Water Flowing from the Temple
1 Then he brought me back to xthe door of the temple, and behold, ywater was issuing from below zthe 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 athe altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of bthe north gate and led me around on the outside to cthe 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, dthe man measured a thousand cubits,1 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, e“Son of man, fhave 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 gvery 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 hthe Arabah, and enters the sea;2 when the water flows into ithe sea, the water will become fresh.3 9 And wherever the river goes,4 every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea5 may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From jEngedi to kEneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of lthe Great Sea.6 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, mon both sides of the river, there will grow nall kinds of trees for food. oTheir leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, pbut they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and ptheir leaves for healing.”
Division of the Land
13 Thus says the Lord God: “This is the boundary7 by which qyou shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. rJoseph shall have two portions. 14 And you shall divide equally what sI swore tto give to your fathers. uThis land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 “This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from lthe Great Sea vby way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to wZedad,8 16 xBerothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between yDamascus and vHamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to zHazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north.9 This shall be the north side.10
18 “On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between aGilead and the land of Israel; to bthe eastern sea and as far as Tamar.11 This shall be the east side.
19 “On the south side, it shall run from cTamar as far as dthe waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along ethe Brook of Egypt12 to fthe Great Sea. This shall be the south side.
20 “On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point vopposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.
21 g“So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 hYou shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and ifor the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. jThey shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.
1 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside kthe way of Hethlon lto Lebo-hamath, as far as mHazar-enan (which is on the northern border of nDamascus over against Hamath), and extending1 from the east side to the west,2 oDan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, oAsher, one portion. 3 Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, oNaphtali, one portion. 4 Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5 Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.
8 “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be pthe portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits3 in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with qthe sanctuary in the midst of it. 9 The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,0004 in breadth. 10 rThese shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. 11 This shall be for sthe consecrated priests, tthe sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, uas the Levites did. 12 And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 13 vAnd alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000.5 14 They wshall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate xthis choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 y“The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be zfor common use for the city, for dwellings and for aopen country. In the midst of it shall be the city, 16 and these shall be its measurements: bthe north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. 17 And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. cIts produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20 The whole portion that dyou shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.
21 e“What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. fThe holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. 22 It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. 27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run gfrom Tamar to the waters of gMeribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt6 to hthe Great Sea.7 29 This is the land that iyou shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.
The Gates of the City
30 “These shall be jthe exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be k4,500 cubits by measure, 31 lthree gates, the gate of mReuben, the gate of mJudah, and the gate of mLevi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates,8 the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And nthe name of the city from that time on shall be, oThe Lord Is There.”
Daniel Taken to Babylon
1 In the third year of athe reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of bthe vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to cthe land of Shinar, to the house of his god, dand placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, ehis chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family1 and of fthe nobility, 4 youths without gblemish, of good appearance and hskillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to iteach them the literature and language of the jChaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of kthe food that the king ate, and of lthe wine that he drank. They were to be educated for mthree years, and at the end of that time they were to nstand before the king. 6 Among these were oDaniel, pHananiah, pMishael, and pAzariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And ethe chief of the eunuchs qgave them names: rDaniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
Daniel’s Faithfulness
8 But Daniel sresolved that he would not tdefile himself with kthe king’s food, or with lthe wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to tdefile himself. 9 uAnd God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for vten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat kthe king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate kthe king’s food. 16 wSo the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them xvegetables.
17 As for these four youths, yGod gave them learning and zskill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had aunderstanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of bthe time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore cthey stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all dthe magicians and eenchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel fwas there until the first year of gKing Cyrus.
