joy of all the earth’?”

16 All your enemies

Have opened their mouths wide against you;

They [scornfully] hiss and gnashtheirteeth.

They say, “We have swallowed her up!

Certainly this is the day for which we waited;

We have reached it, we have seen it!”

17 The Lordhas done what He planned;

He has accomplished His word

Which He commandedfrom days of old.

He has demolished without sparing,

And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;

He has exalted the power of your enemies.

18 Their hearts cried out to the Lord.

“O wall of the Daughter of Zion,

Let your tears run down like a river day and night;

Give yourself no relief,

Let your eyes have no rest.

19 “Arise, cry aloud in the night,

At the beginning of the night watches;

Pour out your heart like water

Before the presence of the Lord;

Lift up your hands to Him

For the life of your little ones

Who are faint from hunger

At the head of every street.”

20 See, O Lord, and look!

With whom have You dealt this way?

Should women eat their offspring,

The little oneswho were bornhealthy and beautiful?

Should priest and prophet be killed

In the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 The young and the old

Lie on the ground in the streets;

My virgins and my young men

Have fallen by the sword.

You have killed them in the day of Your anger,

You have slaughtered, not sparing.

22 You [Lord] called as in the day of an appointed feast

My terrors (dangers) on every side;

And there was no one who escaped or survived

In the day of the Lord’sanger.

Those I have cared for and brought up with tenderness,

My enemy annihilated them.

LAMENTATIONS 3

Jeremiah Shares Israel’s Affliction

1 I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction

Because of the rod of His wrath.

2 He has led me and made me walk

In darkness and not in light.

3 Surely He has turned His hand against me

Repeatedly all the day.

4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away;

He has shattered my bones.

5 He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me live in dark places

Like those who have long been dead.

7 He walled me in so that I cannot get out;

He has weighted down my chain.

8 Even when I cry out and shout for help,

He shuts out my prayer.

9 He has blocked my ways with cut stone;

He has made my paths crooked.

10 He is to me like a bear lying in wait,

And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.

11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;

He has made me desolate.

12 He has bent His bow

And set me as a target for the arrow.

13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver

To enter my inner parts.

14 I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,

And [the subject of] theirmockingsong all the day.

15 He has filled me with bitterness;

He has made me drunk with wormwood (bitterness).

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;

He has [covered me with ashes and] made me cower in the dust.

17 My soul has been cast far away from peace;

I have forgotten happiness.

18 So I say, “My strength has perished

And so has my hopeandexpectation from the Lord.”

Hope of Relief in God’s Mercy

19 Remember [O Lord] my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall (bitterness).

20 My soulcontinuallyremembers them

And is bowed down within me.

21 But this I call to mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 It is because of the Lord’slovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,

Because His [tender] compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

Greatandbeyond measure is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lordis my portionandmy inheritance,” says my soul;

“Therefore I have hope in Himandwait expectantly for Him.”

25 The Lordis good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,

To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].

26 It is good that one waits quietly

For the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man that he should bear

The yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.

28 Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,

Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust [in recognition of his unworthiness];

There may yet be hope.

30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him;

Let him be filled with reproach.

31 For the Lord will not reject forever,

32 For if He causes grief,

Then He will have compassion

According to His abundant lovingkindnessandtender mercy.

33 For He does not afflict willinglyandfrom His heart

Or grieve the children of men.

34 To trampleandcrush under His feet

All the prisoners of the land,

35 To deprive a man of justice

In the presence of the Most High,

36 To defraud a man in his lawsuit–

The Lord does not approve of these things.

37 Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,

Unless the Lord has authorizedandcommanded it?

38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?

39 Why should any living mortal, or any man,

Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?

40 Let us test and examine our ways,

And let us return to the Lord.

41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]

Toward God in heaven;

42 We have transgressed and rebelled,

You have not pardoned.

43 You have coveredYourselfwith anger

And pursued us;

You have slain [without pity] and have not spared.

44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud

So that no prayer can pass through.

45 You have made us scum and refuse

Among the peoples (Gentile nations).

46 All our enemies have gaped at us.

47 Panic and pitfall (traps, danger) have come on us,

Devastation and destruction.

48 My eyes overflow with streams of tears

Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).

49 My eyes overflow unceasingly,

Without stopping,

50 Until the Lordlooks down

And sees from heaven.

51 My eyes [see things that] bring pain to my soul

Because of all the daughters of my city.

52 Without cause my enemies

Hunted me down like a bird;

53 They silenced me in the pit

And placed a stone over me.

54 The waters ran down on my head;

I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!”

55 I called on Your name, O Lord,

Out of the lowest pit.

56 You have heard my voice,

“Do not hide Your ear from myprayerfor relief,

From my cry for help.”

57 You drew near on the day I called to You;

You said, “Do not fear.”

58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me];

You have rescuedandredeemed my life.

59 O Lord, You have seen the wrong [done to me];

Judge my case.

60 You have seen all their vengeance,

All their schemes against me.

61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord,

And all their schemes against me.

62 The lips and whispering of my assailants

Are against me all day long.

63 Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels];

I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule].

64 You will repay them, O Lord,

According to the work of their hands.

65 You will harden their hearts;

Your curse will be upon them.

66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them

From under the heavens of the Lord.