Ezekiel 47:8-23

8 Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
9 And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
11 But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
12 Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."
13 Thus says the Lord God: "These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14 You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by the road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad,
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon (which is on the border of Hauran).
17 Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18 On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side.
19 The south side, toward the South, shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.
20 The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side.
21 "Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
22 It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance," says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 47:8-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 47

This chapter gives an account of the vision of the holy waters, and of the borders of the holy land, and the division of it to Israelites and strangers. The waters are described by the original and spring of them, Eze 47:1,2, by the progress and increase of them, Eze 47:3-5, by the healing and quickening nature of them, and the places where they were so, and were not, Eze 47:8-11, and by the trees which grew upon the banks of them, Eze 47:6,7,12. The borders of the holy land are fixed, Eze 47:13,14, the northern border, Eze 47:15-17, the eastern border, Eze 47:18, the southern, Eze 47:19, and the western, Eze 47:20, which is to be divided by lot to the tribes of Israel, and the strangers that sojourn among them, Eze 47:21-23.

Footnotes 1

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.