14. None of this special land may ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the lord; it is set apart as holy.
15. “An additional strip of land 81/3 miles long by 12/3 miles wide, south of the sacred Temple area, will be allotted for public use—homes, pasturelands, and common lands, with a city at the center.
16. The city will measure 11/2 miles on each side—north, south, east, and west.
17. Open lands will surround the city for 150 yards in every direction.
18. Outside the city there will be a farming area that stretches 31/3 miles to the east and 31/3 miles to the west along the border of the sacred area. This farmland will produce food for the people working in the city.
19. Those who come from the various tribes to work in the city may farm it.
20. This entire area—including the sacred lands and the city—is a square that measures 81/3 miles on each side.
21. “The areas that remain, to the east and to the west of the sacred lands and the city, will belong to the prince. Each of these areas will be 81/3 miles wide, extending in opposite directions to the eastern and western borders of Israel, with the sacred lands and the sanctuary of the Temple in the center.
22. So the prince’s land will include everything between the territories allotted to Judah and Benjamin, except for the areas set aside for the sacred lands and the city.
23. “These are the territories allotted to the rest of the tribes. Benjamin’s territory lies just south of the prince’s lands, and it extends across the entire land of Israel from east to west.
24. South of Benjamin’s territory lies that of Simeon, also extending across the land from east to west.
25. Next is the territory of Issachar with the same eastern and western boundaries.
26. “Then comes the territory of Zebulun, which also extends across the land from east to west.
27. The territory of Gad is just south of Zebulun with the same borders to the east and west.
28. The southern border of Gad runs from Tamar to the waters of Meribah at Kadesh and then follows the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean.