Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is the end of the
book of Ezekiel, chapters 46 through 48. Chapter
46 Thus says the Lord God, the gateway of the
inner court that faces toward the east shall
be shut the six working days, but on the Sabbath
it shall be opened, and on the day of the new
moon it shall be opened. the prince shall enter
by way of the vestibule of the gateway from the
outside and stand by the gate -post the priests
shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace
offerings he shall worship at the threshold of
the gate then he shall go out but the gate shall
not be shut until evening likewise the people
of the land shall worship at the entrance of
this gateway before the lord on the sabbaths
and the new moons The burnt offering that the
prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day
shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram
without blemish, and the great offering shall
be one ephah for a ram and the great offering
for the lambs, as much as he wants to give, as
well as a hin of oil with every ephah. On the
day of the new moon it shall be a young bull
without blemish, six lambs and a ram, they shall
be without blemish. He shall prepare a grain
offering of an effa for a bull, an effa for a
ram, as much as he wants to give for the lambs,
and a hin of oil with every effa. When the prince
enters, he shall go in by way of the vestibule
of the gateway, and go out the same way. But
when the people of the land come before the Lord
on appointed feast days, whoever enters by way
of the north gate to worship shall go out by
way of the south gate, and whoever enters by
way of the south gate shall go out by way of
the north gate. He shall not return by way of
the gate through which he came, but shall go
out through the opposite gate. The prince shall
then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall
go in, and when they go out, he shall go out.
At the festivals and the appointed feast days,
the grain offering shall be an ephah for a bull,
an ephah for a ram, as much as he wants to give
for the lambs and a hen of oil with every ephah.
Now when the prince makes a voluntary burnt offering
or voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the
gate that faces toward the east shall then be
opened for him, and he shall prepare his burnt
offering and his peace offerings as he did on
the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after
he goes out, the gate shall be shut. You shall
daily make a burnt offering to the Lord of a
lamb of the first year without blemish. You shall
prepare it every morning, and you shall prepare
a grain offering with it every morning. a sixth
of an effa, and a third of a hint of oil to moisten
the fine flour. This green offering is a perpetual
ordinance to be made regularly to the Lord. Thus
they shall prepare the lamb, the green offering,
and the oil as a regular burnt offering every
morning. Thus says the Lord God, If the prince
gives a gift of some of his inheritance to any
of his sons, it shall belong to his sons. It
is their possession by inheritance. But if he
gives a gift of some of his inheritance to one
of his servants, it shall be his until the year
of liberty, after which it shall return to the
prince. But his inheritance shall belong to his
sons, it shall become theirs. Moreover, the prince
shall not take any of the people's inheritance
by evicting them from their property. He shall
provide an inheritance for his sons from his
own property, so that none of my people may be
scattered from his property. Now he brought me
through the entrance, which was at the side of
the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests
which face toward the north. And there a place
was situated at their extreme western end. And
he said to me, This is the place where the priests
shall boil the trespass offering, innocent offering,
and where they shall bake the grain offering,
so that they do not bring them out into the outer
court to sanctify the people. then he brought
me out into the outer court and caused me to
pass by the four corners of the court and in
fact in every corner of the court there was another
court in the four corners of the court were enclosed
courts forty cubits long and thirty wide all
four corners were the same size there was a row
of building stones all around in them all around
the four of them and cooking hearth were made
under the rows of stones all around. And he said
to me, These are the kitchens where the ministers
of the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the
people. Then he brought me back to the door of
the temple, and there was water flowing from
under the threshold of the temple toward the
east, for the front of the temple faced east.
The water was flowing from under the right side
of the temple, south of the altar. He brought
me out by way of the north gate and led me around
on the outside to the outer gateway that faces
east, and there was water running out on the
right side. And when the man went out to the
east with the line in his hand, he measured one
thousand cubits, and he brought me through the
waters. The water came up to my ankles. Again
he measured one thousand and brought me through
the waters. The water came up to my knees. Again
he measured one thousand and brought me through.
The water came up to my waist. Again he measured
one thousand, and it was a river that I could
not cross, for the water was too deep, water
in which one must swim, a river that could not
be crossed. He said to me, Son of man, have you
seen this? Then he brought me and returned me
to the bank of the river. When I returned there,
along the bank of the river, were very many trees
on one side and the other. Then he said to me,
This water flows toward the eastern region, goes
down into the valley, and enters the sea. When
it reaches the sea, its waters are healed, and
it shall be that every living thing that moves
wherever the river goes will live. There will
be a very great multitude of fish, because these
waters go there, for they will be healed, and
everything will live wherever the river goes.
It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from
Ein Gedi to Ein Iglim. they will be places for
spreading their nets their fish will be of the
same kinds as the fish of the great sea exceedingly
many but its swamps and marshes will not be healed
they will be given over to salt along the bank
of the river on this side and that will grow
all kinds of trees used for food their leaves
will not wither and their fruit will not fail
they will bear fruit every month because their
water flows from the sanctuary Their fruit will
be for food and their leaves for medicine. Thus
says the Lord God, These are the borders by which
you shall divide the land as an inheritance among
the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have
two portions. You shall inherit it equally with
one another. For I raised my hand in an oath
to give it to your fathers, and this land shall
fall to you as your inheritance. This shall be
the border of the land on the north, from the
great sea, by the road to Hetlon, as one goes
to Zedad, Hamat, Beirutah, Sibrim, which is between
the border of Damascus and the border of Hamat,
to Hazar -Hatikon, which is on the border of
Huran. Thus the boundary shall be from the sea
to Hazar -Inan, the border of Damascus, and as
for the north, northward, it is the border of
Hamad, this is the north side. On the east side,
you shall mark out the border from between Huron
and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land
of Israel. Along the Jordan, and along the eastern
side of the sea, this is the east side. The south
side, toward the south, shall be from Tamar to
the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook
to the great sea. This is the south side toward
the south. The west side shall be the great sea
from the southern boundary until one comes to
a point opposite Hamad. This is the west side.
Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves
according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be
that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance
for yourselves and for the strangers who dwell
among you and who bear children among you. They
shall be to you as native -born among the children
of Israel. They shall have an inheritance with
you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall
be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells,
there you shall give him his inheritance, says
the Lord God. Chapter 48 Now these are the names
of the tribes. From the northern border, along
the road to Hetlon, at the entrance of Hamath,
To Hazar -Inan, the border of Damascus northward,
in the direction of Hamad, there shall be one
section for Dan, from its east to its west side.
By the border of Dan, from the east side to the
west, one section for Asher. By the border of
Asher, from the east side to the west, one section
for Naftali. By the border of Naftali, from the
east side to the west, one section for Manasseh.
By the border of Manasseh, from the east side
to the west, one section for Ephraim. By the
border of Ephraim, from the east side to the
west, one section for Reuben. By the border of
Reuben, from the east side to the west, one section
for Judah. By the border of Judah, from the east
side to the west, shall be the district which
you shall set apart twenty -five thousand cubits
in width, and in length the same as one of the
other portions, from the east side to the west,
with the sanctuary in the center. The district
that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be
25 ,000 cubits in length and 10 ,000 in width.
To these, to the priests, the holy district shall
belong. On the north, 25 ,000 cubits in length.
On the west, 10 ,000 in width. On the east, 10
,000 in width. And on the south, 25 ,000 in length.
The sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the center.
It shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok
who are sanctified. who have kept my charge,
who did not go astray when the children of Israel
went astray, as the Levites went astray. And
this district of land that is set apart shall
be to them a thing most holy by the border of
the Levites. Opposite the border of the priests,
the Levites shall have an area 25 ,000 cubits
in length and 10 ,000 in width. Its entire length
shall be 25 ,000 and its width 10 ,000. and they
shall not sell or exchange any of it. They may
not alienate this best part of the land, for
it is holy to the Lord. The 5 ,000 cubits in
width that remain along the edge of the 25 ,000
shall be for general use by the city for dwellings
and common land, and the city shall be in the
center. These shall be its measurements. The
north side, 4 ,500 cubits. The south side, 4
,500 cubits. the east side 4500 and the west
side 4500 the common land of the city shall be
to the north 250 cubits to the south 250 to the
east 250 and to the west 250 the rest of the
length alongside the district of the holy section
shall be 10 000 cubits to the east and 10 000
to the west It shall be adjacent to the district
of the holy section, and its produce shall be
food for the workers of the city. The workers
of the city from all the tribes of Israel shall
cultivate it. The entire district shall be 25
,000 cubits by 25 ,000 cubits, four square. You
shall set apart the holy district with the property
of the city. The rest shall belong to the prince.
on one side and on the other, of the holy district
and of the city's property, next to the 25 ,000
cubits of the holy district as far as the eastern
border, and westward next to the 25 ,000 as far
as the western border, adjacent to the tribal
portions. It shall belong to the prince. It shall
be the holy district, and the sanctuary of the
temple shall be in the center. Moreover, apart
from the possession of the Levites and the possession
of the city, which are in the midst of what belongs
to the prince, the area between the border of
Judah and the border of Benjamin shall belong
to the prince. As for the rest of the tribes,
from the east side to the west, Benjamin shall
have one section, by the border of Benjamin,
from the east side to the west. Simeon shall
have one section, by the border of Simeon, from
the east side to the west. Issachar shall have
one section. By the border of Issachar, from
the east side to the west, Zebulun shall have
one section. By the border of Zebulun, from the
east side to the west, Gad shall have one section.
By the border of Gad, on the south side, toward
the south, the border shall be from Tamar to
the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook
to the great sea. This is the land which you
shall divide by lot as an inheritance among the
tribes of Israel. And these are their portions,
says the Lord God. These are the exits of the
city. On the north side, measuring 4 ,500 cubits,
the gates of the city shall be named after the
tribes of Israel. The three gates northward,
one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and
one gate for Levi. On the east side, 4 ,500 cubits,
three gates, one gate for Joseph, one gate for
Benjamin, and one gate for Dan. On the south
side, measuring 4 ,500 cubits, three gates, one
gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one
gate for Zebulun. On the west side, 4 ,500 cubits
with their three gates, one gate for Gad, one
gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. All
the way around shall be 18 ,000 cubits, and the
name of the city from that day shall be The Lord
is There. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.