“The remainder, one and two-thirds miles ¹  in width and eight and a quarter miles ²  in length, will be for common use by the city, for houses and for open space. The city will be in the middle of it;

I scattered them among the nations; they were dispersed throughout foreign countries. In accordance with their behavior and their deeds I judged them.

In whatever tribe the foreigner resides, there you will give him his inheritance,” declares the sovereign Lord.

“As for the rest of the tribes: From the east side to the west side, Benjamin will have one portion.

While they are watching, raise your baggage onto your shoulder and carry it out in the dark. ¹  You must cover your face so that you cannot see the ground ²  because I have made you an object lesson ³  to the house of Israel.”

An area eight and a quarter miles ¹  in length and three and one-third miles ²  in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities ³  in which they will live.

“Son of man, turn toward ¹  the Ammonites ²  and prophesy against them.

The workers of the city from all the tribes of Israel will cultivate it.

You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill ¹  the Cherethites ²  and destroy those who remain on the seacoast.

I will disturb ¹  many peoples, when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among countries you do not know.

to loot and plunder, to attack ¹  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ²  of the earth.”

You must allot it as an inheritance among yourselves and for the foreigners who reside among you, who have fathered sons among you. You must treat them as native-born among the people of Israel; they will be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ¹ 

“Alongside the border of the priests, the Levites will have an allotment eight and a quarter miles ¹  in length and three and one-third miles ²  in width. The whole length will be eight and a quarter miles ³  and the width three and one-third miles. ⁴ 

“‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ¹  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!

I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. ¹  I will establish them, ²  increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever.

“‘Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment, you will allot for the city an area one and two-thirds miles ¹  wide and eight and a quarter miles ²  long; it will be for the whole house of Israel.

The property of the Levites and of the city will be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin will be for the prince.

And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations ¹  where I will banish them.”

I will turn my face away from them and they will desecrate my treasured place. ¹  Vandals will enter it and desecrate it. ²