^3 (A)For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them.

⁴ For ^(A)the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except ^(B)cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property.

² And they spoke to them at ^(A)Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, ^(B)“The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.”

³ So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

The Holy District

45 “Moreover, when you ^(A)divide the land by lot into inheritance, you shall ^(B)set apart a district for the Lord, a holy section of the land; its length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width ten thousand. It shall be holy throughout its territory all around.

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 sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the center. ^11 (A)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, ^(B)as the Levites went astray. ¹² And this district of land that is set apart shall be to them a thing most ^(C)holy by the border of the Levites.

¹³ “Opposite the border of the priests, the ^(D)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 (E)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.

^15 (F)“The five thousand cubits in width that remain, along the edge of the twenty-five thousand, shall be ^(G)for general use by the city, for dwellings 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 The common-land of the city shall be: 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 adjacent to the district of the holy section, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ^19 (H)The workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. ²⁰ The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart the holy district with the property of the city.