Ezekiel 45

Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.

1God said: when you share out the land, set one piece aside for the LORD. That piece will be holy. It will be 25,000 long and 10,000 wide. All of it is holy.

NoteThe lengths here are counted in cubits. A cubit is about half a yard, the length from your elbow to your fingertips.

2Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.

2Inside that piece, mark a square for the temple, 500 on each side. Leave 50 cubits of open ground all around it.

3And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place.

3From this holy land, measure a strip 25,000 long and 10,000 wide. The temple, the most holy place, will stand in it.

4The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary.

4This holy land is for the priests, the men who serve God inside the temple. They will build their houses there, near the holy temple.

5And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.

5Another strip, 25,000 long and 10,000 wide, is for the Levites. They are the helpers at the temple. They will have towns to live in.

6And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

6Set aside land for the city too, 5,000 wide and 25,000 long. It sits beside the holy strip. It belongs to all Israel.

7And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border.

7The prince, the ruler of the people, gets land on both sides of that whole strip. His land runs west to the far western edge. It runs east to the far eastern edge. It is as long as one tribe's share.

8In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

8That land will be his own share in Israel. God said, my rulers will stop treating my people badly. They will give the rest of the land to the tribes.

9Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.

9The Lord GOD says: that is enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop hurting people and taking their things. Do what is fair and right. Stop pushing my people off their land.

10Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.

10Use scales that weigh true. Use an honest ephah and an honest bath.

11The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

11The ephah and the bath must hold the same amount. Each holds a tenth of a homer. The homer is the measure they are both based on.

NoteAn ephah, a bath, and a homer are old measures for size. A homer is the big one. A bath measures liquids like oil; an ephah measures dry things like grain.

12And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.

12One shekel weighs twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, plus twenty-five, plus fifteen, make one mina.

NoteA gerah, a shekel, and a mina are weights, used for weighing out silver. A gerah is tiny; a mina is the largest of the three.

13This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley:

13This is the gift you must bring. From each homer of wheat, give a sixth of an ephah. From each homer of barley, give the same.

14Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer:

14For oil, the rule is this. From each cor, give a tenth of a bath. A cor is ten baths, which is the same as a homer.

15And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD.

15Give one sheep out of every two hundred from Israel's good grassland. These gifts are for the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings. They are given to make the people right with God, says the Lord GOD.

NoteThe King James Bible says "meat offering," but back then "meat" meant any food. This offering was made of grain, not of meat as we use the word.

16All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.

16Everyone in the land must share in giving this gift to the prince of Israel.

17And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.

17The prince must then provide the offerings. He gives burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings. He does this at the feasts, at each new moon, and on the Sabbath days. He provides for every special day of Israel. He gives the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings. These make the people of Israel right with God.

18Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:

18The Lord GOD says: on the first day of the first month, take a young bull with nothing wrong with it. Use it to make the temple clean.

19And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.

19The priest takes some blood from that sin offering. He puts it on the doorposts of the temple. He puts it on the four corners of the altar's ledge. He puts it on the gateposts of the inner yard.

20And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.

20Do the same thing on the seventh day of the month. Do it for anyone who did wrong by mistake or without knowing. This makes the temple right again.

21In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

21On the fourteenth day of the first month, keep the Passover. It is a feast that lasts seven days. During it, eat bread made without yeast.

22And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.

22On that day the prince provides a bull as a sin offering. It is for himself and for all the people of the land.

23And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.

23On each of the seven days of the feast, he provides a burnt offering to the LORD. That is seven bulls and seven rams, all with nothing wrong with them. Each day he also provides a young male goat as a sin offering.

24And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.

24He also provides grain. He gives an ephah of grain for each bull and each ram. With every ephah of grain he gives a hin of olive oil.

25In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.

25The seven-day feast in the seventh month starts on the fifteenth day. He must provide the same things then. That means the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.