Life-Giving Water in the New Creation
47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw that water was flowing out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
2 He brought me out through the north gate that led into the inner courtyard and led me around on the outside of the temple to the outer gateway on the east side, and I saw that water was trickling out from its south side. 3 As the man went out toward the east, he had a measuring line in his hand. He measured off a thousand cubits,[a] and then he led me through the water. The water was ankle-deep. 4 Then he measured off another thousand cubits and led me through the water. The water was knee-deep. He measured a thousand more and led me through water that was now waist-deep. 5 He measured a thousand more, but now it was a river that I was not able to cross, because the water had risen so much that one would have to swim across it. It was a river that could not be forded.
6 Then he asked me, “Have you noticed anything, son of man?” and he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned there, I noticed that on the banks of the river there were a large number of trees, on both sides.
8 Then he said to me, “These waters are flowing out to the eastern part of the land. They go down to the Arabah and go into the sea,[b] into the sea whose waters are unusable,[c] and then the waters of the sea are made fresh.[d] 9 Every living creature that swarms can live wherever the stream flows. There will be a large number of fish because these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea have been made fresh, so every living creature can live everywhere the river goes. 10 There will be fishermen standing beside it from En Gedi to En Eglaim, and there will be places for them to spread their nets to dry. There will be all kinds of fish there, like the fish of the Great Sea[e]—so very many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be made fresh. They will be left to provide salt. 12 Beside the river, on both its banks, every kind of tree will grow for providing food. Their leaves will never wither, and their fruit will never fail. Every month they will bear fruit because their waters flow out from the sanctuary. Its fruit will provide food, and its leaves will be for healing.
The Divisions of the Land
13 This is what the Lord God says.
These are the boundaries you are to use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Joseph is to have two portions.)
14 You will assign equal portions of the land that I swore with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. This is how the land will be allotted to you as an inheritance.
15 These are to be the boundaries of the land:
On the north side, the boundary goes from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo Hamath to Zedad,[f] 16 Beruthah, and Sibraim, which is on the border between the territories of Damascus and Hamath, as far as Hazer Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the border will be from the sea to Hazar Enon, on the border of Damascus to the north, which also is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18 On the east side, the border will run from Hazar Enon between Hauran and Damascus. Between Gilead and the land of Israel, the Jordan is the border as far as the Eastern Sea.[g] The border then will run to Tamar.[h] This is the east side.
19 On the south side, in the Negev, the border will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Stream of Egypt to the Great Sea. This is the southern boundary in the Negev.
20 On the west side, the Great Sea is the border until a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This is the west side.
21 In this way you are to divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have fathered children among you. They are to be treated like someone who is native-born among the sons of Israel. With you they are to receive allotments as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe an alien has settled, there you are to give him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 47:3 About 1,750 feet
- Ezekiel 47:8 That is, the Dead Sea
- Ezekiel 47:8 The meaning of the phrase translated into the sea whose waters are unusable is uncertain. The Hebrew seems to read to the sea [the waters] which had been brought out.
- Ezekiel 47:8 Literally are healed
- Ezekiel 47:10 The Mediterranean Sea
- Ezekiel 47:15 The word order follows the Greek text.
- Ezekiel 47:18 The Dead Sea
- Ezekiel 47:18 The Greek text reads to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar (implying a Hebrew reading Tamar). The Hebrew text reads to the eastern sea you shall measure (Hebrew tamad). In Hebrew script r and d are sometimes indistinguishable.