Ezekiel 46:19-47:12

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them.^{(A) 20} He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the purification offering and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so communicate holiness to the people.”^(B)

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and in each corner of the court there was a court: ²² in the four corners of the court were small^[a] courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; the four were of the same size. ²³ On the inside, around each of the four courts,^[b] was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who serve at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”^(C)

Water Flowing from the Temple

47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there water was flowing from below the entryway of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east), and the water was flowing down from below the south side of the temple, south of the altar.^{(D) 2} Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east,^[c] and the water was trickling out on the south side.^(E)

³ Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.^{(F) 4} Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand and led me through the water, and it was up to the waist. ⁵ Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Mortal, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back along the bank of the river.^{(G) 7} As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other.^{(H) 8} He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh.^{(I) 9} Wherever the river goes,^[d] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish once these waters reach there. It will become fresh, and everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ People will stand fishing beside the sea^[e] from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.^{(J) 11} But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹² On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”^(K)