Ezekiel 48
Dividing the Land for the Tribes
1 “Now these are the names of the tribes: From the northern border of the descent which divides at the entrance of Hamath, the court of Enan, the border of Damascus northward, in the direction of Hamath, of the court, from its east to its west side, there shall be one section for Dan;†
2 by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, one section for Asher;
3 by the border of Asher, from the east side to the west, one section for Naphtali;
4 by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, one section for Manasseh;
5 by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, one section for Ephraim;
6 by the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, one section for Reuben;
7 by the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west, one section for Judah;
8 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.
A District for the Lord
9 “The firstfruits, the district that you shall set apart for the Lord, shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and twenty-five thousand in width.
10 To these—to the priests—the holy district shall belong: on the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, on the west ten thousand in width, on the east ten thousand in width, and on the south twenty-five thousand in length. The holy mountain shall be in the center.
11 It shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are sanctified, who keep My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 The firstfruit shall be given to them from the firstfruits of the land, even a most holy portion from the borders of the Levites.
13 “Next to the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. Its entire length shall be twenty-five thousand and its width ten thousand.
14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it; neither shall they take away or remove the first produce of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 “But the five thousand cubits in width that remain, along the edge of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for general use by the city, for habitation and common land; and the city shall be in the center.
16 These shall be its measurements: the north side, four thousand five hundred cubits; the south side, four thousand five hundred; the east side, four thousand five hundred; and the west side, four thousand five hundred.
17 There shall be common land for the city: to the north two hundred and fifty cubits, to the south two hundred and fifty, to the east two hundred and fifty, and to the west two hundred and fifty.
18 The rest of the length, alongside the district of the holy section, shall be ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand to the west. It shall be the firstfruits of the holy section, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.
19 The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.
20 The entire firstfruits district shall be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart the holy district from the property of the city.
21 “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 twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy district as far as the eastern border, and westward next to the twenty-five thousand as far as the western border, adjacent to the tribal portions. It shall be the firstfruits of the holy district, and the sanctuary of the temple shall be in the midst of it.
22 Moreover, apart from the possession of the Levites and the possession of the city which are in the midst of what belongs to the leaders, the area between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall belong to the leaders.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west, Benjamin shall have one section;
24 by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon shall have one section;
25 by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar shall have one section;
26 by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun shall have one section;
27 by the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad shall have one section;
28 by the borders of Gad, from the eastern parts to the southwestern parts, the borders shall be from Teman to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea.
29 This is the land you shall divide by lot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their divisions,” says the Lord God.
Exit Gates of the City
30 “These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits
31 (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;
32 on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan;
33 on the south side, measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun;
34 on the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali.
35 The circumference shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from the day on which it takes place shall be its name.Ӡ
Psalms 145
1 Alleluia; of Aggeus and Zacharias. †Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I shall praise the Lord while I live; I shall sing to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in rulers and in the sons of men, In whom there is no salvation.
4 His breath shall go out of him, and he shall return to his earth; On that day all his thoughts shall perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob; His hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea and everything in them, Who keeps truth forever,
7 Who executes justice for the wronged, Who provides food for the hungry. The Lord frees those bound.
8 The Lord restores those broken down. The Lord gives wisdom to the blind. The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord keeps watch over resident aliens. He shall adopt the orphan and the widow, But He shall destroy the way of sinners.
10 The Lord shall reign forever: Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Proverbs of Solomon 31
1 My words were spoken by God, The oracular response of a king, whom his mother instructed.†
A Mother’s Wisdom
2 “What, my child, will you keep? What? The words of God.” My firstborn son, I say to you, “What, the child of my womb? What, the child of my vows?”
3 Do not give your wealth to women, Nor your heart or life to remorse.
4 Do all things with counsel; Drink wine with counsel; Princes are prone to anger, but let them not drink wine,
5 Lest while they drink, they forget wisdom, And be unable to judge the weak uprightly.
Revelation 17
The Great Harlot and Her Beast
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,†
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.Ӡ
3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.†
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.†
5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.†
6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
The Meaning of the Harlot and Her Beast
7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.†
9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.†
13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
15 Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.†
16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”