Ezekiel 47:1-23

Ezekiel’s Last *Vision

Ezekiel Chapter s 40 to 48

Commentary: Keith Simons; Translation: Ian Mackervoy.

Chapter 47

The *temple river – Ezekiel 47:1-12

v1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the *temple. And I saw that water was coming out from under the doorway. It flowed toward the east. (The front of the *temple was toward the east.) The water flowed down from the south side of the *temple and south of the *altar. v2 He then brought me out through the north gate. He led me round the outside to the outer east gate. The water came out on the south side of the gate.

v3 The man went toward the east with a line in his hand. With the line he measured 1000 *cubits. Then he led me through the stream. The water came up to my ankles. v4 He went another 1000 *cubits and he led me through the water. Now the water came up to my knees. He measured the next 1000 *cubits and he led me through the water. It was now up to my stomach. v5 He measured the next 1000 *cubits. But now the water was a river that was too deep for me to cross. The water had risen, and it was deep enough to swim. Nobody could walk across this river. v6 The man said to me, ‘*Son of man, look carefully at this.’

Then he led me back to the edge of the river. v7 As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river. v8 The man said to me, ‘This water flows toward the east. It goes down into the Arabah and it enters the sea. As a result, the waters of the sea become fresh. v9 Wherever the river goes, there will be many living things. Wherever the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes, the salty water will become fresh. So wherever the river flows, everything will live. v10 Men who fish will stand along the shore of the sea. They will spread their nets from En Gedi to En Eglaim. It will be a sea that has many kinds of fish, like the Great Sea. v11 But the muddy areas and the land that is always wet will not become fresh. They will remain there to provide salt. v12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up and die. The trees will have fresh fruit every month. This is because of the water that flows to them. This water comes from the *temple. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves to cure the people.’