The Daily Audio Bible

The River Coming from the House of God

47 Then he brought me back to the door of the house. And I saw water flowing from under the doorway toward the east, for the house looked toward the east. The water was flowing from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. ² He brought me out through the north gate and led me around on the outside to the east gate. And I saw water coming from the south side.

³ Going toward the east, the man numbered 500 long steps, and he led me through the water, which covered my feet. ⁴ He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water, which came up to my knees. He numbered another 500 long steps and led me through the water. This time it came above my legs. ⁵ Again he numbered 500 long steps, and it was a river that I could not walk through. The water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, and no one could cross it. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he brought me back to the side of the river. ⁷ As I returned, I saw that there were very many trees on both sides of the river. ⁸ He said to me, “These waters go out toward the east country and down into the Arabah, then flow into the Dead sea. When they flow into the sea, the waters there become clean again. ⁹ Every living thing that gathers where the river goes will live. There will be very many fish, because these waters go there and make the salt water clean. So everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside it. They will have places to spread their nets from Engedi to Eneglaim. The fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ¹¹ But its wet places and pools will not be good for animal life. They will be left for salt. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up, and they will never stop giving fruit. They will give fruit every month because their water flows from the holy place. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

¹³ The Lord God says, “This is how you should divide the land among the twelve family groups of Israel. Joseph will have two parts. ¹⁴ You must divide the land so each family receives the same amount. For I promised to give this land to your fathers, and it will be your land to own.

¹⁵ “This will be the side of the land: The north side will go from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, and on to Zedad, ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (between the lands of Damascus and Hamath), and to Hazer-hatticon, by the land of Hauran. ¹⁷ So the land will spread from the sea to Hazarenan on the north side of Damascus, with the land of Hamath toward the north. This will be the north side. ¹⁸ The east side of the land will go from between Hauran and Damascus along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the sea in the east. This will be the east side. ¹⁹ The south side of the land will go from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This will be the south side. ²⁰ The west side of the land will be the Great Sea, to a place beside Lebo-hamath. This will be the west side.

²¹ “So divide this land among your family groups of Israel. ²² Divide it by drawing names for yourselves and for the people from other lands who live with you and raise their children among you. You are to think of them as if they were born Israelites. They must be given a share of land with you among the families of Israel. ²³ The man from another country must be given a share of land among the family group he lives with,” says the Lord God.

The Land Divided among the Family Groups

48 “These are the names of the family groups: Dan will have one share of land at the far north. His land will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan beside the land of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath, going from east to west. ² Asher will have one share of land beside Dan, from the east side to the west side. ³ Naphtali will have one share beside Asher, from the east side to the west side. ⁴ Manasseh will have one share beside Naphtali, from the east side to the west side. ⁵ Ephraim will have one share beside Manasseh, from the east side to the west side. ⁶ Reuben will have one share beside Ephraim, from the east side to the west side. ⁷ Judah will have one share beside Reuben, from the east side to the west side.

⁸ “Beside Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the share of land you must set apart as a special gift. It will be as wide as 12,500 long steps, and as long as one of the other shares of land, from the east side to the west side. And the holy place will be in the center of it. ⁹ The gift of land that you will set apart to the Lord will be as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. ¹⁰ There will be a holy part for the religious leaders. It will be as long as 12,500 long steps on the north side, 5,000 long steps on the west side, 5,000 long steps on the east side, and 12,500 long steps on the south side. The holy house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ¹¹ It will be for the religious leaders who are set apart of the sons of Zadok, who have been faithful in serving Me. They did not sin as the Levites did when the people of Israel went the wrong way. ¹² It will belong to them as a special gift from part of the land, a most holy place, beside the land of the Levites. ¹³ The Levites will have land beside the religious leaders, as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. The whole length will be 12,500 long steps, and the width 5,000 long steps. ¹⁴ They must not sell or trade any of it. This is the best part of the land, and it must not pass into other hands. For it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵ “The rest of the land, 2,500 long steps in width and 12,500 long steps in length, will be for all the people. It will be for houses and for open fields, and the city will be in the center of it. ¹⁶ The city will be 2,250 long steps on each of its four sides. ¹⁷ And it will have open fields, 125 long steps in width, all around the city. ¹⁸ The rest of the length beside the holy part of the land will be 5,000 long steps toward the east and 5,000 long steps toward the west. This will be where food is grown for those who work in the city. ¹⁹ And the workers of the city, from all the family groups of Israel, will work the ground. ²⁰ The whole piece of land will be as long as 12,500 long steps on each of its four sides. You will set apart the holy piece of land, together with the land for the city.

²¹ “The rest of the land will be for the ruler, on both sides of the holy piece of land and of the land for the city. It will go from the 12,500 long steps of the holy piece of land all the way to the east side, and from the 12,500 long steps all the way to the west side, along the shares for the family groups. It will belong to the ruler. The holy piece of land and the house of the Lord will be in the center of it. ²² So the land of the Levites and the land of the city will be in the center of the ruler’s land. And the ruler’s land will be between the land of Judah and the land of Benjamin.

²³ “As for the rest of the family groups, Benjamin will have one share of land. It will spread from the east side to the west side. ²⁴ Simeon will have one share beside Benjamin, from the east side to the west side. ²⁵ Issachar will have one share beside Simeon, from the east side to the west side. ²⁶ Zebulun will have one share beside Issachar, from the east side to the west side. ²⁷ Gad will have one share beside Zebulun, from the east side to the west side. ²⁸ The south side of Gad’s share will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then to the River of Egypt and to the Great Sea. ²⁹ This is the land you will give by drawing names to the family groups of Israel for their own. And these are their shares,” says the Lord God.

The Gates of Jerusalem

³⁰ “These will be the gates of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is as long as 2,250 long steps, ³¹ the gates of the city will be given the names of the family groups of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi. ³² The east side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³ The south side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ And the west side is as long as 2,250 long steps. The three gates on this side will be the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ It will be 9,000 long steps around the city. And the name of the city from that time on will be: ‘The Lord is there.’”

¹¹ Dear friends, your real home is not here on earth. You are strangers here. I ask you to keep away from all the sinful desires of the flesh. These things fight to get hold of your soul. ¹² When you are around people who do not know God, be careful how you act. Even if they talk against you as wrong-doers, in the end they will give thanks to God for your good works when Christ comes again.

Obey the Leaders

¹³ Obey the head leader of the country and all other leaders over you. This pleases the Lord. ¹⁴ Obey the men who work for them. God sends them to punish those who do wrong and to show respect to those who do right. ¹⁵ This is what God wants. When you do right, you stop foolish men from saying bad things. ¹⁶ Obey as men who are free but do not use this to cover up sin. Live as servants owned by God at all times. ¹⁷ Show respect to all men. Love the Christians. Honor God with love and fear. Respect the head leader of the country.

Servants

¹⁸ Servants, you are to respect your owners and do what they say. Do this if you have a good and kind owner. You must do it even if your owner is hard to work for. ¹⁹ This shows you have received loving-favor when you are even punished for doing what is right because of your trust in God. ²⁰ What good is it if, when you are beaten for doing something wrong, you do not try to get out of it? But if you are beaten when you have done what is right, and do not try to get out of it, God is pleased. ²¹ These things are all a part of the Christian life to which you have been called. Christ suffered for us. This shows us we are to follow in His steps. ²² He never sinned. No lie or bad talk ever came from His lips. ²³ When people spoke against Him, He never spoke back. When He suffered from what people did to Him, He did not try to pay them back. He left it in the hands of the One Who is always right in judging. ²⁴ He carried our sins in His own body when He died on a cross. In doing this, we may be dead to sin and alive to all that is right and good. His wounds have healed you! ²⁵ You were like lost sheep. But now you have come back to Him Who is your Shepherd and the One Who cares for your soul.

Teaching for Married Christians

3 Wives, obey your own husbands. Some of your husbands may not obey the Word of God. By obeying your husbands, they may become Christians by the life you live without you saying anything. ² They will see how you love God and how your lives are pure. ³ Do not let your beauty come from the outside. It should not be the way you comb your hair or the wearing of gold or the wearing of fine clothes. ⁴ Your beauty should come from the inside. It should come from the heart. This is the kind that lasts. Your beauty should be a gentle and quiet spirit. In God’s sight this is of great worth and no amount of money can buy it. ⁵ This was the kind of beauty seen in the holy women who lived many years ago. They put their hope in God. They also obeyed their husbands. ⁶ Sarah obeyed her husband Abraham. She respected him as the head of the house. You are her children if you do what is right and do not have fear.

⁷ In the same way, husbands should understand and respect their wives, because women are weaker than men. Remember, both husband and wife are to share together the gift of life that lasts forever. If this is not done, you will find it hard to pray.

⁴⁹ Remember Your Word to Your servant, for You have given me hope. ⁵⁰ Your Word has given me new life. This is my comfort in my suffering. ⁵¹ The proud always laugh at me, but I do not turn away from Your Law. ⁵² I have remembered Your Law from a long time ago, O Lord, and I am comforted. ⁵³ Burning anger comes upon me because of the sinful who turn away from Your Law. ⁵⁴ Your Laws are my songs in whatever house I stay. ⁵⁵ I remember Your name in the night, O Lord, and I have kept Your Law. ⁵⁶ It has become my way to obey Your Law.

⁵⁷ The Lord is my share. I have promised to obey Your Word. ⁵⁸ I begged for Your favor with all my heart. Show me Your love because of Your Word. ⁵⁹ I thought about my ways and turned my steps to Your Law. ⁶⁰ I hurried and did not wait to obey Your Law. ⁶¹ The ropes of the sinful are all around me, but I have not forgotten Your Law. ⁶² I will rise late in the night to give thanks to You because Your Law is right and good. ⁶³ I am a friend to all who fear You and of those who keep Your Law. ⁶⁴ The earth is full of Your loving-kindness, O Lord. Teach me Your Law.

¹² When those who are right with God win, there is great honor, but when the sinful rule, men hide themselves.

¹³ It will not go well for the man who hides his sins, but he who tells his sins and turns from them will be given loving-pity.