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.

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.”