1“ ‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits45:1That is, about 8 miles or about 13 kilometers; also in verses 3, 5 and 6 long and 20,00045:1Septuagint (see also verses 3 and 5 and 48:9); Hebrew 10,000 cubits45:1That is, about 6 1/2 miles or about 11 kilometers wide; the entire area will be holy.

2Of this, a section 500 cubits45:2That is, about 875 feet or about 265 meters square is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits45:2That is, about 88 feet or about 27 meters around it for open land.

3In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits45:3That is, about 3 1/3 miles or about 5.3 kilometers; also in verse 5 wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

4It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.

5An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.45:5Septuagint; Hebrew temple; they will have as their possession 20 rooms

6“ ‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits45:6That is, about 1 2/3 miles or about 2.7 kilometers wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.

7“ ‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions.

8This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.

9“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.

10You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah45:10An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 3/5 bushel or about 22 liters. and an accurate bath.45:10A bath was a liquid measure equaling about 6 gallons or about 22 liters.

11The ephah and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both.

12The shekel45:12A shekel weighed about 2/5 ounce or about 12 grams. is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.45:12That is, 60 shekels; the common mina was 50 shekels. Sixty shekels were about 1 1/2 pounds or about 690 grams.

13“ ‘This is the special gift you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah45:13That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah45:13That is, probably about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms from each homer of barley.

14The prescribed portion of olive oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath45:14That is, about 2 1/2 quarts or about 2.2 liters from each cor (which consists of ten baths or one homer, for ten baths are equivalent to a homer).

15Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the people, declares the Sovereign Lord.

16All the people of the land will be required to give this special offering to the prince in Israel.

17It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths—at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,45:17Or purification offerings ; also in verses 19, 22, 23 and 25 grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites.

18“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary.

19The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court.

20You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.

21“ ‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover, a festival lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast.

22On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land.

23Every day during the seven days of the festival he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord, and a male goat for a sin offering.

24He is to provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin45:24That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters of olive oil for each ephah.

25“ ‘During the seven days of the festival, which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.