Read & explore together
The Common Portion
This passage describes a measured area set apart for the city within a larger square offering. It explains what part is for common use, how large the city is, and how the land supports the people who work there.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In these verses, Ezekiel gives measurements and uses for land connected with a holy offering. The passage stays focused on layout, boundaries, and purpose. It distinguishes common use, the city, pasture lands, and farmland that provides food for those who labour in the city.
Ezekiel 48:15–20Main takeaway
This passage teaches that the city’s place within the offering is carefully measured and includes shared space for homes, pasture, and food for its workers.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A portion for common useThe first detail is a strip of five thousand cubits in width, lying in front of the twenty-five thousand.
Explanation
The first detail is a strip of five thousand cubits in width, lying in front of the twenty-five thousand. This part is not called holy here, but for common use. It includes the city, places to live, and pasture lands, with the city placed in the middle of this area.
02The city is a measured squareThe city’s size is then given side by side. North, south, east, and west are each four thousand five hundred.
Explanation
The city’s size is then given side by side. North, south, east, and west are each four thousand five hundred. Repeating the same number on every side shows a square plan. The passage is interested in order and exact dimensions, not a story event or building process.
03Pasture lands surround the cityAround the city are pasture lands measured at two hundred fifty on each side: north, south, east, and west.
Explanation
Around the city are pasture lands measured at two hundred fifty on each side: north, south, east, and west. These surrounding spaces belong with the city’s needs. The text shows that the plan provides not only an urban centre, but also land connected to its daily life and care.
04Land that feeds the city’s workersThe remaining length beside the holy offering stretches ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward.
Explanation
The remaining length beside the holy offering stretches ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward. Its produce is for food to those who labour in the city. The workers are not limited to one tribe, because the text says they come from all the tribes of Israel and cultivate this land.
05One square offering with the city includedThe summary states that the whole offering is a square measuring twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand.
Explanation
The summary states that the whole offering is a square measuring twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand. Within this larger shape, the possession of the city is included with the holy offering. The final verse gathers the details into one ordered picture of land set out with purpose and proportion.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does the passage say the five thousand cubits are used for?
Look for the list of purposes in the opening verse, including the city, dwelling, and pasture lands.
02How does the passage show that the city has equal sides?
Read the measurements for north, south, east, and west and notice the repeated number.
03Who receives food from the remaining land, and who cultivates it?
Notice both the purpose of the increase and the description of the workers as coming from all the tribes of Israel.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Ezekiel 48:15–20
15“The five thousand cubits that are left in the width, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for pasture lands; and the city shall be in the middle of it.
16These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17The city shall have pasture lands: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty.
18The remainder of the length, alongside the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward; and it shall be alongside the holy offering. Its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.
19Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.
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.