Ezekiel 47

¹  Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. ²  He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. ³  When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. ⁴  Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. ⁵  Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. ⁶  He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. ⁷  Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸  Then he said to me, "These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. ⁹  "It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰  "And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. ¹¹  "But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. ¹²  " By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." ¹³  Thus says the Lord GOD, "This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions. ¹⁴  "You shall divide it for an inheritance, each one equally with the other; for I swore to give it to your forefathers, and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance. ¹⁵  "This shall be the boundary of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad; ¹⁶  Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. ¹⁷  "The boundary shall extend from the sea to Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north toward the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. ¹⁸  "The east side, from between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the eastern sea you shall measure. This is the east side. ¹⁹  "The south side toward the south shall extend from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This is the south side toward the south. ²⁰  "The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the south border to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This is the west side. ²¹  "So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²²  "You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. ²³  "And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance," declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 48

¹  "Now these are the names of the tribes: from the northern extremity, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebohamath, as far as Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath, running from east to west, Dan, one portion. ²  "Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion. ³  "Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, one portion. ⁴  "Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion. ⁵  "Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion. ⁶  "Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, Reuben, one portion. ⁷  "Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion. ⁸  "And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotment which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in width, and in length like one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it. ⁹  "The allotment that you shall set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. ¹⁰  "The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, toward the west 10,000 in width, toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in its midst. ¹¹  "It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the Levites went astray. ¹²  "It shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy place, by the border of the Levites. ¹³  "Alongside the border of the priests the Levites shall have 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the width 10,000. ¹⁴  "Moreover, they shall not sell or exchange any of it, or alienate this choice portion of land; for it is holy to the LORD. ¹⁵  "The remainder, 5,000 cubits in width and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open spaces; and the city shall be in its midst. ¹⁶  "These shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500 cubits, the east side 4,500 cubits, and the west side 4,500 cubits. ¹⁷  "The city shall have open spaces: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250 cubits, on the east 250 cubits, and on the west 250 cubits. ¹⁸  "The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000 cubits toward the east and 10,000 toward the west; and it shall be alongside the holy allotment. And its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹  "The workers of the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. ²⁰  "The whole allotment shall be 25,000 by 25,000 cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city. ²¹  "The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy allotment and of the property of the city; in front of the 25,000 cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. ²²  "Exclusive of the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince. ²³  "As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion. ²⁴  "Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion. ²⁵  "Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion. ²⁶  "Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion. ²⁷  "Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion. ²⁸  "And beside the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the Great Sea. ²⁹  "This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, and these are their several portions," declares the Lord GOD. ³⁰  "These are the exits of the city: on the north side, 4,500 cubits by measurement, ³¹  shall be the gates of the city, named for the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. ³²  "On the east side, 4,500 cubits, shall be three gates: the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. ³³  "On the south side, 4,500 cubits by measurement, shall be three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. ³⁴  "On the west side, 4,500 cubits, shall be three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. ³⁵  "The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there.'"

Genesis 43

¹  Now the famine was severe in the land. ²  So it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food." ³  Judah spoke to him, however, saying, " The man solemnly warned us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.' ⁴  "If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵  "But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.'" ⁶  Then Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly by telling the man whether you still had another brother?" ⁷  But they said, "The man questioned particularly about us and our relatives, saying, ' Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' So we answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?" ⁸  Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ⁹  " I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever. ¹⁰  "For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice." ¹¹  Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹²  "Take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³  "Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴  and may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." ¹⁵  So the men took this present, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶  When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his house steward, "Bring the men into the house, and slay an animal and make ready; for the men are to dine with me at noon." ¹⁷  So the man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph's house. ¹⁸  Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys." ¹⁹  So they came near to Joseph's house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰  and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹  and it came about when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand. ²²  "We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks." ²³  He said, " Be at ease, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴  Then the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵  So they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat a meal there. ²⁶  When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him. ²⁷  Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, " Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?" ²⁸  They said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive." They bowed down in homage. ²⁹  As he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, " May God be gracious to you, my son." ³⁰  Joseph hurried out for he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought a place to weep; and he entered his chamber and wept there. ³¹  Then he washed his face and came out; and he controlled himself and said, "Serve the meal." ³²  So they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians. ³³  Now they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴  He took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank freely with him.