
(from The Message)
Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water
pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple
faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple,
south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and
led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The
water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.
He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off
fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep.
He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through
water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred
feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another
fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to
swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.
He said, "Son of man, have you had a good look?"
Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I
noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. He told me,
"This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the
sea, the sea of stagnant waters [the Dead Sea]. When it empties
into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river
flows, life will flourish--great schools of fish--because the river
is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows,
life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the
shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their
nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of
the Great Mediterranean.
"The swamps and marshes won't become fresh. They'll stay salty.
"But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all
kinds. Their leaves won't wither, the fruit won't fail. Every month
they'll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows
to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for
healing."