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Ezekiel 47

Ezekiel’s vision joins life flowing from God’s sanctuary with a promised land inheritance that includes foreigners living among Israel.

Ezekiel’s guide brings him back to the temple entrance, where water flows from beneath the threshold toward the east. As the guide measures its course, the water deepens into a river Ezekiel cannot cross on foot. The guide describes waters healed and trees bearing food and healing leaves because the river comes from the sanctuary. The Lord GOD then sets Israel’s land boundaries and commands that resident foreigners receive an inheritance alongside the tribes.

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1He brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, waters flowed out from under the threshold of the temple eastward, for the front of the temple faced toward the east. The waters came down from underneath, from the right side of the temple, on the south of the altar.
2Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me around by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looks toward the east. Behold, waters ran out on the right side.
3When the man went out eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.
5Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be walked through.
6He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and caused me to return to the bank of the river.
7Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8Then he said to me, “These waters flow out toward the eastern region and will go down into the Arabah. Then they will go toward the sea and flow into the sea which will be made to flow out; and the waters will be healed.
9It will happen that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, will live. Then there will be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river comes.
10It will happen that fishermen will stand by it. From En Gedi even to En Eglaim will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceedingly many.
11But its swamps and marshes will not be healed. They will be given up to salt.
12By the river banks, on both sides, will grow every tree for food, whose leaf won’t wither, neither will its fruit fail. It will produce new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary. Its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for healing.”
13The Lord GOD says: “This shall be the border by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers. This land will fall to you for inheritance.
15“This shall be the border of the land: “On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;
16Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.
17The border from the sea shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18“The east side, between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side.
19“The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook, to the great sea. This is the south side southward.
20“The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as opposite the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.
22You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who will father children among you. Then they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel. They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
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Key verses
Ezekiel 47:12The trees’ unfailing fruit and healing leaves depend on water from the sanctuary, identifying God as the source of life.
Ezekiel 47:1The river begins beneath the temple threshold, establishing the source of the healing described throughout the vision.
Ezekiel 47:8The river flows toward the Arabah and the sea, carrying healing into waters that need to be restored.
Where this chapter reaches

Revelation shares the imagery of a life-giving river and trees with healing leaves, while Zechariah also describes waters flowing eastward from Jerusalem. Numbers shares the concern for defining Israel’s land boundaries and distributing an inheritance among the tribes, including Joseph’s descendants.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about the river’s source, increasing depth, and effects on the sea?

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How does the command to give resident foreigners an inheritance shape your reading of the land promises?

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Questions people ask about Ezekiel 47

What does the river in Ezekiel 47 represent?

Within the vision, the river carries life and healing from God’s sanctuary into the surrounding land and sea. Its growing depth and unfailing fruit show abundance that comes from God. Christians differ over how these details will be fulfilled; the chapter does not assign a separate symbolic meaning to each depth.

Why do foreigners receive land in Ezekiel 47?

God commands that foreigners who live among Israel and have children there receive an inheritance with the tribes. They are to be treated as native-born Israelites for this purpose. Their allotment belongs within the tribe where they reside. The chapter states this inclusion without explaining all its legal or historical implications.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).