An area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities in which to live.
Parallel translations
- WEB Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in width, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, for twenty rooms.
- KJV And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.
- BSB An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.
- NKJV An area twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; they shall have twenty chambers as a possession.
- NLT The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8-1/3 miles long and 3-1/3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A separate measured portion is assigned to the Levites who serve the temple, for their possession.
Overview
The Levites who assist in temple service receive their own designated area within the holy district. God provides specifically for all who serve in His house according to their roles. The orderly provision reflects God's faithful care for those devoted to His worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 48:13Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in width: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the width ten thousand.
- Neh 10:38–39The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes. The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house.
- Ezek 48:10For 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 Yahweh shall be in the middle of it.
- 1 Chr 9:26–33for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the rooms and over the treasuries in God’s house.
- Ezek 48:20All 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.
- 1 Cor 9:13–14Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?
- Ezek 40:17Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 45:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.