Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 45

The Sacred Portion of the Land

¹ "When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance,^(a) you must 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 tract of land 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^[g] long and 3⅓ miles^[h] wide, in which the sanctuary, the most holy place,^(d) will stand.^{[i] 4} It will be a holy area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near 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^[j] long and 3⅓ miles^[k] wide for the Levites who minister in the temple;^(f) it will be their possession for towns to live in.^[l]

⁶ "As the property of the city, you must set aside an area 1⅔ of a mile^[m] wide and 8⅓ miles^[n] long, adjacent to the holy donation of land.^(g) It will be for the whole house of Israel. ⁷ And the prince will have the area on each side of the holy donation of land and the city's property, adjacent to the holy donation and the city's property, stretching to the west on the west side and to the east on the east side.^(h) Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. ⁸ This will be his land as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress My people⁽ⁱ⁾ but give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

⁹ "This is what the Lord God says: You have gone too far,^[o](j) princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right.^(k) Put an end to your evictions of My people." This is the declaration of the Lord God . ¹⁰ "You must have honest scales, an honest dry measure,^[p] and an honest liquid measure.^{[q](l) 11} The dry measure^[r] and the liquid measure^[s] will be uniform, with the liquid measure containing 5½ gallons^[t] and the dry measure holding half a bushel.^[u] Their measurement will be a tenth of the standard larger capacity measure.^{[v] 12} The shekel will weigh 20 gerahs.^(m) Your mina will equal 60 shekels.

The People's Contribution to the Sacrifices

¹³ "This is the contribution you are to offer: Three quarts^[w] from five bushels^[x] of wheat and^[y] three quarts from five bushels of barley. ¹⁴ The quota of oil in liquid measures^[z] will be one percent of every^[aa] cor. The cor equals 10 liquid measures or one standard larger capacity measure,^[ab] since 10 liquid measures equal one standard larger capacity measure. ¹⁵ And the quota from the flock is one animal out of every 200 from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the people."⁽ⁿ⁾ This is the declaration of the Lord God . ¹⁶ "All the people of the land must take part in this contribution for the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ Then the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed times of the house of Israel—will be the prince's responsibility. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

¹⁸ "This is what the Lord God says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and purify the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest must take some of the blood from the sin offering and apply it to the temple doorposts, the four corners of the altar's ledge, and the doorposts of the gate to the inner court.^{(o) 20} You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance.^(p) In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

²¹ "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you are to celebrate the Passover, a festival of seven days during which unleavened bread will be eaten.^{(q) 22} On that day the prince will provide a bull as a sin offering on behalf of himself and all the people of the land. ²³ During the seven days of the festival, he will provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord on each of the seven days, along with a male goat each day for a sin offering. ²⁴ He will also provide a grain offering of half a bushel^[ac] per bull and half a bushel per ram, along with a gallon^[ad] of oil for every half bushel. ²⁵ At the festival that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,^[ae](r) he will provide the same things for seven days—the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.

Chapter 46

Sacrifices at Appointed Times

¹ "This is what the Lord God says: The gate of the inner court that faces east must be closed during the six days of work, but it will be opened on the Sabbath day^(a) and opened on the day of the New Moon. ² The prince should enter from the outside by way of the gate's portico and stand at the doorpost of the gate while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He will bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be closed until evening. ³ The people of the land will also bow in worship before the Lord at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and New Moons.

⁴ "The burnt offering that the prince presents to the Lord ^(b) on the Sabbath day is to be six unblemished lambs^(c) and an unblemished ram. ⁵ The grain offering will be half a bushel^[a] with the ram,^(d) and the grain offering with the lambs will be whatever he wants to give, as well as a gallon^[b] of oil for every half bushel. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon, the burnt offering is to be a young, unblemished bull, as well as six lambs and a ram without blemish. ⁷ He will provide a grain offering of half a bushel^[c] with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he can afford with the lambs, together with a gallon^[d] of oil for every half bushel. ⁸ When the prince enters,^(e) he must go in by way of the gate's portico and go out the same way.

⁹ "When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed times,^[e](f) whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship must go out by way of the south gate, and whoever enters by way of the south gate must go out by way of the north gate. No one must return through the gate by which he entered, but must go out by the opposite gate. ¹⁰ When the people enter, the prince will enter with them, and when they leave, he will leave. ¹¹ At the festivals and appointed times, the grain offering will be half a bushel^[f] with the bull, half a bushel with the ram, and whatever he wants to give with the lambs, along with a gallon^[g] of oil for every half bushel.

¹² "When the prince makes a freewill offering, whether a burnt offering or a fellowship offering as a freewill offering to the Lord ,^(g) the gate that faces east must be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or fellowship offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he will go out, and the gate must be closed after he leaves.

¹³ "You must offer an unblemished year-old male lamb as a daily burnt offering to the Lord ; you will offer it every morning.^{(h) 14} You must also prepare a grain offering every morning along with it: three quarts,^[h] with one-third of a gallon^[i] of oil to moisten the fine flour—a grain offering to the Lord . This is a permanent statute to be observed regularly. ¹⁵ They will offer the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering.

Transfer of Royal Lands

¹⁶ "This is what the Lord God says: If the prince gives a gift to each of his sons as their inheritance, it will belong to his sons. It will become their property by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom,⁽ⁱ⁾ when it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it is theirs. ¹⁸ The prince must not take any of the people's inheritance, evicting them from their property.^(j) He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his own property."

The Temple Kitchens

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance^(k) that was at the side of the gate, into the priests' holy chambers, which faced north. I saw a place there at the far western end. ²⁰ He said to me, "This is the place where the priests will boil the restitution offering and the sin offering,^(l) and where they will bake the grain offering,^(m) so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people." ²¹ Next he brought me into the outer court and led me past its four corners. There was a separate court in each of its corners. ²² In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed^[j] courts, 70 feet^[k] long by 52½ feet^[l] wide. All four corner areas had the same dimensions. ²³ There was a stone wall^[m] around the inside of them, around the four of them, with ovens built at the base of the walls on all sides. ²⁴ He said to me: "These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the people's sacrifices."

Chapter 47

The Life-Giving River

¹ Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the temple faced east. The water was coming down from under the south side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.^{(a) 2} Next he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate that faced east; there the water was trickling from the south side. ³ As the man went out east with a measuring line in his hand,^(b) he measured off a third of a mile^[a] and led me through the water. It came up to my ankles. ⁴ Then he measured off a third of a mile^[b] and led me through the water. It came up to my knees. He measured off another third of a mile^[c] and led me through the water. It came up to my waist. ⁵ Again he measured off a third of a mile^[d], and it was a river that I could not cross on foot. For the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed on foot.

⁶ He asked me, "Do you see this, son of man?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I had returned, I saw a very large number of trees along both sides of the riverbank.^{(c) 8} He said to me, "This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down to the Arabah. When it enters the sea, the sea of foul water,^[e][f] the water of the sea becomes fresh.^{(d) 9} Every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows,^[g] and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedi to En-eglaim.^[h] These will become places where nets are spread out to dry. Their fish will consist of many different kinds, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.^{(e) 11} Yet its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail.^(f) Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine."^(g)

The Borders of the Land

¹³ This is what the Lord God says: "This is^[i] the border you will use to divide the land^(h) as an inheritance for the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares.^{(i) 14} You will inherit it in equal portions, since I swore^[j] to give it to your ancestors.^(j) So this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

¹⁵ "This is to be the border of the land:

²¹ "You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.^{(o) 22} You will allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners living among you,^(p) who have fathered children among you. You will treat them^[n] like native-born Israelites; along with you, they will be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will assign his inheritance there." This is the declaration of the Lord God .