of the altar,-b under the south wall of the Temple. 2Then he led me out by way of the northern gate and led me around to the outside of the outer gate that faces in the direction of the east;c and I found that water was gushing from [under] the south wall. 3As the man went on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me across the water; the water was ankle deep. 4Then he measured off another thousand and led me across the water; the water was knee deep. He measured off a further thousand and led me across the water; the water was up to the waist. 5When he measured yet another thousand, it was a stream I could not cross; for the water had swollen into a stream that could not be crossed except by swimming. 6“Do you see, O mortal?” he said to me; and he led me back to the bank of the stream.

7As I came back, I saw trees in great profusion on both banks of the stream. 8“This water,” he told me, “runs out to the eastern region, and flows into the Arabah; and when it comes into the sea, into d-the sea of foul waters,-d the water will become wholesome. 9Every living creature that swarms will be able to live wherever this stream goes; the fish will be very abundant once these waters have reached there. It will be wholesome, and everything will live wherever this stream goes. 10Fishermen shall stand beside it all the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it shall be a place for drying nets; and the fish will be of various kinds [and] most plentiful, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11But its swamps and marshes shall not become wholesome; they will serve to [supply] salt. 12All kinds of trees for food will grow up on both banks of the stream. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail; they will yield new fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the Temple. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

13Thus said the Lord GOD: These shall be the boundaries of the land that you shall allot to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall receive two portions, 14and you shall share the rest equally. As I swore to give it to your fathers, so shall this land fall to you as your heritage. 15These are the boundaries of the land:
As the northern limit: From the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, Leboe-hamath,-e Zedad, 16Berathah, Sibraim—which lies between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath—[down to] Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17Thus the boundary shall run from the Sea to f-Hazar-enon,-f to the north of the territory of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north of it. That shall be the northern limit.

18As the eastern limit: A line between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel: with the Jordan as a boundary, you shall measure down to the d-Eastern Sea.-d That shall be the eastern limit.

19The southern limit shall run: A line from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, along the Wadi [of Egypt and] the Great Sea. That is the southern limit.
20And as the western limit: The Great Sea shall be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. That shall be the western limit.

21This land you shall divide for yourselves among the tribes of Israel. 22You shall allot it as a heritage for yourselves and for the strangers who reside among you, who have begotten children among you. You shall treat them as Israelite citizens; they shall receive allotments along with you among the tribes of Israel. 23You shall give the stranger an allotment within the tribe where he resides—declares the Lord GOD.

48 These are the names of the tribes:
At the northern end, along the Hethlon road, [from] Lebo-hamath to Hazar-enan—which is the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north— from the eastern border to the Sea: Dan—one [tribe].

2Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the eastern border to the western border: Asher—one.
3Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the eastern border to the western border: Naphtali—one.
4Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the eastern border to the western border: Manasseh—one.
5Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the eastern border to the western border: Ephraim—one.
6Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the eastern border to the western border: Reuben—one.
7Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the eastern border to the western border: Judah—one.
8Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the eastern border to the western border, shall be the reserve that you set aside: 25,000 [cubits] in breadth and in length equal to one of the portions from the eastern border to the western border; the Sanctuary shall be in the middle of it. 9The reserve that you set aside for the LORD shall be 25,000 long and 10,000a wide. 10It shall be apportioned to the following: The sacred reserve for the priests shall measure 25,000 [cubits] on the north, b-10,000 on the west, 10,000 on the east, and 25,000 on the south,-b with the LORD’s Sanctuary in the middle of it. 11This consecrated area shall be for the priests of the line of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray, as the Levites did when the people of Israel went astray. 12It shall be a special reserve for them out of the [total] reserve from the land, most holy, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 13Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have [an area] 25,000 long by 10,000 wide; the total length shall be 25,000 and the breadth 10,000.c 14None of it—the choicest of the land—may be sold, exchanged, or transferred; it is sacred to the LORD.

15The remaining 5,000 in breadth by 25,000 shall be for common use— serving the city for dwellings and pasture. The city itself shall be in the middle of it; 16and these shall be its measurements: On the north side 4,500 cubits, on the south side 4,500, on the east side 4,500, and on the west side 4,500. 17The pasture shall extend 250 cubits to the north of the city, 250 to the south, 250 to the east, and 250 to the west. 18As for the remaining 10,000 to the east and 10,000 to the west, adjoining the long sided of the sacred reserve, the produce of these areas adjoining the sacred reserve shall serve as food for the workers in the city; 19the workers in the city from all the tribes of Israel shall cultivate it. 20The entire reserve, 25,000 square, you shall set aside as the sacred reserve plus the city property. 21What remains on either side of the sacred reserve and the city property shall belong to the prince. The prince shall own [the land] from the border of the 25,000 e-of the reserve-e up to the eastern boundary, and from the border of the 25,000 on the west up to the western boundary, corresponding to the [tribal] portions. The sacred reserve, with the Temple Sanctuary in the middle of it 22and the property of the Levites and the city property as well, shall be in the middle of the [area belonging] to the prince; [the rest of the land] between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin shall belong to the prince.

23As for the remaining tribes:f From the eastern border to the western border: Benjamin—one.
24Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the eastern border to the western border: Simeon—one.
25Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the eastern border to the western border: Issachar—one.
26Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the eastern border to the western border: Zebulun—one.
27Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the eastern border to the western border: Gad—one.
28The other border of Gad shall be the southern boundary. This boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Wadi [of Egypt], and to the Great Sea.
29That is the land which you shall allot as a heritage to the tribes of Israel, and those are their portions—declares the Lord GOD.

30And these are the exits from the city: On its northern side, measuring 4,500 cubits, 31the gates of the city shall be—three gates on the north— named for the tribes of Israel: the Reuben Gate: one; the Judah Gate: one; the Levi Gate: one. 32On the eastern side, [measuring] 4,500 cubits—there shall be three gates: the Joseph Gate: one; the Benjamin Gate: one; and the Dan Gate: one. 33On the southern side, measuring 4,500 cubits, there shall be three gates: the Simeon Gate: one; the Issachar Gate: one; and the Zebulun Gate: one. 34And on the western side, [measuring] 4,500 cubits—there shall be three gates: the Gad Gate: one; the Asher Gate: one; the Naphtali Gate: one.

35Its circumference [shall be] 18,000 [cubits]; and the name of the city from that day on shall be “The LORD Is There.”

a We do not know the 30th of what.
b I.e., cleft in front.
c Or “plumage.”
d-d Meaning of Hebs. uncertain.
e Traditionally “the Almighty”; see Gen. 17.1.
a-a Lit. “are with.”
a-a Emendation yields “as the Presence of the LORD rose from where it stood.”
b I.e., the people.
a I.e., in hostility.
b Since left and right also denote north and south (e.g., 16.46), the left side represents Israel, the northern kingdom, and the right side Judah, the southern kingdom.
c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d Resuming the thought of v. 11.
a Lit. “them.”
b-b Heb. “it.”
c Cf. v. 12; lit. “I will unsheathe.”
d Heb. “they.”
e Cf. Isa. 15.2 and Jer. 48.37; here an allusion to the symbolism in v.