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Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.
Ezekiel 47:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes.
  • KJV And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
  • NKJV And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
  • NASB And 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.
  • NLT There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Wherever the river flows, swarming creatures live and fish abound; everything lives where the river comes. Life flourishes wherever God's life-giving presence reaches.

Overview

The healing waters bring teeming abundance, the once-dead sea now full of fish. The refrain 'everything shall live wherever the river comes' captures the vision's heart: God's presence gives life. This is fulfilled in Christ, in whom is life that overcomes death and gives life to all who receive Him (John 1:4; 5:21).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • John 7:37–38On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
  • John 6:63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
  • John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
  • Isa 55:1“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
  • Ps 78:16He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.
  • Eph 2:1–5And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
  • Zech 2:11“On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you.
  • Acts 2:47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
  • Acts 2:41Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.
  • Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
  • Isa 30:26The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
  • Isa 60:3–10Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
  • Isa 12:3With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,
  • Isa 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
  • Zech 8:21–23and the residents of one city will go to another, saying: ‘Let us go at once to plead before the LORD and to seek the LORD of Hosts. I myself am going.’
  • John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
  • John 14:19In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
  • John 5:25Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
  • John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
  • Exod 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
  • Ps 103:3He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
  • John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
  • 1 Cor 15:45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
  • Acts 5:14Yet more and more believers were brought to the Lord—large numbers of both men and women.
  • Acts 21:20When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
  • Acts 4:4But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
  • Acts 6:7So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 47:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.

How Ezekiel 47:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.