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Ezekiel 48

Ezekiel’s final chapter orders Israel’s inheritance around God’s sanctuary and closes with a city named for his presence.

YHWH sets out Israel’s tribal portions in the closing part of Ezekiel’s vision of restored land. Seven tribes receive land north of a central offering, and five receive land south of it. Within that central district are distinct portions for the sanctuary, priests, Levites, and city, with the prince’s land on either side. The chapter ends by naming the city’s twelve gates after Israel’s tribes and declaring its new name: “The LORD is there.”

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1“Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion.
4“By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion.
5“By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion.
6“By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion.
7“By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.
8“By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand reeds in width, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.
10For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in width, and toward the east ten thousand in width, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the middle of it.
11It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a most holy thing, by the border of the Levites.
13“Alongside the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. All the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the width ten thousand.
14They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated, for it is holy to the LORD.
15“The five thousand cubits that are left in the width, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for pasture lands; and the city shall be in the middle of it.
18The remainder of the length, alongside the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward; and it shall be alongside the holy offering. Its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.
19Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.
20All the offering shall be a square of twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand. You shall offer it as a holy offering, with the possession of the city.
21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.
23“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.
24“By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.
28“By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook, to the great sea.
29“This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord GOD.
30“These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure;
31and the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.
35“It shall be eighteen thousand reeds in circumference; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there.’
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Key verses
Ezekiel 48:35The city’s final name brings the detailed land allotments to their climax: YHWH’s presence among his people.
Ezekiel 48:11The sons of Zadok receive the holy priestly portion because they kept God’s instruction when others went astray.
Ezekiel 48:31The naming of the gates begins here, marking the city with the names of Israel’s tribes, including Levi.
Where this chapter reaches

Joshua and Numbers share the pattern of land allotted to Israel’s tribes as an inheritance, while Genesis supplies the family names behind those tribes. Revelation shares the picture of a city with twelve gates named for Israel’s tribes and marked by God’s presence.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do the distinct portions for worship, housing, and food reveal about the life pictured here?

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How does the city’s final name shape your reading of the land divisions that precede it?

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Questions people ask about Ezekiel 48

What does “The LORD is there” mean in Ezekiel 48:35?

It is the name assigned to the city at the close of Ezekiel’s vision. After the measurements and gate names, this name identifies YHWH’s presence as the city’s defining feature. The chapter places the sanctuary within the central offering and ends with God’s presence as its closing declaration.

Is Ezekiel 48 describing literal land divisions or a symbolic vision?

The chapter describes concrete boundaries, tribal allotments, and measured spaces within Ezekiel’s vision. Christians differ over how these details will be fulfilled, including whether they describe a future territorial arrangement or portray restoration through visionary imagery. The text itself emphasizes Israel’s inheritance, land set apart for YHWH, and his presence.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).