מים יוצאים
The river from the Temple
וַיְשִׁבֵנִי אֶל־פֶּתַח הַבַּיִת וְהִנֵּה־מַיִם יֹצְאִים מִתַּחַת מִפְתַּן הַבַּיִת קָדִימָה כִּי־פְנֵי הַבַּיִת קָדִים וְהַמַּיִם יֹרְדִים מִתַּחַת מִכֶּתֶף הַבַּיִת הַיְמָנִית מִנֶּגֶב לַמִּזְבֵּחַ׃
And he brought me back unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the forefront of the house looked toward the east; and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.
Every thousand cubits, deeper
Scroll, and walk into the water with the prophet.
1000 cubits east
To the ankles
When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.
Ezekiel 47:3, JPS 1917
2000 cubits east
To the knees
Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees.
Ezekiel 47:4, JPS 1917
3000 cubits east
To the loins
Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through waters that were to the loins.
Ezekiel 47:4, JPS 1917
4000 cubits east
A river to swim in
Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
Ezekiel 47:5, JPS 1917
Wherever it flows, life
The water reaches the Dead Sea and heals it. Fish return. Trees line both banks, bearing new fruit every month, their leaves for healing, ‘because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary’.
וְעַל־הַנַּחַל יַעֲלֶה עַל־שְׂפָתוֹ מִזֶּה וּמִזֶּה כָּל־עֵץ־מַאֲכָל לֹא־יִבּוֹל עָלֵהוּ וְלֹא־יִתֹּם פִּרְיוֹ לָחֳדָשָׁיו יְבַכֵּר כִּי מֵימָיו מִן־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הֵמָּה יוֹצְאִים והיו [וְהָיָה] פִרְיוֹ לְמַאֲכָל וְעָלֵהוּ לִתְרוּפָה׃
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail; it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for healing.’ .
Living waters
Zechariah sees living waters going out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western, summer and winter.
Water on the altar
The only water poured on the altar all year was on Sukkot, drawn from the Shiloach spring. Readers have long connected the festival's water with this vision; the connection is interpretive.