Ezekiel 47:1-23

  • The stream flowing from the temple (1-12)

    • Water gradually deepens (2-5)

    • Water of the Dead Sea healed (8-10)

    • Swampy places not healed (11)

    • Trees for food and healing (12)

  • Boundaries of the land (13-23)

47  Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple,+ and there I saw water flowing eastward from under the threshold of the temple,+ for the front of the temple was facing east. The water was flowing down from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.  He then led me out by way of the north gate+ and took me outside and around to the outer gate that is facing east,+ and I saw water trickling from the right side.  When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand,+ he measured off 1,000 cubits* and had me pass through the water; the water was ankle deep.  Then he measured off another 1,000 and had me pass through the water, and it was up to the knees. He measured off another 1,000 and had me pass through, and the water was up to the hips.  When he measured off another 1,000, it was a torrent that I was unable to walk across, for the water was so deep that one had to swim, a torrent of water that could not be crossed on foot.  He asked me: “Have you seen this, son of man?” Then he had me walk and return to the bank of the stream.  When I returned, I saw that on the bank of the stream were very many trees on both sides.+  Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region and continues down through the Arʹa·bah*+ and enters the sea. When it enters the sea,+ the water there will be healed.  Swarms of living creatures* will be able to live wherever the waters* flow. There will be an abundance of fish, because this water will flow there. The seawater will be healed, and everything will live wherever the stream goes. 10  “Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedʹi+ clear to En-egʹla·im, where there will be a drying yard for dragnets. There will be an abundance of many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea.*+ 11  “It will have swampy places and marshy places, and these will not be healed. They will be abandoned to salt.+ 12  “All sorts of trees for food will grow on both banks of the stream. Their leaves will not wither; nor will their fruitage fail. Each month they will bear new fruit, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary.+ Their fruitage will serve as food and their leaves for healing.”+ 13  This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “This is the territory that you will assign as the land inheritance of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Joseph will have two portions.+ 14  You will inherit it and receive equal shares.* I swore to give this land to your forefathers,+ and now it is assigned* to you as an inheritance. 15  “This is the boundary of the land on the northern side: It goes from the Great Sea by the way to Hethʹlon+ toward Zeʹdad,+ 16  Haʹmath,+ Be·roʹthah,+ and Sibʹra·im, which is between the territory of Damascus and the territory of Haʹmath, to Haʹzer-hatʹti·con, which is by the boundary of Ha·u·ranʹ.+ 17  So the boundary will run from the sea to Haʹzar-eʹnon,+ along the boundary of Damascus to the north, and the boundary of Haʹmath.+ This is the northern border. 18  “The eastern side runs between Ha·u·ranʹ and Damascus and along the Jordan between Gilʹe·ad+ and the land of Israel. You should measure from the boundary to the eastern sea.* This is the eastern border. 19  “The southern border* will be from Taʹmar to the waters of Merʹi·bath-kaʹdesh,+ then to the Wadi* and to the Great Sea.+ This is the southern border.* 20  “On the western side is the Great Sea, from the boundary up to a point opposite Leʹbo-haʹmath.*+ This is the western border.” 21  “You are to apportion this land among yourselves, among the 12 tribes of Israel. 22  You should distribute it for inheritance among yourselves and to the foreigners residing with you who have had children while living among you; and they will be like native-born Israelites to you. They will receive an inheritance among the tribes of Israel along with you. 23  You should give the foreign resident an inheritance in the territory of the tribe where he has taken up residence,” declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.

Footnotes

This refers to long cubits. See App. B14.
Or “the desert plain.”
Or “souls.”
Lit., “the two streams.”
That is, the Mediterranean.
Lit., “inherit it, each like his brother.”
Lit., “falls.”
That is, the Dead Sea.
Lit., “the south side southward.”
That is, the Wadi of Egypt.
Lit., “the south side southward.”
Or “the entrance of Hamath.”