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47 ¶ Afterward he made me return to the entrance of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under towards the right side of the house, to the south side of the altar.

Then he brought me out by the way of the north gate and led me by the way outside the gate, outside to the way that looks eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

And when the man went forth eastward, he had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.

Again he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.

Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over; for the waters were risen; a river that could not be passed over without swimming.

And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

And as I turned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

Then he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country and shall go down into the desert and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters of the sea shall be healed.

And it shall come to pass, that every living soul, which swims wherever these two rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because of these waters going there: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live that shall enter into this river.

10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishermen shall stand next to it; and from Engedi even unto Eneglaim there shall be a place to spread forth nets; according to their kinds, their fish shall be as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

11 But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every fruitful tree for food, whose leaf shall not fall, neither shall its fruit be lacking; it shall bring forth mature fruit in its months, because their waters come forth out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for medicine.

13 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: This is the border, by which ye shall divide the land in inheritance among to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.

14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, concerning that which I lifted up my hand that I must give it unto your fathers: therefore, this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.

15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;

16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.

17 And the border of the north shall be from the sea of Hazarenan to the border of Damascus to the north, and to the border of Hamath to the side of the north.

18 And to the east side through Hauran, and Damascus, and Gilead, and through the land of Israel to the Jordan, ye shall measure this from the border unto the east sea.

19 And to the south side southward from Tamar even to the waters of strife; from Kadesh and the river to the great sea. And this shall be the south side southward.

20 And to the west side the great sea shall be the border straight unto Hamath. This shall be the west side.

21 So shall ye divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel.

22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who have begotten sons among you; and they shall be unto you as native born among the sons of Israel; they shall have cast lots with you to inherit among the tribes of Israel.

23 And it shall come to pass, that in the tribe in which the stranger sojourns, there shall ye give him his inheritance, said the Lord GOD.

The River From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water(A) coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.(B) He then brought me out through the north gate(C) and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line(D) in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits[a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river(E) that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.(F) He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.(G) He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,[b](H) where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh.(I) Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.(J) 10 Fishermen(K) will stand along the shore; from En Gedi(L) to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets.(M) The fish will be of many kinds(N)—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.(O) 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.(P) 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.(Q) Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit(R) fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary(S) flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.(T)

The Boundaries of the Land

13 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “These are the boundaries(U) of the land that you will divide among the twelve tribes of Israel as their inheritance, with two portions for Joseph.(V) 14 You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with uplifted hand to give it to your ancestors, this land will become your inheritance.(W)

15 “This is to be the boundary of the land:(X)

“On the north side it will run from the Mediterranean Sea(Y) by the Hethlon road(Z) past Lebo Hamath to Zedad, 16 Berothah[c](AA) and Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath),(AB) as far as Hazer Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 The boundary will extend from the sea to Hazar Enan,[d] along the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern boundary.(AC)

18 “On the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Dead Sea and as far as Tamar.[e] This will be the eastern boundary.(AD)

19 “On the south side it will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh,(AE) then along the Wadi of Egypt(AF) to the Mediterranean Sea.(AG) This will be the southern boundary.

20 “On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath.(AH) This will be the western boundary.(AI)

21 “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance(AJ) for yourselves and for the foreigners(AK) residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.(AL) 23 In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,” declares the Sovereign Lord.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 47:3 That is, about 1,700 feet or about 530 meters
  2. Ezekiel 47:8 Or the Jordan Valley
  3. Ezekiel 47:16 See Septuagint and 48:1; Hebrew road to go into Zedad, 16 Hamath, Berothah.
  4. Ezekiel 47:17 Hebrew Enon, a variant of Enan
  5. Ezekiel 47:18 See Syriac; Hebrew Israel. You will measure to the Dead Sea.