'Rivers' in the Bible

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.’”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and canals, over the pools [among the reeds], and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’”

‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat;

but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you.

Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus [in Aram], better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

“He does not look at the rivers,The flowing streams of honey and butter [to enjoy his wealth].

For He has founded it upon the seasAnd established it upon the streams and the rivers.

You broke open fountains and streams;You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]And caused waters to run down like rivers.

And turned their rivers into blood,And their streams, so that they could not drink.

“I will also set his hand on the [Mediterranean] sea,And his right hand on the rivers [the tributaries of the Euphrates].

Let the rivers clap their hands;Let the mountains sing together for joy and delight

He turns rivers into a wilderness,And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

By the rivers of Babylon,There we [captives] sat down and wept,When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

All the rivers flow into the sea,Yet the sea is not full.To the place where the rivers flow,There they flow again.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the land of whirring wingsWhich is beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia),

Which sends ambassadors by the sea,Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide.

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hostsFrom a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),From a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nation,Whose land the rivers divide—To the place [of worship] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

The canals will become foul-smelling,The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,The reeds and the rushes will rot away.

But there the mighty and magnificent Lord will be for usA place of broad rivers and streams,Where no oar-driven boat will go,And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.

‘I dug wells and drank [foreign] waters,And with the sole of my feet I dried upAll the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.’

“I will open rivers on the barren heightsAnd springs in the midst of the valleys;I will make the wilderness a reed-pool of waterAnd the dry land springs of water.

“I will lay waste the mountains and hillsAnd wither all their vegetation;I will turn the rivers into coastlandsAnd dry up the ponds.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched,Nor will the flame burn you.

“Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing,Now it will spring forth;Will you not be aware of it?I will even put a road in the wilderness,Rivers in the desert.

“The beasts of the field will honor Me,Jackals and ostriches,Because I have given waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the desert,To give drink to My people, My chosen.

“It is I who says to the deep, ‘Be dried up!’And I will make your rivers dry.

“Take millstones [as a female slave does] and grind meal;Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,Uncover the leg, cross the rivers [at the command of your captors].

“Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?When I called, why was there no one to answer?Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?Or have I no power to rescue?Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,I make the rivers into a desert;Their fish stink because there is no waterAnd die of thirst.

Egypt rises like the Nile,Even like the rivers whose waters surge about.And He has said, “I will rise, I will cover that land;I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

“I will put hooks in your jawsAnd [I will] make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales.And I will pull you up from the midst of your rivers,And all the fish of your rivers will stick to your scales.

“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried.I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.

‘The waters nourished it, the deep [underground waters] made it grow tall.Its rivers ran all around the place where it was planted,Sending out its streams to all the trees (other nations) of the field.

“Son of man, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,‘You have compared yourself to a young lion among the nations,But you are like a monster in the seas;You burst into your riversAnd disturbed and muddied the waters with your feetAnd fouled their rivers [the source of their prosperity].’”

“Then I will make their waters quiet and clear;I will make their rivers run [slowly and smoothly] like oil,”Says the Lord God.

Will the Lord be delighted with thousands of rams,Or with ten thousand rivers of oil?Shall I present my firstborn for my acts of rebellion,The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He rebukes the sea and dries it up;He dries up all the rivers [illustrating His judgment].Bashan [on the east] and [Mount] Carmel [on the west] wither,And [in the north] the blossoms of Lebanon fade.

The gates of the rivers [surrounding Nineveh] are openedAnd the palace [of sun-dried brick] is dissolved [by the torrents].

Are you better than Thebes,Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,With water surrounding her,Whose defense was the sea (the Nile),Whose wall consisted of the sea?

Did the Lord rage against the rivers,Or was Your anger against the rivers,Or was Your wrath against the [Red] Sea,That You rode on Your horses,On Your chariots of salvation?

Your bow was made bare;The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah (pause, calmly think of that).You split the earth with rivers [bringing waters to dry places].

“From beyond the rivers of EthiopiaMy worshipers, [the descendants of] My dispersed ones,Will bring My offerings.