Division of the Land

Ezekiel 47

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. ¹⁴ You shall divide it equally; I swore to give it to your ancestors, 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 Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad, ₁ ¹⁶ Berothah, Sibraim (which lies 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 shall run from the sea to Hazar-enon, which is north of the border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. ₂ This shall be the north side.

¹⁸ On the east side, between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. ₃ This shall be the east side.

¹⁹ On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of Egypt ₄ 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 Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.

²¹ So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. ²² You 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 citizens of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe aliens reside, there you shall assign them their inheritance, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 48

¹ These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern border, on the Hethlon road, ₅ from Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enon (which is on the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north), and ₆ extending from the east side to the west, ₇ Dan, one portion. ² Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. ³ Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. ⁴ Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. ⁵ Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. ⁶ Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. ⁷ Adjoining 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 that you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the middle of it. ⁹ The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty ₈ thousand in width. ¹⁰ These 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 width on the western side, ten thousand in width on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the middle of it. ¹¹ This shall be for the consecrated priests, the descendants ₉ of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. ¹² 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. ¹³ Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. The whole length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and the width twenty ₁₀ thousand. ¹⁴ They shall not sell or exchange any of it; they shall not transfer this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ The remainder, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, shall be for ordinary use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the middle of it shall be the city; ¹⁶ and 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. ¹⁷ The city shall have open land: on the north two hundred fifty cubits, on the south two hundred fifty, on the east two hundred fifty, on the west two hundred fifty. ¹⁸ The 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. ¹⁹ The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. ²⁰ The whole portion that 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 the middle of it, ²² and the property of the Levites and of the city, shall be in the middle 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. ²⁴ Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. ²⁵ Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. ²⁶ Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. ²⁷ Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. ²⁸ And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from there along the Wadi of Egypt ₁₁ to the Great Sea. ²⁹ This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.