The Holy District, Just Rule, and Offerings

45:1 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion from the land; the length will be eight and a quarter miles and the width three and one-third miles. This entire area will be holy. 45:2 Of this area a square 875 feet by 875 feet will be designated for the sanctuary, with 87½ feet set aside for its open space round about. 45:3 From this measured area you will measure a length of eight and a quarter miles and a width of three and one-third miles; in it will be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 45:4 It will be a holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 45:5 An area eight and a quarter miles in length and three and one-third miles in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as the place for the cities in which they will live. 45:6 “‘Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment, you will allot for the city an area one and two-thirds miles wide and eight and a quarter miles long; it will be for the whole house of Israel. 45:7 “‘For the prince there will be land on both sides of the holy allotment and the allotted city, alongside the holy allotment and the allotted city, on the west side and on the east side; it will be comparable in length to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border 45:8 of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes. 45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, declares the sovereign Lord. 45:10 You must use just balances, a just dry measure (an ephah), and a just liquid measure (a bath). 45:11 The dry and liquid measures will be the same, the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure. 45:12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs. Sixty shekels will be a mina for you. 45:13 “‘This is the offering you must offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley, 45:14 and as the prescribed portion of olive oil, one tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer); 45:15 and one sheep from each flock of two hundred, from the watered places of Israel, for a grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offering, to make atonement for them, declares the sovereign Lord. 45:16 All the people of the land will contribute to this offering for the prince of Israel. 45:17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offering, and the drink offering at festivals, on the new moons and Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he will provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel. 45:18 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you must take an unblemished young bull and purify the sanctuary. 45:19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorpost of the gate of the inner court. 45:20 This is what you must do on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins inadvertently or through ignorance; so you will make atonement for the temple. 45:21 “‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will celebrate the Passover, and for seven days bread made without yeast will be eaten. 45:22 On that day the prince will provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 45:23 And during the seven days of the feast he will provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams, all without blemish, on each of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 45:24 He will provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a gallon of olive oil for each ephah of grain. 45:25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he will make the same provisions for the sin offering, burnt offering, and grain offering, and for the olive oil, for the seven days. The Prince’s Offerings

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

God sets apart a holy area for his sanctuary and its servants. He also commands Israel’s leaders to act justly and to use fair measures. The prince must support the public offerings and feasts. The chapter shows that worship, justice, and atonement belong together under a holy God.

Ezekiel describes a future restored order for Israel. The land is measured out with a holy district at the center for the sanctuary. The priests, Levites, city, and prince each have their place. This careful ordering protects what is holy and keeps power from becoming oppressive.

The Lord then turns to the rulers. He rebukes the princes of Israel for violence, greed, and unfair treatment of the people. He commands honest weights and measures. In other words, holiness is not only for the temple. It must also shape public life, trade, and leadership.

The prince has an important duty. He must help provide the offerings for the feasts, Sabbaths, new moons, and other appointed times. These offerings are for atonement, which means covering sin and making purification before God. The people still need cleansing because they are sinful.

The chapter also gives directions for purifying the sanctuary and keeping Passover and other feasts. This shows that the restored community must remember redemption, confess sin, and worship in an ordered way. The passage is first about Israel’s future restoration, but its abiding lessons are clear: God is holy, leaders must be just, and worship must be guided by his commands.

• God’s holiness shapes both worship and public life.
• The sanctuary is set apart and protected.
• Leaders must not oppress the people.
• Honest weights and measures matter to God.
• Sin still must be dealt with through atonement and purification.
• Public worship and appointed feasts are part of covenant life.

• Put away violence and destruction.
• Do what is just and right.
• Use honest balances and measures.
• The prince must provide the required offerings.
• The sanctuary must be purified.
• Do not treat the holy things carelessly.

This chapter continues God’s plan to restore a holy people with a holy dwelling. It fits the larger Bible theme that God lives among his people only on the basis of holiness and atonement. The offerings point to the need for purification, and in the wider canon that need is finally answered in Christ’s perfect priestly work, without forcing this chapter into a direct one-to-one symbol for the church.

Read this chapter as a call to reverence, justice, and obedience. God cares about worship, but he also cares about how leaders treat people and how they handle money and power. For believers today, the passage warns against dishonesty and abuse, and it calls us to honor God with serious, orderly worship and fair dealing.

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