Ezekiel 48:8-22

8South of Judah's land will be a special part of the land, with the temple in the middle of it. From east to west, it will be the same size as the parts of the land for Israel's tribes. From north to south, it will be 12½ kilometres.

9The part that belongs to the Lord for his temple will be 12½ kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide.

10The priests will have a part of this holy land. Their part will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west. It will measure 5 kilometres from north to south. The Lord's temple will be in the middle of this part.

11This holy part of the land will belong to the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They are the priests who served me faithfully. They did not turn away from me as the other Levites did when Israel's people did not obey me.

12So the priests will have that special part of the land, next to the part for the Levites. The priests' part will be the most holy part of the land.

13The Levites will also have a special part, south of the part for the priests. It will be the same size. It will measure 12½ kilometres from east to west, and 5 kilometres from north to south. So the land for the priests and for the Levites will be 12½ kilometres from east to west and 10 kilometres from north to south.

14The special part of the land that belongs to the Lord is the best of the whole land. You must not give his land to anyone else or sell it to anyone else. It is holy and it belongs to the Lord.

15The other part of the special land is 12½ kilometres from east to west and 2½ kilometres from north to south. That part is not holy. Ordinary people may use it. They may live there and use the fields. There will be a city in the middle of it.

16The city will be square, 2,250 metres long on each side.

17You must leave an open space 125 metres wide on each side of the city.

18There will be two other pieces of land south of the special holy land. There will be a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the east side of the city and a piece 2.5 kilometres wide on the west side. People who live in the city may use these pieces of land to grow crops.

19There will be people from the different tribes of Israel who live in the city. Any of them may use the land to grow things.

20The whole of the special land, including the holy part and the part for the city, will be a square. Each side will be 12½ kilometres.

21The parts of land on each side of the square will belong to the ruler. The part on the east side will go as far as Israel's border in the east. The part on the west side will go as far as the Mediterranean Sea. The holy part of land where the temple is will be in the middle, between them.

22The land that belongs to the Levites and the priests, as well as the city, will be between the two parts of land that belong to the ruler. The land for Judah will be on the north side of these lands. The land for Benjamin's will be on the south side.