Old/New Testament
Life-Giving Water in the New Creation
47 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw that water was flowing out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
2 He brought me out through the north gate that led into the inner courtyard and led me around on the outside of the temple to the outer gateway on the east side, and I saw that water was trickling out from its south side. 3 As the man went out toward the east, he had a measuring line in his hand. He measured off a thousand cubits,[a] and then he led me through the water. The water was ankle-deep. 4 Then he measured off another thousand cubits and led me through the water. The water was knee-deep. He measured a thousand more and led me through water that was now waist-deep. 5 He measured a thousand more, but now it was a river that I was not able to cross, because the water had risen so much that one would have to swim across it. It was a river that could not be forded.
6 Then he asked me, “Have you noticed anything, son of man?” and he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned there, I noticed that on the banks of the river there were a large number of trees, on both sides.
8 Then he said to me, “These waters are flowing out to the eastern part of the land. They go down to the Arabah and go into the sea,[b] into the sea whose waters are unusable,[c] and then the waters of the sea are made fresh.[d] 9 Every living creature that swarms can live wherever the stream flows. There will be a large number of fish because these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea have been made fresh, so every living creature can live everywhere the river goes. 10 There will be fishermen standing beside it from En Gedi to En Eglaim, and there will be places for them to spread their nets to dry. There will be all kinds of fish there, like the fish of the Great Sea[e]—so very many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be made fresh. They will be left to provide salt. 12 Beside the river, on both its banks, every kind of tree will grow for providing food. Their leaves will never wither, and their fruit will never fail. Every month they will bear fruit because their waters flow out from the sanctuary. Its fruit will provide food, and its leaves will be for healing.
The Divisions of the Land
13 This is what the Lord God says.
These are the boundaries you are to use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Joseph is to have two portions.)
14 You will assign equal portions of the land that I swore with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. This is how the land will be allotted to you as an inheritance.
15 These are to be the boundaries of the land:
On the north side, the boundary goes from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo Hamath to Zedad,[f] 16 Beruthah, and Sibraim, which is on the border between the territories of Damascus and Hamath, as far as Hazer Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the border will be from the sea to Hazar Enon, on the border of Damascus to the north, which also is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18 On the east side, the border will run from Hazar Enon between Hauran and Damascus. Between Gilead and the land of Israel, the Jordan is the border as far as the Eastern Sea.[g] The border then will run to Tamar.[h] This is the east side.
19 On the south side, in the Negev, the border will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Stream of Egypt to the Great Sea. This is the southern boundary in the Negev.
20 On the west side, the Great Sea is the border until a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This is the west side.
21 In this way you are to divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. 22 You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have fathered children among you. They are to be treated like someone who is native-born among the sons of Israel. With you they are to receive allotments as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe an alien has settled, there you are to give him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.
The New Holy Land
The Northern Tribes
48 These are the names of the tribes.
The northern border runs east to west along the road between Hethlon, Lebo Hamath, and Hazar Enon, which forms the northern border of the territory of Damascus with the territory of Hamath.[i] South of that line there will be one portion for Dan.
2 South of[j] the boundary of Dan, from the east side to the west side of the land, there is to be one portion for Asher.
3 South of the boundary of Asher, from the east side to the west side, there is to be one portion for Naphtali.
4 South of the boundary of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, there is to be one portion for Manasseh.
5 South of the boundary of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, there is to be one portion for Ephraim.
6 South of the boundary of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, there is to be one portion for Reuben.
7 South of the boundary of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, there is to be one portion for Judah.
The Central Holy Area
8 South of the boundary of Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the special contribution you are to devote to special use. Its north-to-south width is twenty-five thousand cubits,[k] and its east-to-west length is equal to one of the tribal portions from the eastern side of the land to the western side.[l] The sanctuary will be in the midst of it.[m]
The Place for the Temple
9 The contribution you are to devote to the Lord is to be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide.[n] 10 The holy contribution for the priests will be this: a rectangular area measuring twenty-five thousand cubits long on the north side, ten thousand cubits wide on the west, ten thousand cubits wide on the east, and twenty-five thousand cubits long on the south. The sanctuary of the Lord will be in the middle. 11 It will be for the priests, whoever has been consecrated from the sons of Zadok, who guarded the ministry for me, and who did not go astray when the other sons of Israel went astray, as also the Levites went astray. 12 It will be a special offering for them from the holy contribution of the land, a most holy district, beside the territory of the Levites.
The Place for the Levites
13 The Levites are to have a rectangular allotment parallel to the territory of the priests. Twenty-five thousand cubits is its length, and its width is ten thousand cubits. Its whole length is twenty-five thousand cubits, and its width is ten thousand cubits. 14 They must not sell any part of it nor exchange any of it. No one can transfer these firstfruits of the land, because they are holy, belonging to the Lord.
The City
15 The area five thousand cubits[o] wide that remains along the south edge of the square of twenty-five thousand cubits is common land for the city, for living space and for open land. The city is to be in its center, between the two halves. 16 These are the city’s dimensions: a square measuring four thousand five hundred cubits on the north side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the south side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the east side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the west side. 17 The open land belonging to the city will measure two hundred fifty cubits on the north side, and two hundred fifty cubits on the south, and two hundred fifty cubits on the east, and two hundred fifty cubits on the west.
18 The remaining area that runs lengthwise along the south side of the holy contribution will be ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the east side of the city, and ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the west side of the city. It shall be next to the holy contribution, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 The workers of the city who cultivate it will be from all the tribes of Israel.
20 The entire holy contribution will be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, a square. Set apart this holy contribution, which includes the property of the city.
The Territory of the Prince
21 What remains of the holy contribution will belong to the prince. It lies on both sides of the holy contribution and the property of the city, extending from the eastern north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the eastern border of the land, and on the west side, it will extend from the western north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the western border of the land. The two portions belonging to the prince run parallel to the tribal portions. The holy contribution and the temple sanctuary will be between the two halves of the prince’s area. 22 The area consisting of the property of the Levites and the property of the city is between the two tracts that will belong to the prince. The area between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin will belong to the prince.
The Southern Tribes
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side of the land to the west side is one portion for Benjamin.
24 South of the boundary of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, is one portion for Simeon.
25 South of the boundary of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, is one portion for Issachar.
26 South of the boundary of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, is one portion for Zebulun.
27 South of the boundary of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, is one portion for Gad.
28 South of the boundary of Gad on the southern side, the border will run from Tamar to the Waters of Meribah Kadesh, to the Stream of Egypt, and to the Great Sea.
29 This is the land that you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.
The City Once More
30 These are the outside boundaries of the city.
The north side is four thousand five hundred cubits long. 31 The gates of the city are named after the tribes of Israel. Three gates are located on the north: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, and one gate of Levi.
32 On the east side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, there are three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, and one gate of Dan.
33 On the south side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, there are three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, and one gate of Zebulun.
34 On the west side, which is four thousand five hundred cubits long, their gates are three: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, and one gate of Naphtali.
35 The perimeter of the city is eighteen thousand cubits,[p] and the name of the city from that day on is “The Lord Is There.”
Love From the Father
3 See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! The world does not know us, because it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, we are children of God now, but what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we will be like him, and we will see him as he really is. 3 Everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as Jesus[a] is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away our sins and in him there is no sin. 6 Anyone who remains in him does not sin. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what is right is righteous just as Jesus[b] is righteous. 8 The one who continues to sin is of the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared: to destroy the works of the Devil. 9 Nobody who has been born of God continues to commit sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how the children of God and the children of the Devil are obvious: Everyone who does not do what is right is not from God, along with everyone who does not love his brother.
Love One Another
11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: Love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[c] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love[d] remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 This is how we have come to know love: Jesus[e] laid down his life for us. And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him? 18 Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.
19 This is how we know that we are of the truth and how we will set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God. 22 We also receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. 23 This then is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another just as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps his commands remains in God[f] and God[g] in him. This is how we know that he remains in us: We know it from the Spirit, whom he has given to us.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.