“My love, among the young men you are like an apple tree among the trees of the forest. I’m happy to sit in your shade. Your fruit tastes so sweet to me.
I will make streams flow on the bare hilltops. I will make springs come up in the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water. I will turn the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.
They will not get hungry or thirsty. The heat from the desert sun will not beat down on them. The God who has tender love for them will guide them. Like a shepherd, he will lead them beside springs of water.
“My people have sinned twice. They have deserted me, even though I am the spring of water that gives life. And they have dug their own wells. But those wells are broken. They can’t hold any water.
Many creatures will live where the river flows. It will have many schools of fish. This water flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where the river flows everything will live.
“At that time a fountain will be opened for the benefit of David’s family line. It will also bless the others who live in Jerusalem. It will wash away their sins. It will make them pure and ‘clean.’
The Holy Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And the person who hears should say, “Come!” Anyone who is thirsty should come. Anyone who wants to take the free gift of the water of life should do so.
The Lamb, who is at the center of the area around the throne, will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water.’ (Isaiah 49:10) ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ” (Isaiah 25:8)