Old/New Testament

The River Flowing From the Temple

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and water was flowing out from under the threshold of the temple eastward, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing down from under from the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 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 east; and the water was coming out on the south side.

³ When the man who had the line in his hand went eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the water; the water reached the ankles. ⁴ Again he measured a thousand and brought me through the water. The water reached the knees. Again he measured a thousand and brought me through the water. The water reached the loins. ⁵ Afterward he measured a thousand. And it was a river that I could not pass over, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. ⁷ When I had returned I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸ Then he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. ⁹ Every living creature that swarms, wherever the rivers go, will live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come there and the others become fresh. Thus everything shall live wherever the river comes. ¹⁰ It shall come to pass that the fishermen shall stand upon it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim there shall be a place to spread out nets. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the Mediterranean Sea, exceedingly many. ¹¹ But its miry places and its marshes shall not be healed. They shall be given to salt. ¹² By the river upon its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow all kinds of trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade nor shall its fruit fail. They shall bring forth fruit according to their months, because their water issues out of the sanctuary. And their fruit shall be for food and their leaves for medicine.”

The Borders of the Land

¹³ Thus says the Lord God: This shall be the border by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. ¹⁴ You shall divide it for an inheritance, one as equally as another. For I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.

¹⁵ This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Mediterranean Sea by the way of Hethlon as men go to Zedad, ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which lies between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷ The border from the sea shall be Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

¹⁸ The east side, from Hauran and from Damascus and from Gilead and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan. You shall measure from the northern border to the eastern sea. And this is the east side.

¹⁹ The south side, toward the Negev, shall run from Tamar even to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, from there along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This shall be the south side, toward the Negev.

²⁰ The west side also shall be the Mediterranean Sea from the southern border to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This is the west side.

²¹ So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. ²² It shall come to pass that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who sojourn among you, who shall bear sons among you. And they shall be to you as born in the country among the sons of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³ It shall come to pass that in whatever tribe the alien sojourns, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord God.

The Division of the Land

48 Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end beside the way of Hethlon as one goes to Lebo Hamath, as far as Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus northward beside Hamath going from east to west, Dan, one portion;

² by the border of Dan from the east side to the west side, a portion for Asher;

³ by the border of Asher from the east side even to the west side, a portion for Naphtali;

⁴ by the border of Naphtali from the east side to the west side, a portion for Manasseh;

⁵ by the border of Manasseh from the east side to the west side, a portion for Ephraim;

⁶ by the border of Ephraim from the east side even to the west side, a portion for Reuben;

⁷ by the border of Reuben from the east side to the west side, a portion for Judah;

⁸ by the border of Judah from the east side to the west side shall be the allotment which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits^[a] in width and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side to the west side. And the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.

⁹ The allotment that you shall set apart to the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand^[b] in width. ¹⁰ For them, even for the priests, shall be this holy allotment, toward the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length and toward the west ten thousand in width and toward the east ten thousand in width and toward the south twenty-five thousand cubits in length. And the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in its midst. ¹¹ It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the Levites went astray. ¹² It shall be an allotment to them, a thing most holy, the allotment of the land by the border of the Levites.

¹³ Opposite the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. All the length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width ten thousand. ¹⁴ They shall not sell of it or exchange or alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ The five thousand cubits^[c] in width that remain and the twenty-five thousand in length shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for suburbs. And the city shall be in the midst. ¹⁶ These shall be its measurements: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits;^[d] and the south side four thousand five hundred cubits; and on the east side four thousand five hundred cubits; and the west side four thousand five hundred cubits. ¹⁷ The suburbs of the city shall be: to the north, two hundred and fifty cubits;^[e] to the south, two hundred and fifty cubits; to the east, two hundred and fifty cubits; and to the west, two hundred and fifty cubits. ¹⁸ The rest in length alongside the holy portion shall be ten thousand cubits eastward and ten thousand westward. And it shall be alongside the holy portion. And its increase shall be for food to those who serve the city. ¹⁹ Those who serve the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. ²⁰ All the allotment shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand cubits. You shall set apart the holy allotment foursquare, with the property of the city.

²¹ The rest shall belong to the prince, on both sides of the holy allotment and the city property, next to the twenty-five thousand cubits of the allotment toward the eastern border, and westward next to the twenty-five thousand toward the western border, next to the portions for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. ²² Moreover excluding the property of the Levites and the property of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.

²³ As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west side, Benjamin shall have one portion.

²⁴ By the border of Benjamin from the east side to the west side, Simeon shall have one portion.

²⁵ By the border of Simeon from the east side to the west side, Issachar shall have one portion.

²⁶ By the border of Issachar from the east side to the west side, Zebulun shall have one portion.

²⁷ By the border of Zebulun from the east side to the west side, Gad shall have one portion.

²⁸ By the border of Gad at the south side southward the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh and to the brook of Egypt toward the Mediterranean Sea.

²⁹ This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.

The Gates of the New City

³⁰ These are the exits of the city on the north side, four thousand five hundred cubits by measurement. ³¹ The gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.

³² At the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, shall be three gates: one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.

³³ At the south side, four thousand five hundred cubits^[f] by measurement, shall be three gates: one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.

³⁴ At the west side, four thousand five hundred cubits, shall be three gates: one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.

³⁵ The circumference shall be eighteen thousand cubits.^[g]

And the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord Is There.

3 Consider how much love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now are we children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Whoever practices sin breaks the law, for sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He was revealed to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶ Whoever remains in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has not seen Him and does not know Him.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. ⁸ Whoever practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever has been born of God does not practice sin, for His seed remains in him. And he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Whoever does not live in righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning: We should love one another, ¹² not like Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s works were righteous. ¹³ Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

¹⁶ By this we know the love of God: that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ Whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, but closes his heart of compassion from him, how can the love of God remain in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

Confidence Before God

¹⁹ By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall reassure our hearts before Him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence before God. ²² And whatever we ask, we will receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded us. ²⁴ Now the one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He remains in us, through the Spirit whom He has given us.