Ezekiel 47; Ezekiel 48; 1 John 3

1 The man led me back to the door of the Temple, and I saw water coming out from under the doorway and flowing east. (The Temple faced east.) The water flowed down from the south side wall of the Temple and then south of the altar.

2 The man brought me out through the outer north gate and led me around outside to the outer east gate. I found the water coming out on the south side of the gate.

3 The man went toward the east with a line in his hand and measured about one-third of a mile. Then he led me through water that came up to my ankles.

4 The man measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water that came up to my knees. Then he measured about one-third of a mile again and led me through water up to my waist.

5 The man measured about one-third of a mile again, but it was now a river that I could not cross. The water had risen too high; it was deep enough for swimming; it was a river that no one could cross.

6 The man asked me, "Human, do you see this?" Then the man led me back to the bank of the river.

7 As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river.

8 The man said to me, "This water will flow toward the eastern areas and go down into the Jordan Valley. When it enters the Dead Sea, it will become fresh.

9 Everywhere the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes the Dead Sea will become fresh, and so where the river goes there will be many living things.

10 Fishermen will stand by the Dead Sea. From En Gedi all the way to En Eglaim there will be places to spread fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea, as many as in the Mediterranean Sea.

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

12 All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both banks of the river, and their leaves will not dry and die. The trees will have fruit every month, because the water for them comes from the Temple. The fruit from the trees will be used for food, and their leaves for medicine."

13 This is what the Lord God says: "These are the borders of the land to be divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two parts of land.

14 You will divide the land equally. I promised to give it to your ancestors, so this land will belong to you as family property.

15 "This will be the border line of the land: "On the north side it will start at the Mediterranean Sea. It will go through Hethlon, toward Lebo Hamath and on to the towns of Zedad,

16 Berothah, and Sibraim on the border between Damascus and Hamath. Then it will go on to the town of Hazer Hatticon on the border of the country of Hauran.

17 So the border line will go from the Mediterranean Sea east to the town of Hazar Enan, where the land belonging to Damascus and Hamath lies on the north side. This will be the north side of the land.

18 "On the east side the border runs south from a point between Hauran and Damascus. It will go along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel and will continue to the town of Tamar on the Dead Sea. This will be the east side of the land.

19 "On the south side the border line will go east from Tamar all the way to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the south side of the land.

20 "On the west side the Mediterranean Sea will be the border line up to a place across from Lebo Hamath. This will be the west side of your land.

21 "You will divide this land among the tribes of Israel.

22 You will divide it as family property for yourselves and for the foreigners who live and have children among you. You are to treat these foreigners the same as people born in Israel; they are to share the land with the tribes of Israel.

23 In whatever tribe the foreigner lives, you will give him some land," says the Lord God.

1 "These are the areas of the tribes named here: Dan will have one share at the northern border. It will go from the sea through Hethlon to Lebo Hamath, all the way to Hazar Enan, where Damascus lies to the north. It will stop there next to Hamath. This will be Dan's northern border from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

2 "South of Dan's border, Asher will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

3 "South of Asher's border, Naphtali will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

4 "South of Naphtali's border, Manasseh will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

5 "South of Manasseh's border, Ephraim will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

6 "South of Ephraim's border, Reuben will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

7 "South of Reuben's border, Judah will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

8 "South of Judah's border will be the holy area which you are to give. It will be about seven miles wide and as long and wide as one of the tribes' shares. It will run from the east side to the west side. The Temple will be in the middle of this area.

9 "The share which you will give the Lord will be about seven miles long and three miles wide.

10 The holy area will be divided among these people. The priests will have land about seven miles long on the north and south sides, and three miles wide on the west and east sides. The Temple of the Lord will be in the middle of it.

11 This land is for the priests who are given the holy duty of serving the Lord. They are the descendants of Zadok who did my work and did not leave me when Israel and the Levites left me.

12 They will have as their share a very holy part of the holy portion of the land. It will be next to the land of the Levites.

13 "Alongside the land for the priests, the Levites will have a share about seven miles long and three miles wide; its full length will be about seven miles and its full width about three miles.

14 The Levites are not to sell or trade any of this land. They are not to let anyone else own any of this best part of the land, because it belongs to the Lord.

15 "The rest of the area will be about one and one-half miles wide and seven miles long. It will not be holy but will belong to the city and be used for homes and pastures. The city will be in the middle of it.

16 These are the city's measurements: the north side will be about one mile, the south side about one mile, the east side about one mile, and the west side about one mile.

17 The city's land for pastures will be about four hundred thirty-seven feet on the north, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the south, four hundred thirty-seven feet on the east, and four hundred thirty-seven feet on the west.

18 Along the long side of the holy area there will be left three miles on the east and three miles on the west. It will be used to grow food for the city workers.

19 The city workers from all the tribes of Israel will farm this land.

20 This whole area will be square, seven miles by seven miles. You shall give to the Lord the holy share along with the city property.

21 "Land that is left over on both sides of the holy area and city property will belong to the ruler. That land will extend east of the holy area to the eastern border and west of it to the Mediterranean Sea. Both of these areas run the length of the lands of the tribes, and they belong to the ruler. The holy area with the Holy Place of the Temple will be in the middle.

22 The Levites' land and the city property will be in the middle of the lands belonging to the ruler. Those lands will be between Judah's border and Benjamin's border.

23 "Here is what the rest of the tribes will receive: Benjamin will have one share. It will go from the east side to the Mediterranean Sea on the west side.

24 "South of Benjamin's land, Simeon will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

25 "South of Simeon's land, Issachar will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

26 "South of Issachar's land, Zebulun will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

27 "South of Zebulun's land, Gad will have one share. It will go from the east side to the west side.

28 "The southern border of Gad's land will go east from Tamar on the Dead Sea to the waters of Meribah Kadesh. Then it will run along the brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

29 "This is the land you will divide among the tribes of Israel to be their shares," says the Lord God.

30 "These will be the outside borders of the city: The north side will measure more than one mile.

31 There will be three gates facing north: Reuben's Gate, Judah's Gate, and Levi's Gate, named for the tribes of Israel.

32 "The east side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing east: Joseph's Gate, Benjamin's Gate, and Dan's Gate.

33 "The south side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing south: Simeon's Gate, Issachar's Gate, and Zebulun's Gate.

34 "The west side will measure more than one mile. There will be three gates facing west: Gad's Gate, Asher's Gate, and Naphtali's Gate.

35 "The city will measure about six miles around. From then on the name of the city will be The Lord Is There."

1 The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are his children. The reason the people in the world do not know us is that they have not known him.

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and we have not yet been shown what we will be in the future. But we know that when Christ comes again, we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is.

3 Christ is pure, and all who have this hope in Christ keep themselves pure like Christ.

4 The person who sins breaks God's law. Yes, sin is living against God's law.

5 You know that Christ came to take away sins and that there is no sin in Christ.

6 So anyone who lives in Christ does not go on sinning. Anyone who goes on sinning has never really understood Christ and has never known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you the wrong way. Christ is all that is right. So to be like Christ a person must do what is right.

8 The devil has been sinning since the beginning, so anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil's work.

9 Those who are God's children do not continue sinning, because the new life from God remains in them. They are not able to go on sinning, because they have become children of God.

10 So we can see who God's children are and who the devil's children are: Those who do not do what is right are not God's children, and those who do not love their brothers and sisters are not God's children.

11 This is the teaching you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other.

12 Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were good.

13 Brothers and sisters, do not be surprised when the people of the world hate you.

14 We know we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead.

15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them.

16 This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters.

17 Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God's love is not living in that person.

18 My children, we should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring.

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20 This is the way we know that we belong to the way of truth. When our hearts make us feel guilty, we can still have peace before God. God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

21 My dear friends, if our hearts do not make us feel guilty, we can come without fear into God's presence.

22 And God gives us what we ask for because we obey God's commands and do what pleases him.

23 This is what God commands: that we believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love each other, just as he commanded.

24 The people who obey God's commands live in God, and God lives in them. We know that God lives in us because of the Spirit God gave us.