The river that gives life to everything
1The man took me back to the door of the temple and I saw water coming out from under the doorstep of the temple. The water flowed east, because the front of the temple was to the east. The water then flowed to the right of the temple, south of the altar. 2Then the man took me through the outer northern gate and he took me outside to the outer eastern gate. There was water coming out of the southern side of the gate.
3The man then walked to the eastern side. He had a measuring-line in his hand and he measured 1 000 cubits. Then he let me walk through the water. The water came to my ankles. 4Then the man measured another 1 000 cubits and he led me through the water. The water came up to my knees. Then he measured another 1 000 cubits and he led me further through the water. The water came up to my hips. 5He measured another 1 000 cubits and then the water became a river. I could not walk through it. The water was so deep that I had to swim. It was a river, and no one could walk through it. 6The man said to me: ‘Son of man, did you see this?’
He led me back on the side of the river. 7As I walked back, I saw a lot of big trees on the side of the river on both sides. 8The man said to me: ‘This water flows to the east of the land and it will flow down to the Jordan Valley and to the Dead Sea. When this water flows into the Dead Sea, the water of the Dead Sea will become fresh. It will not be salty anymore. 9Wherever the river flows, there will be a lot of animals, all kinds of animals, and a lot of fish. When this water flows into the sea, the water of the sea will become fresh. Wherever the water of this river flows, it will bring life. 10Fishermen will stand along the sea from En-Gedi to En-Eglaim. It will be a place where they dry their fishing nets. There will be as many different kinds of fish as in the big sea and there will be a lot of fish. 11But the water in the wetlands and in the water holes near the sea will not become fresh. That water must stay salty. 12On both sides of the river all the different kinds of fruit trees will grow. Their leaves will never become dry or fall off and there will always be fruit on the trees. The trees will have new fruit every month because they are planted near the water that comes from the temple. The people will eat the fruit and use the leaves as medicine to heal them.’
The borders of the land
13The Lord God says: ‘Here are the borders of the land that you must divide among the 12 tribes_of_Israel.
The Joseph tribe must get 2 parts of land 14and all the other tribes must get one part. I promised that I would give the land to your forefathers. That is why you must get this land.
15Here are the borders of the land: In the north the border starts at the big sea and then it goes past the town of Hethlon to the town of Zedad, 16then it goes to the towns of Hamath, Berothah and Sibraim, that is on the border between Damascus and the land of Hamath, and then to Hazer-Hatticon on the border of the land of Hauran. 17This border is from the big sea to the town of Hazer-Hatticon on the border of the land of Damascus. At the northern side the border is from the land of Hamath. This is the northern border.
18On the eastern side the border starts between the lands of Hauran and Damascus and it goes down the Jordan River between Gilead and the land_of_Israel. You must measure the border from the side of the Dead Sea. This is the eastern border.
19In the south the border starts south of the town of Tamar and it goes to the water of Meribah-Kadesh, and along the river to the big sea. This is the southern border.
20In the west the big sea is the border, from the southern border up to the other side of the town of Lebo-Hamath. This is the western border.’
Strangers must get land
21‘You must divide this land for the tribes_of_Israel. 22And when you draw_lots to see who must get what part of land, you must divide it among yourselves and the strangers who are living among you and who have had children in your land. Those strangers must be the same to you as real Israelites. They must get land with you among the tribes_of_Israel. 23You must give land to a stranger with the tribe where he lives.’ This is what the Lord God said.
