The Lord’s Portion of the Land

45 “Now when you ^(A)divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer ^[a]an ^(B)allotment to the Lord, a ^(C)holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand ^[b](D)cubits, and the width shall be ^[c]twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary. ² Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing ^(E)five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its ^[d](F)open space round about. ³ From this ^[e]area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the ^(G)priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who ^(H)come near to serve the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵ An area ^(I)twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession ^[f]cities in which to live.

⁶ “And you shall give the ^(J)city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the ^[g]allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.

Portion for the Prince

⁷ “And the ^(K)prince shall have land on either side of the holy ^[h]allotment and the ^[i]property of the city, adjacent to the holy ^[j]allotment and the ^[k]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 as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer ^(L)oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel ^(M)according to their tribes.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord ^[l]God says: “^(N)Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of ^(O)violence and destruction, and ^(P)practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your ^(Q)evictions of My people,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ “You shall have ^(R)accurate balances, an accurate ^[m](S)ephah, and an accurate ^[n](T)bath. ¹¹ The ephah and the bath shall be ^[o]the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a ^(U)homer, and the ephah a tenth of a ^[p]homer; ^[q]their standard shall be according to the homer. ¹² And the ^(V)shekel shall be twenty ^(W)gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

¹³ “This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley; ¹⁴ and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer); ¹⁵ and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a ^(X)grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to ^(Y)make atonement for them,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “^(Z)All the people of the land shall ^[r]give to this offering for the ^(AA)prince in Israel. ¹⁷ And it shall be the ^(AB)prince’s part to provide the ^(AC)burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the ^(AD)feasts, on the ^(AE)new moons, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the ^(AF)peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

¹⁸ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “In the ^(AG)first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a ^[s]bull ^(AH)without blemish and ^(AI)cleanse the sanctuary from sin. ¹⁹ And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the ^(AJ)four corners of the ^(AK)ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does ^(AL)wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make ^(AM)atonement for the house.

²¹ “In the ^(AN)first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the ^(AO)Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a ^(AP)bull as a sin offering. ²³ And during the ^(AQ)seven days of the feast he shall provide as a ^(AR)burnt offering to the Lord ^(AS)seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering. ²⁴ And he shall provide as a ^(AT)grain offering an ^[t]ephah ^[u]with a bull, an ^[v]ephah ^[w]with a ram, and a ^[x]hin of oil ^[y]with an ephah. ²⁵ In the ^(AU)seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like these, seven days ^[z]for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”

The Prince’s Offerings

46 ‘This is what the Lord ^[aa]God says: “The ^(AV)gate of the ^(AW)inner courtyard facing east shall be ^(AX)shut for the six ^(AY)working days; but it shall be opened on the ^(AZ)Sabbath day and opened on the day of the ^(BA)new moon. ² The ^(BB)prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the ^(BC)post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be ^(BD)shut until the evening. ³ The ^(BE)people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the ^(BF)new moons. ⁴ The ^(BG)burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be ^(BH)six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; ⁵ and the ^(BI)grain offering shall be an ^[ab]ephah ^[ac]with the ram, and the grain offering ^[ad]with the lambs ^[ae]as much as he is ^(BJ)able to give, and a ^[af]hin of oil ^[ag]with an ephah. ⁶ On the day of the ^(BK)new moon he shall offer a ^[ah]bull without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷ And he shall provide a ^(BL)grain offering, an ephah ^[ai]with the bull and an ephah ^[aj]with the ram, and ^[ak]with the lambs as ^[al]much as he is ^(BM)able, and a hin of oil ^[am]with an ephah. ⁸ When the ^(BN)prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate, and go out by ^[an]the same way. ⁹ But when the people of the land come ^(BO)before the Lord at the appointed feasts, one who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And one who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. ^[ao]No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but shall go straight out. ¹⁰ And when they go in, the prince shall go in ^(BP)among them; and when they go out, ^[ap]he shall go out.

¹¹ “At the ^(BQ)festivals and the appointed feasts, the ^(BR)grain offering shall be an ephah ^[aq]with a bull and an ephah ^[ar]with a ram, and ^[as]with the lambs as ^[at]much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil ^[au]with an ephah. ¹² And when the prince provides a ^(BS)[av]voluntary offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a ^[aw]voluntary offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be ^(BT)opened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the ^(BU)Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.

¹³ “And you shall provide a ^(BV)lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord daily; ^(BW)morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴ You shall also provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a ^(BX)sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour, a grain offering to the Lord continually by ^[ax]a permanent ordinance. ¹⁵ So they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil, morning by morning, as a ^(BY)continual burnt offering.”

¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “If the prince gives a ^(BZ)gift from his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the ^(CA)year of ^[ay]release; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’; it shall belong to them. ¹⁸ And the prince shall ^(CB)not take from the people’s inheritance, ^[az](CC)depriving them of their property; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own property, so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his property.”’”

The Boiling Places

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the ^(CD)entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, a place was there at the extreme rear toward the west. ²⁰ And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the ^(CE)guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall ^(CF)bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer courtyard ^[ba]and transfer 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 courtyard there was a small courtyard. ²² In the four corners of the courtyard there were enclosed courtyards, forty ^[bb]cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were ^[bc]the same size. ²³ And there was a row of masonry all around in them, around the four of them, and cooking hearths were made under the rows all around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the cooking ^[bd]places where the ministers of the house shall cook the sacrifices of the people.”

Introduction

1 Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things ^[a](A)accomplished among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who ^(B)from the beginning ^[b]were ^(C)eyewitnesses and ^[c](D)servants of ^(E)the ^[d]word, ³ it seemed fitting to me as well, ^(F)having ^[e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you ^(G)in an orderly sequence, ^(H)most excellent ^(I)Theophilus; ⁴ so that you may know the exact truth about the ^[f]things you have been ^[g](J)taught.

John the Baptist’s Birth Foretold

^5 (K)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the ^(L)division of ^[h]Abijah; and he had a wife ^[i]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ They were both ^(M)righteous in the sight of God, walking ^(N)blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. ⁷ And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in ^[j]years.

⁸ Now it happened that while ^(O)he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot ^(P)to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer ^(Q)outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ Now ^(R)an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹² Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and ^(S)fear ^[k]gripped him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “^(T)Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(U)you shall ^[l]name him John. ¹⁴ You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will ^(V)drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit ^[m]while still in his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will ^(W)turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And it is he who will ^(X)go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of ^(Y)Elijah, ^(Z)to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to ^(AA)make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For ^(AB)I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her ^[n]years.” ¹⁹ The angel answered and said to him, “I am ^(AC)Gabriel, who ^[o](AD)stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

²¹ And meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he repeatedly ^(AE)[p]made signs to them, and remained speechless. ²³ When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home.

²⁴ Now after these days his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself ^[q]in seclusion for five months, saying, ²⁵ “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to ^(AF)take away my disgrace among people.”

Jesus’ Birth Foretold

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel ^(AG)Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named ^(AH)Nazareth, ²⁷ to ^(AI)a virgin ^[r]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(AJ)of the ^[s]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[t]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord ^[u]is with you.” ²⁹ But she ^(AK)was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “^(AL)Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you ^(AM)shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(AN)the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him ^(AO)the throne of His father David; ^33 (AP)and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, ^(AQ)and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I ^[v]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “^(AR)The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(AS)the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also ^(AT)the ^[w]holy Child will be called ^(AU)the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and ^[x]she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For ^(AV)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ Now ^[y]at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to ^(AW)the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ^(AX)filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And ^[z]how has it happened to me that the mother of ^(AY)my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And ^(AZ)blessed is she who ^[aa]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her ^[ab]by the Lord.”

Mary’s Song: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

John the Baptist Is Born

⁵⁷ Now the time ^[aj]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had ^[ak](BM)displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on ^(BN)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, ^[al]after his father. ⁶⁰ And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but ^(BO)he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² And they ^[am](BP)made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote ^[an]as follows, “^(BQ)His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ^64 (BR)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in ^(BS)the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed ^(BT)the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah ^(BU)was filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(BV)prophesied, saying:

^80 (CQ)Now the child grew and was becoming strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.