³ because Moses had given the inheritance to the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan. But he gave no inheritance among them to the Levites. ⁴ The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock.

² At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”^{(A) 3} So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.

The Sacred Portion of the Land

45 “When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance,^(A) set aside a donation to the Lord, a holy portion of the land,^(B) 8⅓ miles^[a] long and 6⅔ miles^[b] wide. This entire region will be holy. ² In this area there will be a square section^[c] for the sanctuary, 875 by 875 feet,^[d](C) with 87½ feet^[e] of open space all around it. ³ From this holy portion,^[f] you will measure off an area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles^[g] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place,^(D) will stand.^{[h] 4} It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who approach to serve the Lord.^(E) It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary. ⁵ There will be another area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide for the Levites who minister in the temple;^(F) it will be their possession for towns to live in.^[i]

⁸ “Next to the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, will be the portion you donate to the Lord, 8⅓ miles^[a] wide, and as long as one of the tribal portions from the east side to the west.^(A) The sanctuary will be in the middle of it.

⁹ “The special portion you donate to the Lord will be 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles^[b] wide. ¹⁰ This holy donation will be set apart for the priests alone. It will be 8⅓ miles long on the northern side, 3⅓ miles wide on the western side, 3⅓ miles wide on the eastern side, and 8⅓ miles long on the southern side. The Lord’s sanctuary will be in the middle of it. ¹¹ It is for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge^(B) and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. ¹² It will be a special donation for them out of the holy donation of the land, a most holy place adjacent to the territory of the Levites.

¹³ “Next to the territory of the priests, the Levites will have an area 8⅓ miles long and 3⅓ miles wide. The total length will be 8⅓ miles and the width 3⅓ miles.^{(C) 14} They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this choice part of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.^(D)