Ezekiel 47

Living Bible

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the Temple. I saw a stream flowing eastward from beneath the Temple and passing to the right of the altar, that is, on its south side. ² Then he brought me outside the wall through the north passageway^[a] and around to the eastern entrance, where I saw the stream flowing along on the south side of the eastern passageway. ³ Measuring as he went, he took me 1,500 feet east along the stream and told me to go across. At that point the water was up to my ankles. ⁴ He measured off another 1,500 feet and told me to cross again. This time the water was up to my knees. ⁵ Fifteen hundred feet after that it was up to my waist. Another 1,500 feet and it had become a river so deep I wouldn’t be able to get across unless I were to swim. It was too deep to cross on foot.

⁶ He told me to keep in mind what I had seen, then led me back along the bank. ⁷ And now, to my surprise,^[b] many trees were growing on both sides of the river!

⁸ He told me: “This river flows east through the desert and the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, where it will heal the salty waters and make them fresh and pure. ⁹ Everything touching the water of this river shall live. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will be healed. Wherever this water flows, everything will live. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea, fishing all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim. The shores will be filled with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea just as they do the Mediterranean! ¹¹ But the marshes and swamps will not be healed; they will still be salty. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow along the riverbanks. The leaves will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit. There will be a new crop every month—without fail! For they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for medicine.”

¹³ The Lord God says: “Here are the instructions for dividing the land to the twelve tribes of Israel: The tribe of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh)^[c] shall be given two sections. ¹⁴ Otherwise, each tribe will have an equal share. I promised with hand raised in oath of truth to give the land to your fathers, and you shall inherit it now.

¹⁵ “The northern boundary will run from the Mediterranean toward Hethlon, then on through Labweh^[d] to Zedad; ¹⁶ then to Berothah and Sibraim, which are on the border between Damascus and Hamath, and finally to Hazer-hatticon, on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the northern border will be from the Mediterranean to Hazar-enan, on the border with Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south.

¹⁸ “The eastern border will run south from Hazar-enan to Mount Hauran, where it will bend westward to the Jordan at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, and down along the Jordan River separating Israel from Gilead, past the Dead Sea to Tamar.

¹⁹ “The southern border will go west from Tamar to the springs at Meribath-kadesh and then follow the course of the brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) to the Mediterranean.

²⁰ “On the west side, the Mediterranean itself will be your boundary, from the southern boundary to the point where the northern boundary begins.

²¹ “Divide the land within these boundaries among the tribes of Israel. ²² Distribute the land as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who live among you with their families. All children born in the land—whether or not their parents are foreigners—are to be considered citizens and have the same rights your own children have. ²³ All these immigrants are to be given land according to the tribe where they now live.