Ezekiel 45 - 46, Hebrews 9, Proverbs 14

Yahweh’s Portion of the Land

45“And when you ^adivide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer a ^bcontribution to Yahweh, a ^choly portion of the land; the length shall be the length of ¹25,000 ^dcubits, and the width shall be ²20,000. It shall be holy within all its boundary round about. ²“Out of this there shall be for the holy place a square round about ¹^,^afive hundred by five hundred cubits, and ²fifty cubits for its ³^,^bopen space round about. ³“And from this ¹area you shall measure a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of ²10,000 cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. ⁴“It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the ^apriests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who ^bcome near to minister to Yahweh, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵“And an area ^a25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession as ¹cities to dwell in.

⁶“And you shall give the ^acity possession of an area ¹5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, alongside the contribution of the holy portion; it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion of the Land

⁷“Now the ^aprince shall have land on either side of the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, adjacent to the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. ⁸“This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer ^amistreat My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel ^baccording to their tribes.”

⁹‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “^aEnough, you princes of Israel; put away ^bviolence and devastation, and ^cdo justice and righteousness. Stop your ^deviction of My people,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“You shall have ^ajust balances, a just ¹^,^bephah, and a just ²^,^cbath. ¹¹“The ephah and the bath shall be ¹the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a ²^,^ahomer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; ³their standard shall be according to the homer. ¹²“And the ¹^,^ashekel shall be twenty ²^,^bgerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your ³maneh.

¹³“This is the contribution that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat, a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley, ¹⁴and the statute for the oil (namely, the ¹bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each ²kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer), ¹⁵and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a ^agrain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to ^bmake atonement for them,” declares Lord Yahweh. ¹⁶“^aAll the people of the land shall ¹give to this contribution for the ^bprince in Israel. ¹⁷“And it shall be the ^aprince’s part to provide the ^bburnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the ^cfeasts, on the ^dnew moons, and on the sabbaths, at all the appointed times of the house of Israel; he shall ¹provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the ^epeace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

¹⁸‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “In the ^afirst month, on the first of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd ^bwithout blemish and ^cpurify the sanctuary. ¹⁹“The priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the ^afour corners of the ^bledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰“And thus you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who ^aerrs or is simpleminded; so you shall make ^batonement for the house.

²¹“In the ^afirst month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the ^bPassover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²²“And on that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a ^abull for a sin offering. ²³“And during the ^aseven days of the feast he shall provide as a ^bburnt offering to Yahweh ^cseven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴“And he shall provide as a ^agrain offering an ephah ¹with a bull, an ephah ²with a ram, and a ³hin of oil ⁴with an ephah. ²⁵“In the ^aseventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like this, seven days ¹for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”

The Prince, Feast, and Offerings

46‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “The ^agate of the ^binner court facing east shall be ^cshut the six ^dworking days; but it shall be opened on the ^esabbath day and opened on the day of the ^fnew moon. ²“Then the ^aprince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the ^bpost of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be ^cshut until the evening. ³“And the ^apeople of the land shall also worship at the entrance of that gate before Yahweh on the sabbaths and on the ^bnew moons. ⁴“Now the ^aburnt offering which the prince shall bring near to Yahweh on the sabbath day shall be ^bsix lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; ⁵and the ^agrain offering shall be an ephah ¹with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be ^ba gift from his hand, as well as a ²hin of oil with an ephah. ⁶“And on the day of the ^anew moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷“And he shall ¹provide a ^agrain offering, an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as ²much as he is ^bable, and a hin of oil with an ephah. ⁸“And when the ^aprince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate and go out ¹by the same way. ⁹“But when the people of the land come ^abefore Yahweh at the appointed times, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. ¹No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out. ¹⁰“So when they go in, the prince shall go in ^aamong them; and when they go out, ¹he shall go out.

¹¹“Now at the ^afeasts and the appointed times the ^bgrain offering shall be an ¹ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs shall be a gift from his hand, as well as a hin of oil with an ephah. ¹²“And when the prince provides a ^afreewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a freewill offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east shall be ^bopened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the ^csabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.

¹³“And you shall provide a ^alamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily; ^bmorning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴“Also you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning—a ^asixth of an ephah as well as a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour—a grain offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual statute. ¹⁵“Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a ^acontinual burnt offering.”

¹⁶‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “If the prince gives a ^agift out of his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. ¹⁷“But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the ^ayear of liberty; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’; it shall belong to them. ¹⁸“Now the prince shall ^anot take from the people’s inheritance, ^bmistreating them out of their possession; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own possession so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”

The Boiling Places

¹⁹Then he brought me through the ^aentrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, there was a place at the extreme rear toward the west. ²⁰Then he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the ^aguilt offering and the sin offering and where they shall ^bbake the grain offering, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

²¹Then he brought me out into the outer court and had me pass through to the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a small court. ²²In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, ¹forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were ²the same size. ²³Now there was a row of masonry round about in them, around the four of them, and boiling places were made under the rows round about. ²⁴Then he said to me, “These are the boiling ¹places where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

The Old Covenant

9Now even the first covenant had ^arequirements of divine worship and ^bthe earthly sanctuary. ²For there was ^aa tabernacle prepared: the first part, in which were ^bthe lampstand and ^cthe table and ^dthe ¹sacred bread, which is called the holy place. ³And behind ^athe second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the ^bHoly of Holies, ⁴having a golden ¹^,^aaltar of incense and ^bthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ca golden jar holding the manna, and ^dAaron’s rod which budded, and ^ethe tablets of the covenant. ⁵And above it were the ^acherubim of glory ^bovershadowing the ¹mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests ^aare continually entering the first part of the tabernacle performing the divine worship, ⁷but into ^athe second, only ^bthe high priest enters ^conce a year, ^dnot without taking blood, which he ^eoffers for himself and for the ¹^,^fsins of the people committed in ignorance. ⁸^aThe Holy Spirit is indicating this, ^bthat the way into the holy places has not yet been manifested while that first part of the tabernacle is still standing, ⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly ^aboth gifts and sacrifices are offered which ^bcannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, ¹⁰since they relate only to ^afood and ^bdrink and various ^cwashings, ^drequirements for the ¹body imposed until ^ea time of reformation.

The New Covenant

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a ^ahigh priest of the ^bgood things ¹to come, He entered through ^cthe greater and more perfect tabernacle, ^dnot made with hands, that is to say, ^enot of this creation, ¹²and not through ^athe blood of goats and calves, but ^bthrough His own blood, He ^centered the holy places ^donce for all, ¹having obtained ^eeternal redemption. ¹³For if ^athe blood of goats and bulls and ^bthe ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the ¹cleansing of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will ^athe blood of Christ, who through ¹^,^bthe eternal Spirit ^coffered Himself without blemish to God, ^dcleanse ²your conscience from ^edead works to serve ^fthe living God?

¹⁵And for this reason ^aHe is the ^bmediator of a ^cnew covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been ^dcalled may ^ereceive the promise of ^fthe eternal inheritance. ¹⁶For where a ¹covenant is, there must of necessity ²be the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷For a ¹covenant is valid only when ²men are dead, ³for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. ¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. ¹⁹For when every commandment had been ^aspoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, ^bhe took the ^cblood of the calves and the goats, with ^dwater and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both ^ethe book itself and all the people, ²⁰saying, “^aThis is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” ²¹And in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he ^asprinkled with the blood. ²²And according to the ¹Law, one may ^aalmost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and ^bwithout shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the ^acopies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but ^bthe heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ ^adid not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of ^bthe true ones, but into ^cheaven itself, now ^dto appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as ^athe high priest enters ^bthe holy places ^cyear by year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since ^athe foundation of the world; but now ^bonce at ^cthe consummation of the ages He has been ^dmanifested to put away sin ¹^,^eby the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷And inasmuch as ^ait is ¹appointed for men to die once and after this ^bcomes judgment, ²⁸so Christ also, having been ^aoffered once to ^bbear the sins of many, will appear ^ca second time for ^dsalvation ^ewithout reference to sin, to those who ^feagerly await Him.

14The ¹^,^awise woman builds her house,But the woman of folly tears it down with her own hands.²He who ^awalks in his uprightness fears Yahweh,But he who is ^bdevious in his ways despises Him.³In the mouth of the ignorant fool is a rod of lofty pride,But ^athe lips of the wise will keep them.⁴Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.⁵A ^afaithful witness will not lie,But a ^bfalse witness ^cbreathes out lies.⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none,But knowledge is easy to one who has understanding.⁷Leave the ^apresence of a fool,As you have not known lips of knowledge there.⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,But ^athe folly of fools is deceit.⁹Ignorant fools scoff at guilt,But ^aamong the upright there is favor.¹⁰The heart knows its own ^abitterness,And a stranger does not share its gladness.¹¹The ^ahouse of the wicked will be destroyed,But the tent of the upright will flourish.¹²There ^ais a way which seems right to a man,But its ^bend is the way of death.¹³Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,And the ^aend of joy may be grief.¹⁴The one who turns back in his heart will be satisfied with his ^aways,But a good man will ^bbe satisfied ¹with his.¹⁵The simple believes everything,But the prudent one discerns his steps.¹⁶A wise man fears and ^aturns away from evil,But a fool gets angry and feels secure.¹⁷A quick-tempered man acts in folly,And a man of evil schemes is hated.¹⁸The simple inherit folly,But the prudent are ¹crowned with knowledge.¹⁹The ^aevil will bow down before the good,And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.²⁰The ^apoor is hated even by his neighbor,But those who love the rich are many.²¹He who ^adespises his neighbor sins,But how ^bblessed is he who is gracious to the ¹poor.²²Will they not wander in error who ^adevise evil?But lovingkindness and truth will be to those who devise good.²³In all painful labor there is profit,But mere words from the lips lead only to want.²⁴The ^acrown of the wise is their riches,But the folly of fools is folly.²⁵A truthful witness delivers souls,But he who ^abreathes out lies is deceitful.²⁶In the ¹^,^afear of Yahweh there is strong security,And ²his children will have refuge.²⁷The ¹fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life,To turn aside from the snares of death.²⁸In a multitude of people is a king’s splendor,But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin.²⁹He who is ^aslow to anger has great discernment,But he who is ¹quick-tempered raises up folly.³⁰A ¹^,^atranquil heart is life to the body,But jealousy is ^brottenness to the bones.³¹He ^awho oppresses the poor reproaches ^bhis Maker,But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.³²The wicked is ^athrust down by his own evil,But the ^brighteous takes refuge even in his death.³³Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding,But in the midst of fools it is merely made known.³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation,But sin is a disgrace to any people.³⁵The king’s favor is toward a ^aservant who acts insightfully,But his fury is toward him who acts shamefully.