The Prince and the Feasts

46 “Thus says the Lord God: ^(A)The gate of ^(B)the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and ^(C)on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. ^2 (D)The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by ^(E)the post of the gate. ^(F)The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at ^(G)the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. ^3 (H)The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. ^4 (I)The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord ^(J)on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵ And ^(K)the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah,^[a] and the grain offering with the lambs shall be ^(L)as much as he is able, together with a hin^[b] of oil to each ephah. ⁶ On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷ As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs ^(M)as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. ^8 (N)When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

^9 (O)“When the people of the land ^(P)come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. ¹⁰ When they enter, ^(Q)the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

¹¹ “At the feasts and the appointed festivals, ^(R)the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs ^(S)as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. ¹² When the prince provides ^(T)a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, ^(U)the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings ^(V)as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

^13 (W)“You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴ And ^(X)you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute. ¹⁵ Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for ^(Y)a regular burnt offering.

¹⁶ “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. ¹⁷ But if he makes a gift ^(Z)out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to ^(AA)the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. ^18 (AB)The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, ^(AC)thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be ^(AD)scattered from his property.”

Boiling Places for Offerings

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the entrance, which was ^(AE)at the side of the gate, to the north row of ^(AF)the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. ²⁰ And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests ^(AG)shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where ^(AH)they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so ^(AI)transmit holiness to the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— ²² in the four corners of the court were small^[c] courts, forty cubits^[d] long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. ²³ On the inside, around each of the four courts 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 ^(AJ)minister at the temple ^(AK)shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Water Flowing from the Temple

47 Then he brought me back to ^(AL)the door of the temple, and behold, ^(AM)water was issuing from below ^(AN)the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of ^(AO)the altar. ² Then he brought me out by way of ^(AP)the north gate and led me around on the outside to ^(AQ)the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

³ Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, ^(AR)the man measured a thousand cubits,^[e] and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. ⁴ Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. ⁵ Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. ⁶ And he said to me, ^(AS)“Son of man, ^(AT)have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river ^(AU)very many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸ And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into ^(AV)the Arabah, and enters the sea;^[f] when the water flows into ^(AW)the sea, the water will become fresh.^{[g] 9} And wherever the river goes,^[h] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea^[i] may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From ^(AX)Engedi to ^(AY)Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of ^(AZ)the Great Sea.^{[j] 11} But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹² And on the banks, ^(BA)on both sides of the river, there will grow ^(BB)all kinds of trees for food. ^(BC)Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, ^(BD)but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and ^(BE)their leaves for healing.”

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(F)every spirit that confesses that ^(G)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit ^(H)that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^(I)now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^(J)he who is in you is greater than ^(K)he who is in the world. ^5 (L)They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^(M)the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. ^(N)Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(O)the Spirit of truth and ^(P)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, ^(Q)let us love one another, for love is from God, and ^(R)whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8 (S)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because ^(T)God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ^(U)God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(V)not that we have loved God ^(W)but that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^(X)the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ^12 (Y)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^(Z)his love is perfected in us.

^13 (AA)By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And ^(AB)we have seen and testify that ^(AC)the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^(AD)the world. ^15 (AE)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So ^(AF)we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^(AG)God is love, and ^(AH)whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this ^(AI)is love perfected with us, so that ^(AJ)we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^(AK)as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(AL)perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^(AM)been perfected in love. ^19 (AN)We love because he first loved us. ^20 (AO)If anyone says, “I love God,” and ^(AP)hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot^[a] love God ^(AQ)whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(AR)this commandment we have from him: ^(AS)whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(AT)Everyone who believes that ^(AU)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^(AV)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ^2 (AW)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For ^(AX)this is the love of God, that we ^(AY)keep his commandments. And ^(AZ)his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^(BA)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^(BB)our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes ^(BC)that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

⁶ This is he who came ^(BD)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And ^(BE)the Spirit is the one who testifies, because ^(BF)the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ^9 (BG)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ^(BH)that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God ^(BI)has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ^(BJ)has made him a liar, ^(BK)because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us ^(BL)eternal life, and ^(BM)this life is in his Son. ^12 (BN)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(BO)these things to you who ^(BP)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is ^(BQ)the confidence that we have toward him, that ^(BR)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and ^(BS)God^[b] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. ^(BT)There is sin that leads to death; ^(BU)I do not say that one should pray for that. ^17 (BV)All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that ^(BW)everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ^(BX)he who was born of God ^(BY)protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and ^(BZ)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and ^(CA)has given us understanding, so that we may know ^(CB)him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and ^(CC)eternal life. ²¹ Little children, ^(CD)keep yourselves from idols.