Water Flowing from the Temple

¹Then he brought me back to xthe door of the temple, and behold, ywater was issuing from below zthe threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of athe altar. ²Then he brought me out by way of bthe north gate and led me around on the outside to cthe outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

³Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, dthe man measured a thousand cubits,1 and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. ⁴Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. ⁵Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. ⁶And he said to me, e“Son of man, fhave you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river gvery many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into hthe Arabah, and enters the sea;2 when the water flows into ithe sea, the water will become fresh.3 ⁹And wherever the river goes,4 every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea5 may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From jEngedi to kEneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of lthe Great Sea.6 ¹¹But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹²And on the banks, mon both sides of the river, there will grow nall kinds of trees for food. oTheir leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, pbut they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and ptheir leaves for healing.”

Division of the Land

¹³Thus says the Lord God: “This is the boundary7 by which qyou shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. rJoseph shall have two portions. ¹⁴And you shall divide equally what sI swore tto give to your fathers. uThis land shall fall to you as your inheritance.

¹⁵“This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from lthe Great Sea vby way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to wZedad,8 ¹⁶xBerothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between yDamascus and vHamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷So the boundary shall run from the sea to zHazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north.9 This shall be the north side.10

¹⁸“On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between aGilead and the land of Israel; to bthe eastern sea and as far as Tamar.11 This shall be the east side.

¹⁹“On the south side, it shall run from cTamar as far as dthe waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along ethe Brook of Egypt12 to fthe Great Sea. This shall be the south side.

²⁰“On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point vopposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.

²¹g“So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. ²²hYou shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and ifor the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. jThey shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.