The Prophet Ezekiel

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 45 -

“When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the LORD, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide.(a) This entire tract of land will be holy.

Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square,(b) with 50 cubits

(c)

around it for open land.

From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits,(d) and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.(e)

It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.(f)

As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long,(g) adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion

Now the prince will have the area bordering each side of the area formed by the holy district and the property of the city, extending westward from the western side and eastward from the eastern side, running lengthwise from the western boundary to the eastern boundary and parallel to one of the tribal portions.

This land will be his possession in Israel. And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’

Honest Scales

(Deuteronomy 25:13–16; Proverbs 11:1–3)

You must use honest scales, a just ephah,(h) and a just bath.(i)

The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure for both.(j)

The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs.(k) Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.(l)

Offerings and Feasts

This is the contribution you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley.(m)

The prescribed portion of oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath from each cor (n) (a cor consists of ten baths or one homer, since ten baths are equivalent to a homer).

And one sheep shall be given from each flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the people, declares the Lord GOD.

All the people of the land must participate in this contribution for the prince in Israel.

And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,(o) grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary.

And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.

You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who strays unintentionally or in ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to observe the Passover, a feast of seven days, during which unleavened bread shall be eaten.

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

Each day during the seven days of the feast, he shall provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD, along with a male goat for a sin offering.

He shall also provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain.(p)

During the seven days of the feast that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,(q) he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.’

Footnotes

(a)45:1 LXX; the holy portion was to be approximately 8.3 miles long and 6.6 miles wide (13.3 kilometers long and 10.7 kilometers wide). Hebrew 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 wide. See also verses 3 and 5 and Ezekiel 48:9.

(b)45:2 500 (long) cubits is approximately 875 feet or 266.7 meters.

(d)45:3 The portion was to be approximately 8.3 miles long and 3.3 miles wide (13.3 kilometers long and 5.3 kilometers wide); similarly in verse 5.

(e)45:3 Or the Holy of Holies

(f)45:5 LXX; Hebrew their possession, twenty chambers

(g)45:6 The property of the city was to be approximately 1.7 miles wide and 8.3 miles long (2.7 kilometers wide and 13.3 kilometers long).

(h)45:10 An ephah is a dry measure of approximately 20 dry quarts or 22 liters.

(i)45:10 A bath was a liquid measure of approximately 5.8 gallons or 22 liters.

(j)45:11 A homer was a dry measure of approximately 6.24 bushels or 220 liters; also in verses 13 and 14.

(k)45:12 20 gerahs is equivalent to one shekel (approximately 0.4 ounces or 11.4 grams).

(l)45:12 That is, 60 shekels total; elsewhere, the common mina was 50 shekels. Sixty shekels weighed approximately 1.5 pounds or 683.8 grams.

(m)45:13 That is, a sixtieth of the harvest of wheat and of barley; a sixth of an ephah was approximately 3.3 dry quarts or 3.7 liters.

(n)45:14 That is, one percent of one’s oil; a tenth of a bath was approximately 2.3 quarts or 2.2 liters.

(o)45:17 Or purification offerings; also in verses 19, 22, 23, and 25

(p)45:24 Literally a hin of oil for each ephah; that is, approximately 0.97 gallons or 3.67 liters of oil for each ephah of grain

(q)45:25 That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; also translated as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Shelters and originally called the Feast of Ingathering (see Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22).

“‘“Moreover, when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to the LORD, a holy portion of the land. The length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the width shall be ten thousand. It shall be holy in all its border all around.

Of this there shall be a five hundred by five hundred square for the holy place, and fifty cubits

(a)

for its pasture lands all around.

Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a width of ten thousand. In it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy.

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

Twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, as a possession for themselves, for twenty rooms.

“‘“You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion

“‘“What is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy allotment and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy allotment and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward, and in length corresponding to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel. My princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

“‘The Lord GOD says: “Enough you, princes of Israel! Remove violence and plunder, and execute justice and righteousness! Stop dispossessing my people!” says the Lord GOD.

Honest Scales

(Deuteronomy 25:13–16; Proverbs 11:1–3)

“You shall have just balances, a just ephah,(b) and a just bath.

The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain one tenth of a homer,(c) and the ephah one tenth of a homer. Its measure shall be the same as the homer.

The shekel (d) shall be twenty gerahs.(e) Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.(f)

Offerings and Feasts

“‘“This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat, and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley,

and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, one tenth of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer),(g)

and one lamb of the flock out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel—for a meal offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” says the Lord GOD.

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

It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

“‘The Lord GOD says: “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without defect, and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.

The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.

So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple. So you shall make atonement for the house.

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

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

The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams without defect daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.

He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah(h) for a bull, an ephah for a ram, and a hin

(i)

of oil to an ephah.

“‘“In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the feast, he shall do like that for seven days. He shall make the same provision for sin offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the oil.”

Footnotes

(a)45:2 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(b)45:10 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel

(d)45:12 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.

(e)45:12 a gerah is about 0.5 grams or about 7.7 grains

(f)45:12 A mina is about 600 grams or 1.3 U. S. pounds.

(g)45:14 1 cor is the same as 1 homer in volume, and is about 211 liters, 55.9 gallons, or 6 bushels. 1 bath is about 21.1 liters, 5.59 gallons, or 2.4 pecks.

(h)45:24 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel

(i)45:24 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons.