Chapter 48

¹ What follows is the list of the tribes:

At the northernmost border, Dan will have one portion, in the direction of Hethlon, through Lebo of Hamath to Hazar-enon, on the border of Damascus to the north, next to Hamath, his portion extending from the eastern to the western boundary.

² Asher will have one portion, bordering Dan, from the eastern to the western boundary.

³ Naphtali will have one portion, bordering Asher, from the eastern to the western boundary.

⁴ Manasseh will have one portion, bordering Naphtali, from the eastern to the western boundary.

⁵ Ephraim will have one portion, bordering Manasseh, from the eastern to the western boundary.

⁶ Reuben will have one portion, bordering Ephraim, from the eastern to the western boundary.

⁷ Judah will have one portion, bordering Reuben, from the eastern to the western boundary.

The Sacred Allotment. ⁸ Adjoining the territory of Judah from the eastern to the western boundary shall be the portion that you are to set apart—twenty-five thousand cubits wide, and its length the same as each of the other tribal portions from the eastern to the western boundary. The sanctuary of the Lord shall be located in the center of it.

⁹ The portion that you set aside for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide. ¹⁰ This will be the sacred portion for the priests. It will measure twenty-five thousand cubits on the north, ten thousand cubits on the east, ten thousand cubits on the west, and twenty-five thousand cubits on the south. The sanctuary of the Lord will be placed in the center of it.

¹¹ This will be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of the tribe of Zadok, who remained faithful in their service to me and did not follow the Israelites in going astray, as the Levites did, ¹² it will belong to them as a special gift set aside from the sacred portion of the land, adjoining the territory of the Levites.

¹³ The territory of the Levites shall correspond to that of the priests, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide. Its total length will be twenty-five thousand cubits, and its total width will be ten thousand cubits. ¹⁴ They will not be allowed to sell or exchange any part of it. This is the choice portion of the land, and it cannot be transferred, because it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ The remaining area, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand cubits in length, shall be used at the discretion of the city for dwellings and pasture lands. The city shall be located in the middle of it, ¹⁶ and these shall be its dimensions: on the north side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the south side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits; on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits.

¹⁷ The pasture land of the city will be two hundred and fifty cubits to the north, two hundred and fifty cubits to the south, two hundred and fifty cubits to the east, and two hundred and fifty cubits to the west. ¹⁸ The remainder of the area, along the sacred tract, will be ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand cubits to the west. Its produce will provide food for the workers of the city.

¹⁹ The workers of the city who farm this land will come from all the tribes of Israel. ²⁰ The entire tract that you set apart will be a square, twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits. As a sacred gift, you must set apart the sacred tract together with the property of the city.

²¹ What remains on both sides of the sacred portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending eastward along the twenty-five thousand cubits to the eastern border, and extending westward along the twenty-five thousand cubits to the western border, parallel to the tribal portions, it will belong to the prince. The sacred portion and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the center. ²² Therefore, aside from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which lie in the midst of the prince’s property, everything between the borders of Judah and the borders of Benjamin shall belong to the prince.

²³ The Southern Allotment. These are the remaining tribes:

Benjamin will have one portion, from the eastern boundary to the western boundary.

²⁴ Simeon will have one portion, bordering the territory of Benjamin from east to west.

²⁵ Issachar will have one portion, bordering the territory of Simeon from east to west.

²⁶ Zebulun will have one portion, bordering the territory of Issachar from east to west.

²⁷ Gad will have one portion, bordering the territory of Zebulun from east to west.

²⁸ The southern boundary of Gad will extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and from there along the Wadi of Egypt to the Great Sea.

²⁹ This is the land that you are to allot as inheritances among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.

³⁰ The City Gates. These are the exits from the city, the gates of which are named after the tribes of Israel.

On the north side, which will measure four thousand five hundred cubits in length, ³¹ there will be three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi.

³² On the east side, which will measure four thousand five hundred cubits in length, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.

³³ On the south side, which will measure four thousand five hundred cubits in length, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴ On the west side, which will measure four thousand five hundred cubits in length, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.

³⁵ The perimeter of the city will measure eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that time on will be: “The Lord Is There.”