Old/New Testament

The River Coming from the House of God

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the house. And I saw water flowing from under the doorway toward the east, for the house looked toward the east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. ² He brought me out through the north gate and led me around on the outside to the east gate. And I saw water coming from the south side.

³ Going toward the east, the man numbered 500 long steps, and he led me through the water, which covered my feet. ⁴ He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water, which came up to my knees. He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water. This time it came above my legs. ⁵ Again he numbered 500 long steps, and it was a river that I could not walk through. The water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, and no one could cross it. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he brought me back to the side of the river. ⁷ As I returned, I saw that there were very many trees on both sides of the river. ⁸ He said to me, “These waters go out toward the east country and down into the Arabah, then flow into the Dead sea. When they flow into the sea, the waters there become clean again. ⁹ Every living thing that gathers where the river goes will live. There will be very many fish, because these waters go there and make the salt water clean. So everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside it. They will have places to spread their nets from Engedi to Eneglaim. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But its wet places and pools will not be good for animal life. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up, and they will never stop giving fruit. They will give fruit every month because their water flows from the holy place. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

¹³ The Lord God says, “This is how you should divide the land among the twelve family groups of Israel. Joseph will have two parts. ¹⁴ You must divide the land so each family receives the same amount. For I promised to give this land to your fathers, and it will be your land to own.

¹⁵ “This will be the side of the land: The north side will go from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, and on to Zedad, ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (between the lands of Damascus and Hamath), and to Hazer-hatticon, by the land of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the land will spread from the sea to Hazarenan on the north side of Damascus, with the land of Hamath toward the north. This will be the north side. ¹⁸ The east side of the land will go from between Hauran and Damascus along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the sea in the east. This will be the east side. ¹⁹ The south side of the land will go from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This will be the south side. ²⁰ The west side of the land will be the Great Sea, to a place beside Lebo-hamath. This will be the west side.

²¹ “So divide this land among your family groups of Israel. ²² Divide it by drawing names for yourselves and for the people from other lands who live with you and raise their children among you. You are to think of them as if they were born Israelites. They must be given a share of land with you among the families of Israel. ²³ The man from another country must be given a share of land among the family group he lives with,” says the Lord God.

The Land Divided among the Family Groups

48 “These are the names of the family groups: Dan will have one share of land at the far north. His land will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan beside the land of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath, going from east to west. ² Asher will have one share of land beside Dan, from the east side to the west side. ³ Naphtali will have one share beside Asher, from the east side to the west side. ⁴ Manasseh will have one share beside Naphtali, from the east side to the west side. ⁵ Ephraim will have one share beside Manasseh, from the east side to the west side. ⁶ Reuben will have one share beside Ephraim, from the east side to the west side. ⁷ Judah will have one share beside Reuben, from the east side to the west side.

⁸ “Beside Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the share of land you must set apart as a special gift. It will be as wide as 12,500 long steps, and as long as one of the other shares of land, from the east side to the west side. And the holy place will be in the center of it. ⁹ The gift of land that you will set apart to the Lord will be as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. ¹⁰ There will be a holy part for the religious leaders. It will be as long as 12,500 long steps on the north side, 5,000 long steps on the west side, 5,000 long steps on the east side, and 12,500 long steps on the south side. The holy house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ¹¹ It will be for the religious leaders who are set apart of the sons of Zadok, who have been faithful in serving Me. They did not sin as the Levites did when the people of Israel went the wrong way. ¹² It will belong to them as a special gift from part of the land, a most holy place, beside the land of the Levites. ¹³ The Levites will have land beside the religious leaders, as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. The whole length will be 12,500 long steps, and the width 5,000 long steps. ¹⁴ They must not sell or trade any of it. This is the best part of the land, and it must not pass into other hands. For it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ “The rest of the land, 2,500 long steps in width and 12,500 long steps in length, will be for all the people. It will be for houses and for open fields, and the city will be in the center of it. ¹⁶ The city will be 2,250 long steps on each of its four sides. ¹⁷ And it will have open fields, 125 long steps in width, all around the city. ¹⁸ The rest of the length beside the holy part of the land will be 5,000 long steps toward the east and 5,000 long steps toward the west. This will be where food is grown for those who work in the city. ¹⁹ And the workers of the city, from all the family groups of Israel, will work the ground. ²⁰ The whole piece of land will be as long as 12,500 long steps on each of its four sides. You will set apart the holy piece of land, together with the land for the city.

²¹ “The rest of the land will be for the ruler, on both sides of the holy piece of land and of the land for the city. It will go from the 12,500 long steps of the holy piece of land all the way to the east side, and from the 12,500 long steps all the way to the west side, along the shares for the family groups. It will belong to the ruler. The holy piece of land and the house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ²² So the land of the Levites and the land of the city will be in the center of the ruler’s land. And the ruler’s land will be between the land of Judah and the land of Benjamin.

²³ “As for the rest of the family groups, Benjamin will have one share of land. It will spread from the east side to the west side. ²⁴ Simeon will have one share beside Benjamin, from the east side to the west side. ²⁵ Issachar will have one share beside Simeon, from the east side to the west side. ²⁶ Zebulun will have one share beside Issachar, from the east side to the west side. ²⁷ Gad will have one share beside Zebulun, from the east side to the west side. ²⁸ The south side of Gad’s share will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. ²⁹ This is the land you will give by drawing names to the family groups of Israel for their own. And these are their shares,” says the Lord God.

The Gates of Jerusalem

³⁰ “These will be the gates of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is as long as 2,250 long steps, ³¹ the gates of the city will be given the names of the family groups of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi. ³² The east side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³ The south side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ And the west side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ It will be 9,000 long steps around the city. And the name of the city from that time on will be: ‘The Lord is there.’”

We Are God’s Children

3 See what great love the Father has for us that He would call us His children. And that is what we are. For this reason the people of the world do not know who we are because they did not know Him. ² Dear friends, we are God’s children now. But it has not yet been shown to us what we are going to be. We know that when He comes again, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. ³ The person who is looking for this to happen will keep himself pure because Christ is pure.

⁴ The person who keeps on sinning is guilty of not obeying the Law of God. For sin is breaking the Law of God. ⁵ You know that Christ came to take away our sins. There is no sin in Him. ⁶ The person who lives by the help of Christ does not keep on sinning. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen Him or has not known Him. ⁷ My children, let no one lead you in the wrong way. The man who does what is right, is right with God in the same way as Christ is right with God. ⁸ The person who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. The devil has sinned from the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No person who has become a child of God keeps on sinning. This is because the Holy Spirit is in him. He cannot keep on sinning because God is his Father. ¹⁰ This is the way you can know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. The person who does not keep on doing what is right and does not love his brother does not belong to God. ¹¹ This is what you have heard from the beginning, that we should love each other. ¹² Do not be like Cain. He was a child of the devil and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? It was because he did what was sinful and his brother did what was right.

¹³ Do not be surprised if the world hates you, Christian brothers. ¹⁴ We know we have passed from death into life. We know this because we love the Christians. The person who does not love has not passed from death into life. ¹⁵ A man who hates his brother is a killer in his heart. You know that life which lasts forever is not in one who kills.

¹⁶ We know what love is because Christ gave His life for us. We should give our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ What if a person has enough money to live on and sees his brother in need of food and clothing? If he does not help him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸ My children, let us not love with words or in talk only. Let us love by what we do and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we know we are Christians. It will give our heart comfort for sure when we stand before Him. ²⁰ Our heart may say that we have done wrong. But remember, God is greater than our heart. He knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our heart does not say that we are wrong, we will have no fear as we stand before Him. ²² We will receive from Him whatever we ask if we obey Him and do what He wants. ²³ This is what He said we must do: Put your trust in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other. Christ told us to do this. ²⁴ The person who obeys Christ lives by the help of God and God lives in him. We know He lives in us by the Holy Spirit He has given us.