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Bible (Berean Standard)/Ezekiel

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Ezekiel’s Vision by the River Kebar

(Psalm 137:1–9)

In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD’s hand was upon him.

The Four Living Creatures

I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber, and within it was the form of four living creatures.

And this was their appearance: They had a human form, but each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings, and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.

The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle. Such were their faces.

Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.

In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.

The Four Wheels

When I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel. As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. So as the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose.

Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when the creatures stood still, the wheels stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

The Divine Glory

Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of an awesome expanse, gleaming like crystal. And under the expanse, their wings stretched out toward one another. Each one also had two wings covering its body.

When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army.

When they stood still, they lowered their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.

Above the expanse over their heads was the likeness of a throne with the appearance of sapphire, and on the throne high above was a figure like that of a man. From what seemed to be His waist up, I saw a gleam like amber, with what looked like fire within it all around. And from what seemed to be His waist down, I saw what looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded Him.

The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel’s Call

“Son of man, ” He said to me, “stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” And as He spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me. They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’

And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house. But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.

And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll, which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.

Ezekiel Eats the Scroll

(Revelation 10:1–11)

“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”

So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.”

So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unfamiliar speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel— not to the many peoples of unfamiliar speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.

But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

Behold, I will make your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. I will make your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed at their presence, even though they are a rebellious house.”

“Son of man,” He added, “listen carefully to all the words I speak to you, and take them to heart. Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me: ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His dwelling place!’ It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.

So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me. I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.

A Watchman for Israel

At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood. But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.

Then the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes, and you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

A Sign of Jerusalem’s Siege

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem. Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides. Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. For I have assigned to you 390 days, according to the number of years of their iniquity. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned to you 40 days, a day for each year. You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

Now behold, I will tie you up with ropes so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.

The Defiled Bread

But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side. You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.

You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times. And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”

Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”

“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”

“Look,” He replied, “I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you may bake your bread over that.”

Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

The Razor of Judgment

“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair. When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.

But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment. Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes worse than the countries around her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You have been more insubordinate than the nations around you; you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances, nor have you even conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’

Famine, Sword, and Dispersion

Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.

And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, in My zeal have spoken.

I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.

When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Judgment against Idolatry

(Deuteronomy 4:15–31; Deuteronomy 12:29–32)

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols. I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.

Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out. The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

A Remnant to Be Blessed

Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.

Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations. And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not declare in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.

This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague. He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them.

Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak—the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Hour of Doom

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel:

 * ‘The end! The end has come
 * upon the four corners of the land.
 * The end is now upon you,
 * and I will unleash My anger against you.
 * I will judge you according to your ways
 * and repay you for all your abominations.
 * I will not look on you with pity,
 * nor will I spare you,
 * but I will punish you for your ways
 * and for the abominations among you.

 * Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

 * This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Disaster! An unprecedented disaster —
 * behold, it is coming!
 * The end has come!
 * The end has come!
 * It has roused itself against you.
 * Behold, it has come!
 * Doom has come to you,
 * O inhabitants of the land.
 * The time has come;
 * the day is near;
 * there is panic on the mountains
 * instead of shouts of joy.

 * Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you
 * and vent My anger against you;
 * I will judge you according to your ways
 * and repay you for all your abominations.
 * I will not look on you with pity,
 * nor will I spare you,
 * but I will punish you for your ways
 * and for the abominations among you.
 * Then you will know that it is I, the LORD,
 * who strikes the blow.

 * Behold, the day is here!
 * It has come!
 * Doom has gone out,
 * the rod has budded,
 * arrogance has bloomed.
 * Their violence has grown into a rod
 * to punish their wickedness.
 * None of them will remain:
 * none of their multitude,
 * none of their wealth,
 * and nothing of value.

 * The time has come;
 * the day has arrived.
 * Let the buyer not rejoice
 * and the seller not mourn,
 * for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
 * The seller will surely not recover what he sold
 * while both remain alive.
 * For the vision concerning the whole multitude
 * will not be revoked,
 * and because of their iniquity,
 * not one of them will preserve his life.

The Desolation of Israel

 * They have blown the trumpet
 * and made everything ready,
 * but no one goes to war,
 * for My wrath is upon the whole multitude.
 * The sword is outside;
 * plague and famine are within.
 * Those in the country will die by the sword,
 * and those in the city will be devoured
 * by famine and plague.

 * The survivors will escape
 * and live in the mountains,
 * moaning like doves of the valley,
 * each for his own iniquity.
 * Every hand will go limp,
 * and every knee will turn to water.
 * They will put on sackcloth,
 * and terror will overwhelm them.
 * Shame will cover all their faces,
 * and all their heads will be shaved.

 * They will throw their silver into the streets,
 * and their gold will seem unclean.
 * Their silver and gold cannot save them
 * in the day of the wrath of the LORD.
 * They cannot satisfy their appetites
 * or fill their stomachs with wealth,
 * for it became the stumbling block
 * that brought their iniquity.

 * His beautiful ornaments
 * they transformed into pride
 * and used them to fashion
 * their vile images and detestable idols.
 * Therefore I will make these
 * into something unclean for them.
 * And I will hand these things over
 * as plunder to foreigners
 * and loot to the wicked of the earth,
 * who will defile them.
 * I will turn My face away from them,
 * and they will defile My treasured place.
 * Violent men will enter it,
 * and they will defile it.

 * Forge the chain,
 * for the land is full of crimes of bloodshed,
 * and the city is full of violence.
 * So I will bring the most wicked of nations
 * to take possession of their houses.
 * I will end the pride of the mighty,
 * and their holy places will be profaned.

 * Anguish is coming!
 * They will seek peace, but find none.
 * Disaster upon disaster will come,
 * and rumor after rumor.
 * Then they will seek a vision from a prophet,
 * but instruction from the priests will perish,
 * as will counsel from the elders.
 * The king will mourn,
 * the prince will be clothed with despair,
 * and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
 * I will deal with them according to their conduct,
 * and I will judge them by their own standards.

 * Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Vision of Idolatry in the Temple

In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain. “Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.”

So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”

Then He brought me to the entrance to the court, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.

“Son of man,” He told me, “dig through the wall.”

So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.

Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”

So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel. Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Again, He told me, “You will see them committing even greater abominations.”

Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”

So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

Execution of the Idolaters

Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”

And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone! Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.”

So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!”

So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”

He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’ But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded.”

God’s Glory Exits the Temple

And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire. And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

Now when the man went in, the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand and took some of the fire that was among them. And he put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who received it and went out. (The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings.)

Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone. As for their appearance, all four had the same form, like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. For wherever the head faced, the cherubim would go in that direction, without turning as they moved.

Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.”

Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar. When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and even when they spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not veer away from their side. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels also stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings. Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.

Evil in High Places

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city. They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man!”

And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds. You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it. You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD. I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you. You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

A Promise of Restoration

(Jeremiah 32:36–44)

Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone.’

Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’

When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem

Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.

And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me, I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Signs of the Coming Captivity

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Therefore, son of man, pack your bags for exile. In broad daylight, set out from your place and go to another as they watch. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. Bring out your baggage for exile by day, as they watch. Then in the evening, as they watch, go out like those who go into exile.

As they watch, dig through the wall and carry your belongings out through it. And as they watch, lift your bags to your shoulder and take them out at dusk; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my bags for exile by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall by hand. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulder as they watched.

And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’ Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are there.’

You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here, so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives. And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land. But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.

And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them. And they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it. The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Presumptuous Proverb

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel:

 * ‘The days go by,
 * and every vision fails’?

Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will put an end to this proverb, and in Israel they will no longer recite it.’

But say to them: ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel, because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’

Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Reproof of False Prophets

(Micah 2:6–11)

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing. Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.

They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it— those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’

Reproof of False Prophetesses

Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own? You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds. I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives, therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

(Romans 14:13–23; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13)

Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?

Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry, so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations. For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer will be the same as that of the prophet— in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Four Dire Judgments

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast, then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.

Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered.

Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast, then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves.

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?

Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it. They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Jerusalem the Useless Vine

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?

No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.

Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Jerusalem’s Unfaithfulness

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.

Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck. I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.

So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen. Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking. You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!

You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself. You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them. And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you—the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.

You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.

And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness, you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square. At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by. You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.

Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct. Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied. So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants—but even with this you were not satisfied!

How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute! But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband! Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!

Judgment on Jerusalem

Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women.

I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers. So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.

Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?

Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you:

 * ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south. And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.

As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done. Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.

Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous. So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them. So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state. Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

The Covenant Remembered

For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”

The Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

(Matthew 13:24–30)

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
 * full of feathers of many colors,
 * came to Lebanon
 * and took away the top of the cedar.
 * He plucked off its topmost shoot,
 * carried it to the land of merchants,
 * and planted it in a city of traders.
 * He took some of the seed of the land
 * and planted it in fertile soil;
 * he placed it by abundant waters
 * and set it out like a willow.
 * It sprouted and became a spreading vine,
 * low in height, with branches turned toward him;
 * yet its roots remained where it stood.
 * So it became a vine and yielded branches
 * and sent out shoots.

 * But there was another great eagle
 * with great wings and many feathers.
 * And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him.
 * It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed,
 * so that he might water it.
 * It had been planted in good soil
 * by abundant waters
 * in order to yield branches and bear fruit
 * and become a splendid vine.’

So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Will it flourish?
 * Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit
 * so that it shrivels?
 * All its foliage will wither!
 * It will not take a strong arm or many people
 * to pull it up by its roots.
 * Even if it is transplanted,
 * will it flourish?
 * Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes?
 * It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

The Parable Explained

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’

Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.

But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’

‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke. I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’

This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar,
 * and I will set it out.
 * I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots,
 * and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
 * I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel
 * so that it will bear branches;
 * it will yield fruit
 * and become a majestic cedar.
 * Birds of every kind will nest under it,
 * taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

 * Then all the trees of the field will know
 * that I am the LORD.
 * I bring the tall tree down
 * and make the low tree tall.
 * I dry up the green tree
 * and make the withered tree flourish.
 * I, the LORD, have spoken,
 * and I have done it.’”

The Soul Who Sins Will Die

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

 * ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
 * and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?

As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:

 * He does not eat at the mountain
 * or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
 * He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
 * or approach a woman during her period.
 * He does not oppress another,
 * but restores the pledge to the debtor.
 * He does not commit robbery,
 * but gives his bread to the hungry
 * and covers the naked with clothing.
 * He does not engage in usury
 * or take excess interest,
 * but he withholds his hand from iniquity
 * and executes true justice between men.
 * He follows My statutes
 * and faithfully keeps My ordinances.
 * That man is righteous;
 * surely he will live,

declares the Lord GOD.

Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things, though the father has done none of them:

 * Indeed, the son eats at the mountain
 * and defiles his neighbor’s wife.
 * He oppresses the poor and needy;
 * he commits robbery
 * and does not restore a pledge.
 * He lifts his eyes to idols;
 * he commits abominations.
 * He engages in usury
 * and takes excess interest.

Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:

 * He does not eat at the mountain
 * or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
 * He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
 * He does not oppress another,
 * or retain a pledge, or commit robbery.
 * He gives his bread to the hungry
 * and covers the naked with clothing.
 * He withholds his hand from harming the poor
 * and takes no interest or usury.
 * He keeps My ordinances
 * and follows My statutes.

Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live.

As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

Yet you may ask, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of his father?’

Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will surely live.

The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’

Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’

Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel and say:

 * ‘What was your mother?
 * A lioness among the lions!
 * She lay down among the young lions;
 * she reared her cubs.
 * She brought up one of her cubs,
 * and he became a young lion.
 * After learning to tear his prey,
 * he devoured men.
 * When the nations heard of him,
 * he was trapped in their pit.
 * With hooks they led him away
 * to the land of Egypt.

 * When she saw that she had waited in vain,
 * that her hope was lost,
 * she took another of her cubs
 * and made him a young lion.
 * He prowled among the lions,
 * and became a young lion.
 * After learning to tear his prey,
 * he devoured men.
 * He broke down their strongholds
 * and devastated their cities.
 * The land and everything in it
 * shuddered at the sound of his roaring.

 * Then the nations set out against him
 * from the provinces on every side.
 * They spread their net over him;
 * he was trapped in their pit.
 * With hooks they caged him
 * and brought him to the king of Babylon.
 * They brought him into captivity
 * so that his roar was heard no longer
 * on the mountains of Israel.

 * Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
 * planted by the water;
 * it was fruitful and full of branches
 * because of the abundant waters.
 * It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter.
 * It towered high above the thick branches,
 * conspicuous for its height
 * and for its dense foliage.

 * But it was uprooted in fury,
 * cast down to the ground,
 * and the east wind dried up its fruit.
 * Its strong branches were stripped off
 * and they withered;
 * the fire consumed them.

 * Now it is planted in the wilderness,
 * in a dry and thirsty land.
 * Fire has gone out from its main branch
 * and devoured its fruit;
 * on it no strong branch remains
 * fit for a ruler’s scepter.’

This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”

Israel’s Rebellion in Egypt

In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Have you come to inquire of Me? As surely as I live, I will not be consulted by you, declares the Lord GOD.

Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.’

On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Israel’s Rebellion in the Wilderness

So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them. I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness. But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands— because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols. Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.

In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.

I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.

Israel’s Rebellion in the Land

Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me. When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings. So I asked them: ‘What is this high place to which you go?’

(And to this day it is called Bamah. )

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

Judgment and Restoration

As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.

When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I swore to give your fathers.

There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done. Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.”

A Prophecy against the South

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev. Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched. Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”

God’s Sword of Judgment

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:

 * ‘A sword, a sword,
 * sharpened and polished—
 * it is sharpened for the slaughter,
 * polished to flash like lightning!
 * Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son?
 * The sword despises every such stick.
 * The sword is appointed to be polished,
 * to be grasped in the hand.
 * It is sharpened and polished,
 * to be placed in the hand of the slayer.

 * Cry out and wail,
 * O son of man,
 * for the sword is wielded against My people;
 * it is against all the princes of Israel!
 * They are tossed to the sword with My people;
 * therefore strike your thigh.
 * Surely testing will come!
 * And what if even the scepter,
 * which the sword despises,
 * does not continue?’

declares the Lord GOD.
 * ‘So then, son of man,
 * prophesy and strike your hands together.
 * Let the sword strike two times,
 * even three.
 * It is a sword that slays,
 * a sword of great slaughter
 * closing in on every side!

 * So that their hearts may melt
 * and many may stumble,
 * I have appointed at all their gates
 * a sword for slaughter.
 * Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning;
 * it is drawn for slaughter.
 * Slash to the right;
 * set your blade to the left—
 * wherever your blade is directed.

 * I too will strike My hands together,
 * and I will satisfy My wrath.’

I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city. Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall. It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds—because you have come to remembrance—you shall be taken in hand.

 * And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,
 * the day has come for your final punishment.’

This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Remove the turban,
 * and take off the crown.
 * Things will not remain as they are:
 * Exalt the lowly
 * and bring low the exalted.
 * A ruin, a ruin,
 * I will make it a ruin!
 * And it will not be restored
 * until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs,
 * to whom I have assigned the right of judgment. ’

Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt:

 * ‘A sword! A sword
 * is drawn for slaughter,
 * polished to consume,
 * to flash like lightning—
 * while they offer false visions for you
 * and lying divinations about you—
 * to be placed on the necks
 * of the wicked who are slain,
 * whose day has come,
 * the time of their final punishment.

 * Return the sword to its sheath!

 * In the place where you were created,
 * in the land of your origin,
 * I will judge you.
 * I will pour out My anger upon you;
 * I will breathe the fire of My fury against you;
 * I will hand you over to brutal men,
 * skilled in destruction.
 * You will be fuel for the fire.
 * Your blood will stain your own land.
 * You will not be remembered,
 * for I, the LORD, have spoken.’”

The Sins of Jerusalem

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.

See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.

In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity. One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act. I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Refining Furnace

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

The Two Adulterous Sisters

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother, and they played in Egypt, prostituting themselves from their youth. Their breasts were fondled there, and their virgin bosoms caressed. The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all desirable young men, horsemen mounted on steeds. She offered sexual favors to all the elite of Assyria. She defiled herself with all the idols of those for whom she lusted.

She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her. Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted. They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and put her to the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment against her.

Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men. And I saw that she too had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path.

But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. At the sight of them, she lusted for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.

When Oholibah openly prostituted herself and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.

Oholibah to Be Plagued

Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side— the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses.

They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will punish you according to their own standards. And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire. They will strip off your clothes and take your fine jewelry. So I will put an end to your indecency and prostitution, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust. They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity have brought these things upon you, because you have prostituted yourself with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’

This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘You will drink your sister’s cup,
 * a cup deep and wide.
 * It will bring scorn and derision,
 * for it holds so much.
 * You will be filled with drunkenness and grief,
 * with a cup of devastation and desolation,
 * the cup of your sister Samaria.
 * You will drink it and drain it;
 * you will dash it to pieces,
 * and tear your breasts.
 * For I have spoken,’

declares the Lord GOD.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”

Judgment on Both Sisters

Then the LORD said to me: “Son of man, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.

They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths. On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry. You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil, accompanied by the sound of a carefree crowd. Drunkards were brought in from the desert along with men from the rabble, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your head.

Then I said of her who had grown old in adulteries: ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is!’

And they slept with her as with a prostitute; they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, those lewd women. But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Bring a mob against them and consign them to terror and plunder. The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your behavior. They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”

The Parable of the Cooking Pot

In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, write down today’s date, for on this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Put the pot on the fire;
 * put it on and pour in the water.
 * Put in the pieces of meat,
 * every good piece—
 * thigh and shoulder—
 * fill it with choice bones.
 * Take the choicest of the flock
 * and pile the fuel beneath it.
 * Bring it to a boil
 * and cook the bones in it.’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed,
 * to the pot now rusted,
 * whose rust will not come off!
 * Empty it piece by piece;
 * cast no lots for its contents.
 * For the blood she shed is still within her;
 * she poured it out on the bare rock;
 * she did not pour it on the ground
 * to cover it with dust.
 * In order to stir up wrath
 * and take vengeance,
 * I have placed her blood on the bare rock,
 * so that it would not be covered.’

Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!
 * I, too, will pile the kindling high.
 * Pile on the logs and kindle the fire;
 * cook the meat well
 * and mix in the spices;
 * let the bones be burned.
 * Set the empty pot on its coals
 * until it becomes hot and its copper glows.
 * Then its impurity will melt within;
 * its rust will be consumed.
 * It has frustrated every effort;
 * its thick rust has not been removed,
 * even by the fire.
 * Because of the indecency of your uncleanness
 * I tried to cleanse you,
 * but you would not be purified
 * from your filthiness.
 * You will not be pure again
 * until My wrath against you has subsided.
 * I, the LORD, have spoken;
 * the time is coming, and I will act.
 * I will not refrain or show pity,
 * nor will I relent.
 * I will judge you
 * according to your ways and deeds,’

declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And the next morning I did as I had been commanded.

Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?”

So I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying: Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’

Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners. Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.

‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign for you; you will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’

And you, son of man, know that on the day I take away their stronghold, their pride and joy—the desire of their eyes which uplifted their souls—and their sons and daughters as well, on that day a fugitive will come and tell you the news. On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.”

A Prophecy against Ammon

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Tell the Ammonites to hear the word of the Lord GOD, for this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you exclaimed, “Aha!” when My sanctuary was profaned, when the land of Israel was laid waste, and when the house of Judah went into exile, therefore I will indeed give you as a possession to the people of the East. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt, therefore I will indeed stretch out My hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.’

A Prophecy against Moab

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,” therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land. I will give it along with the Ammonites as a possession to the people of the East, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.’

A Prophecy against Edom

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt, therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.’

A Prophecy against the Philistines

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility, therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast. I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’”

A Prophecy against Tyre

(Isaiah 23:1–18)

In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken; it has swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will be filled,’ therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, O Tyre, I am against you, and I will raise up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and make her a bare rock. She will become a place to spread nets in the sea, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. She will become plunder for the nations, and the villages on her mainland will be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with cavalry and a great company of troops. He will slaughter the villages of your mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp to your walls, and raise his shields against you. He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes. His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust.

When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots. The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. They will plunder your wealth and pillage your merchandise. They will demolish your walls, tear down your beautiful homes, and throw your stones and timber and soil into the water.

So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard. I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread the fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.’

This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?

All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you. Then they will lament for you, saying,

 * “How you have perished, O city of renown
 * inhabited by seafaring men—
 * she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people,
 * who imposed terror on all peoples!
 * Now the coastlands tremble
 * on the day of your downfall;
 * the islands in the sea
 * are dismayed by your demise.”’

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city like other deserted cities, and when I raise up the deep against you so that the mighty waters cover you, then I will bring you down with those who descend to the Pit, to the people of antiquity. I will make you dwell in the earth below like the ancient ruins, with those who descend to the Pit, so that you will no longer be inhabited or set in splendor in the land of the living. I will make you an object of horror, and you will be no more. You will be sought, but will never be found,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

A Lament for Tyre

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre. Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * You have said, O Tyre,
 * ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
 * Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
 * your builders perfected your beauty.
 * They constructed all your planking
 * with cypress from Senir.
 * They took a cedar from Lebanon
 * to make a mast for you.
 * Of oaks from Bashan
 * they made your oars;
 * of wood from the coasts of Cyprus
 * they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
 * Of embroidered fine linen from Egypt
 * they made your sail,
 * which served as your banner.
 * Of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah
 * they made your awning.

 * The men of Sidon and Arvad
 * were your oarsmen.
 * Your men of skill, O Tyre,
 * were there as your captains.
 * The elders of Gebal were aboard as shipwrights,
 * repairing your leaks.
 * All the ships of the sea and their sailors
 * came alongside to barter for your merchandise.

 * Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put
 * served as warriors in your army.
 * They hung their shields and helmets on your walls;
 * they gave you splendor.
 * Men of Arvad and Helech
 * manned your walls all around,
 * and the men of Gammad
 * were in your towers.
 * They hung their shields around your walls;
 * they perfected your beauty.

 * Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares.

 * Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. They exchanged slaves and bronze utensils for your merchandise.

 * The men of Beth-togarmah exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares.

 * The men of Dedan were your clients; many coastlands were your market; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.

 * Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.

 * Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith, cakes and honey, oil and balm for your merchandise.

 * Because of your many products and your great wealth of goods, Damascus traded with you wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar,

and casks of wine from Izal for your wares. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were exchanged for your merchandise.

 * Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for riding.

 * Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers, trading in lambs, rams, and goats.

 * The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.

 * Haran, Canneh, and Eden traded with you, and so did the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.

In your marketplace they traded with you fine garments of blue, embroidered work, and multicolored rugs with cords tightly twisted and knotted.

 * The ships of Tarshish
 * carried your merchandise.
 * And you were filled with heavy cargo
 * in the heart of the sea.
 * Your oarsmen have brought you
 * onto the high seas,
 * but the east wind will shatter you
 * in the heart of the sea.
 * Your wealth, wares, and merchandise,
 * your sailors, captains, and shipwrights,
 * your merchants and all the warriors within you,
 * with all the other people on board,
 * will sink into the heart of the sea
 * on the day of your downfall.

 * The countryside will shake
 * when your sailors cry out.
 * All who handle the oars
 * will abandon their ships.
 * The sailors and all the captains of the sea
 * will stand on the shore.
 * They will raise their voices for you
 * and cry out bitterly.
 * They will throw dust on their heads
 * and roll in ashes.
 * They will shave their heads for you
 * and wrap themselves in sackcloth.
 * They will weep over you
 * with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.

 * As they wail and mourn over you,
 * they will take up a lament for you:

 * ‘Who was ever like Tyre,
 * silenced in the middle of the sea?
 * When your wares went out to sea,
 * you satisfied many nations.
 * You enriched the kings of the earth
 * with your abundant wealth and merchandise.
 * Now you are shattered by the seas
 * in the depths of the waters;
 * your merchandise and the people among you
 * have gone down with you.
 * All the people of the coastlands
 * are appalled over you.
 * Their kings shudder with fear;
 * their faces are contorted.
 * Those who trade among the nations
 * hiss at you;
 * you have come to a horrible end
 * and will be no more.’”

A Prophecy against the Ruler of Tyre

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * Your heart is proud,
 * and you have said,
 * ‘I am a god;
 * I sit in the seat of gods
 * in the heart of the sea.’
 * Yet you are a man and not a god,
 * though you have regarded your heart
 * as that of a god.

 * Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
 * no secret is hidden from you!
 * By your wisdom and understanding
 * you have gained your wealth
 * and amassed gold and silver
 * for your treasuries.
 * By your great skill in trading
 * you have increased your wealth,
 * but your heart has grown proud
 * because of it.

 * Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * Because you regard your heart
 * as the heart of a god,
 * behold, I will bring foreigners against you,
 * the most ruthless of nations.
 * They will draw their swords
 * against the beauty of your wisdom
 * and will defile your splendor.
 * They will bring you down to the Pit,
 * and you will die a violent death
 * in the heart of the seas.

 * Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
 * in the presence of those who slay you?
 * You will be only a man, not a god,
 * in the hands of those who wound you.
 * You will die the death of the uncircumcised
 * at the hands of foreigners.

 * For I have spoken,

declares the Lord GOD.”

A Lament for the King of Tyre

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘You were the seal of perfection,
 * full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
 * You were in Eden,
 * the garden of God.
 * Every kind of precious stone adorned you:
 * ruby, topaz, and diamond,
 * beryl, onyx, and jasper,
 * sapphire, turquoise, and emerald.
 * Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold,
 * prepared on the day of your creation.

 * You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
 * for I had ordained you.
 * You were on the holy mountain of God;
 * you walked among the fiery stones.
 * From the day you were created
 * you were blameless in your ways—
 * until wickedness was found in you.

 * By the vastness of your trade,
 * you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
 * So I drove you in disgrace
 * from the mountain of God,
 * and I banished you, O guardian cherub,
 * from among the fiery stones.
 * Your heart grew proud of your beauty;
 * you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor;
 * so I cast you to the earth;
 * I made you a spectacle before kings.

 * By the multitude of your iniquities
 * and the dishonesty of your trading
 * you have profaned your sanctuaries.
 * So I made fire come from within you,
 * and it consumed you.
 * I reduced you to ashes on the ground
 * in the eyes of all who saw you.
 * All the nations who know you
 * are appalled over you.
 * You have come to a horrible end
 * and will be no more.’”

A Prophecy against Sidon

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her. And you are to declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,
 * and I will be glorified within you.
 * They will know that I am the LORD
 * when I execute judgments against her
 * and demonstrate My holiness through her.
 * I will send a plague against her
 * and shed blood in her streets;
 * the slain will fall within her,
 * while the sword is against her on every side.

 * Then they will know that I am the LORD.

For the people of Israel will no longer face a pricking brier or a painful thorn from all around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.’

The Restoration of Israel

(Jeremiah 30:1–17)

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations.

Then they will dwell in their own land, which I have given to My servant Jacob. And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’”

A Prophecy against Pharaoh

In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * Behold, I am against you,
 * O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
 * O great monster who lies
 * among his rivers,
 * who says, ‘The Nile is mine;
 * I made it myself.’

 * But I will put hooks in your jaws
 * and cause the fish of your streams
 * to cling to your scales.
 * I will haul you up out of your rivers,
 * and all the fish of your streams
 * will cling to your scales.
 * I will leave you in the desert,
 * you and all the fish of your streams.
 * You will fall on the open field
 * and will not be taken away
 * or gathered for burial.
 * I have given you as food
 * to the beasts of the earth
 * and the birds of the air.
 * Then all the people of Egypt
 * will know that I am the LORD.

 * For you were only a staff of reeds
 * to the house of Israel.
 * When Israel took hold of you with their hands,
 * you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;
 * when they leaned on you,
 * you broke, and their backs were wrenched.

The Desolation of Egypt

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast. The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’ therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush. No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.

I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations. Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.”

Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar

In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD.

In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

A Lament for Egypt

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * Wail, ‘Alas
 * for that day!’
 * For the day is near,
 * the Day of the LORD is near.
 * It will be a day of clouds,
 * a time of doom for the nations.

 * A sword will come against Egypt,
 * and there will be anguish in Cush
 * when the slain fall in Egypt,
 * its wealth is taken away,
 * and its foundations are torn down.
 * Cush, Put, and Lud,
 * and all the various peoples,
 * as well as Libya and the men of the covenant land,
 * will fall with Egypt by the sword.

 * For this is what the LORD says:

 * The allies of Egypt will fall,
 * and her proud strength will collapse.
 * From Migdol to Syene
 * they will fall by the sword within her,

declares the Lord GOD.
 * They will be desolate among desolate lands,
 * and their cities will lie among ruined cities.

 * Then they will know that I am the LORD
 * when I set fire to Egypt
 * and all her helpers are shattered.

 * On that day messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten Cush out of complacency. Anguish will come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom. For it is indeed coming.

 * This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt
 * by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
 * He and his people with him,
 * the most ruthless of the nations,
 * will be brought in to destroy the land.
 * They will draw their swords against Egypt
 * and fill the land with the slain.
 * I will make the streams dry up
 * and sell the land to the wicked.
 * By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation
 * upon the land and everything in it.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

 * This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * I will destroy the idols
 * and put an end to the images in Memphis.
 * There will no longer be a prince in Egypt,
 * and I will instill fear in that land.

 * I will lay waste Pathros,
 * set fire to Zoan,
 * and execute judgment on Thebes.
 * I will pour out My wrath on Pelusium,
 * the stronghold of Egypt,
 * and cut off the crowds of Thebes.
 * I will set fire to Egypt,
 * Pelusium will writhe in anguish,
 * Thebes will be split open,
 * and Memphis will face daily distress.

 * The young men of On and Pi-beseth
 * will fall by the sword,
 * and those cities will go into captivity.
 * The day will be darkened in Tahpanhes
 * when I break the yoke of Egypt
 * and her proud strength comes to an end.
 * A cloud will cover her,
 * and her daughters will go into captivity.

 * So I will execute judgment on Egypt,
 * and they will know that I am the LORD.”

Pharaoh’s Power Broken

In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break his arms, both the strong one and the one already broken, and will make the sword fall from his hand. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.

I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king, but Pharaoh’s arms will fall limp.

Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I place My sword in the hand of Babylon’s king, and he wields it against the land of Egypt. I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Egypt Will Fall like Assyria

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:

 * ‘Who can be compared
 * to your greatness?
 * Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon,
 * with beautiful branches that shaded the forest.
 * It towered on high;
 * its top was among the clouds.
 * The waters made it grow;
 * the deep springs made it tall,
 * directing their streams all around its base
 * and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.

 * Therefore it towered higher
 * than all the trees of the field.
 * Its branches multiplied,
 * and its boughs grew long
 * as it spread them out
 * because of the abundant waters.
 * All the birds of the air
 * nested in its branches,
 * and all the beasts of the field
 * gave birth beneath its boughs;
 * all the great nations
 * lived in its shade.

 * It was beautiful in its greatness,
 * in the length of its limbs,
 * for its roots extended
 * to abundant waters.
 * The cedars in the garden of God
 * could not rival it;
 * the cypresses could not compare with its branches,
 * nor the plane trees match its boughs.
 * No tree in the garden of God
 * could compare with its beauty.
 * I made it beautiful with its many branches,
 * the envy of all the trees of Eden,
 * which were in the garden of God.’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it.

Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.

All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs. This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit.

Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.

Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”

A Lament for Pharaoh King of Egypt

In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

 * ‘You are like a lion among the nations;
 * you are like a monster in the seas.
 * You thrash about in your rivers,
 * churning up the waters with your feet
 * and muddying the streams.’

 * This is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘I will spread My net over you
 * with a company of many peoples,
 * and they will draw you up in My net.
 * I will abandon you on the land
 * and hurl you into the open field.
 * I will cause all the birds of the air
 * to settle upon you,
 * and all the beasts of the earth
 * to eat their fill of you.
 * I will put your flesh on the mountains
 * and fill the valleys with your remains.
 * I will drench the land
 * with the flow of your blood,
 * all the way to the mountains—
 * the ravines will be filled.

 * When I extinguish you,
 * I will cover the heavens
 * and darken their stars.
 * I will cover the sun with a cloud,
 * and the moon will not give its light.
 * All the shining lights in the heavens
 * I will darken over you,
 * and I will bring darkness
 * upon your land,’

declares the Lord GOD.
 * ‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,
 * when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
 * in countries you do not know.
 * I will cause many peoples
 * to be appalled over you,
 * and their kings will shudder in horror because of you
 * when I brandish My sword before them.
 * On the day of your downfall
 * each of them will tremble
 * every moment for his life.’

 * For this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * ‘The sword of the king of Babylon
 * will come against you!
 * I will make your hordes fall
 * by the swords of the mighty,
 * the most ruthless of all nations.
 * They will ravage the pride of Egypt
 * and all her multitudes will be destroyed.
 * I will slaughter all her cattle
 * beside the abundant waters.
 * No human foot will muddy them again,
 * and no cattle hooves will disturb them.
 * Then I will let her waters settle
 * and will make her rivers flow like oil,’

declares the Lord GOD.
 * ‘When I make the land of Egypt a desolation
 * and empty it of all that filled it,
 * when I strike down all who live there,
 * then they will know that I am the LORD.’

This is the lament they will chant for her; the daughters of the nations will chant it. Over Egypt and all her multitudes they will chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”

Egypt Cast into the Pit

In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:

 * Whom do you surpass in beauty?
 * Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
 * They will fall among those slain by the sword.
 * The sword is appointed!
 * Let them drag her away
 * along with all her multitudes.

 * Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol
 * about Egypt and her allies:
 * ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised,
 * with those slain by the sword.’

 * Assyria is there with her whole company;
 * her graves are all around her.
 * All of them are slain,
 * fallen by the sword.
 * Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit,
 * and her company is all around her grave.
 * All of them are slain,
 * fallen by the sword—
 * those who once spread terror
 * in the land of the living.

 * Elam is there
 * with all her multitudes around her grave.
 * All of them are slain,
 * fallen by the sword—
 * those who went down uncircumcised
 * to the earth below,
 * who once spread their terror
 * in the land of the living.
 * They bear their disgrace
 * with those who descend to the Pit.
 * Among the slain they prepare
 * a resting place for Elam
 * with all her hordes,
 * with her graves all around her.
 * All of them are uncircumcised,
 * slain by the sword,
 * although their terror was once spread
 * in the land of the living.
 * They bear their disgrace
 * with those who descend to the Pit.
 * They are placed among the slain.

 * Meshech and Tubal are there
 * with all their multitudes,
 * with their graves all around them.
 * All of them are uncircumcised,
 * slain by the sword,
 * because they spread their terror
 * in the land of the living.
 * They do not lie down
 * with the fallen warriors of old,
 * who went down to Sheol
 * with their weapons of war,
 * whose swords were placed under their heads,
 * whose shields rested on their bones,
 * although the terror of the mighty
 * was once in the land of the living.
 * But you too will be shattered
 * and lie down among the uncircumcised,
 * with those slain by the sword.

 * Edom is there,
 * and all her kings and princes,
 * who despite their might
 * are laid among those slain by the sword.
 * They lie down with the uncircumcised,
 * with those who descend to the Pit.

 * All the leaders of the north
 * and all the Sidonians are there;
 * they went down in disgrace with the slain,
 * despite the terror of their might.
 * They lie uncircumcised
 * with those slain by the sword
 * and bear their shame
 * with those who descend to the Pit.

 * Pharaoh will see them
 * and be comforted over all his multitude—
 * Pharaoh and all his army,
 * slain by the sword,

declares the Lord GOD.
 * For I will spread My terror
 * in the land of the living,
 * so that Pharaoh and all his multitude
 * will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,
 * with those slain by the sword,

declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel the Watchman for Israel

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.

Then if anyone hears the sound of the horn but fails to heed the warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’

As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them the warning from Me. If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

The Message of the Watchman

Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’

Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’

If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity—then he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.

Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Fall

In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”

Now the evening before the fugitive arrived, the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’

Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You have relied on your swords, you have committed detestable acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’

Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague. I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’

As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!’

So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice. So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts. My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!’

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’

The Good Shepherd

(Psalm 23:1–6; John 10:1–21)

For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock.

I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

I will tend My flock and make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’

This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink the clear waters? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Why must My flock feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied?’

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

The Covenant of Peace

I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season—showers of blessing. The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them.

They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.

And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD.

‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

A Prophecy against Mount Seir

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says:

 * Behold, I am against you,
 * O Mount Seir.
 * I will stretch out My hand against you
 * and make you a desolate waste.
 * I will turn your cities into ruins,
 * and you will become a desolation.

 * Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment, therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go. I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there, therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’ You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!

This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

A Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD.

This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.

Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own. But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home.

For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Yes, I will cause My people Israel to walk upon you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children.

For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,’ therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD. I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”

A New Heart and a New Spirit

(Romans 8:9–11; Galatians 5:16–26)

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds. And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.

For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you. I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.

Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!

This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through. Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’

Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.

This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. He led me all around among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, and indeed, they were very dry.

Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?”

“O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.”

And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath within you so that you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As I looked on, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”

So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

One Nation with One King

Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, take a single stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Judah and to the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick and write on it: ‘Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and to all the house of Israel associated with him.’ Then join them together into one stick, so that they become one in your hand.

When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’ you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’

When the sticks on which you write are in your hand and in full view of the people, you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the Israelites out of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations and will never again be divided into two kingdoms.

They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.

They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”

A Prophecy against Gog

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets, as well as Gomer with all its troops, and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard. After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely. You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a tranquil people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates— in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will ask, ‘Have you come to capture the plunder? Have you assembled your hordes to carry away loot, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’

Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord GOD says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this? And you will come from your place out of the far north—you and many peoples with you, all riding horses—a mighty horde, a huge army. You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.

This is what the Lord GOD says: Are you the one of whom I have spoken in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those times prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up.

In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.

And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

The Slaughter of Gog’s Armies

“As for you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand.

On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.

I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD. So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken.

Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.

And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day I display My glory, declares the Lord GOD.

And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Even the city will be named Hamonah. ) And so they will cleanse the land.

And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals of Bashan. At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk. And at My table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and warriors of every kind,’ declares the Lord GOD.

Israel to Be Restored

I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

The Man with a Measuring Rod

(Zechariah 2:1–5)

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there. In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. “Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate

And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.

Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep. Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep. Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside; it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.

There were three gate chambers on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the gateposts on either side also had the same measurements. And he measured the width of the gateway entrance to be ten cubits, and its length was thirteen cubits.

In front of each gate chamber was a wall one cubit high, and the gate chambers were six cubits square. Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway.

Next he measured the gateposts to be sixty cubits high. The gateway extended around to the gatepost of the courtyard. And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.

The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees.

The Outer Court

Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement, which flanked the gateways and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.

The North Gate

He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer court facing north. Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.

There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits.

The South Gate

Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side.

The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits.

The Gates of the Inner Court

Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. (The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep. ) Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it.

And he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, as did its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico. It also had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it.

Eight Tables for Sacrifices

There was a chamber with a doorway by the portico in each of the inner gateways. There the burnt offering was to be washed. Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.

Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico. So there were four tables inside the gateway and four outside—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered.

There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.

The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables.

Chambers for Ministry

Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north.

Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.”

The Inner Court

Next he measured the court. It was square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.

Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side. The portico was twenty cubits wide and twelve cubits deep, and ten steps led up to it. There were columns by the side pillars, one on each side.

Inside the Temple

Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side. The width of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. He also measured the length of the outer sanctuary to be forty cubits, and the width to be twenty cubits.

And he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the side pillars at the entrance to be two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the walls on each side were seven cubits wide. Then he measured the room adjacent to the inner sanctuary to be twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place. ”

Outside the Temple

Next he measured the wall of the temple to be six cubits thick, and the width of each side room around the temple was four cubits. The side rooms were arranged one above another in three levels of thirty rooms each. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports would not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself. The side rooms surrounding the temple widened at each successive level, because the structure surrounding the temple ascended by stages corresponding to the narrowing of the temple wall as it rose upward. And so a stairway went up from the lowest story to the highest, through the middle one.

I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the full length of a rod, six long cubits. The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick, and the open area between the side rooms of the temple and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide all around the temple. The side rooms opened into this area, with one entrance on the north and another on the south. The open area was five cubits wide all around.

Now the building that faced the temple courtyard on the west was seventy cubits wide, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, with a length of ninety cubits.

Then he measured the temple to be a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

The Interior Structures

Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court, as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.

In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary on all the walls, spaced evenly around the inner and outer sanctuary, were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces: the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved all the way around the temple. Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary from the floor to the space above the entrance.

The outer sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe, and the doorframe of the sanctuary was similar.

There was an altar of wood three cubits high and two cubits square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. And the man told me, “This is the table that is before the LORD.”

Both the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary had double doors, and each door had two swinging panels. There were two panels for one door and two for the other. Cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls were carved on the doors of the outer sanctuary, and there was a wooden canopy outside, on the front of the portico. There were beveled windows and palm trees on the sidewalls of the portico. The side rooms of the temple also had canopies.

Chambers for the Priests

Then the man led me out northward into the outer court, and he brought me to the group of chambers opposite the temple courtyard and the outer wall on the north side. The building with the door facing north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. Gallery faced gallery in three levels opposite the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court.

In front of the chambers was an inner walkway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north.

Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space from the chambers on the lower and middle floors of the building. For they were arranged in three stories, and unlike the courts, they had no pillars. So the upper chambers were set back further than the lower and middle floors. An outer wall in front of the chambers was fifty cubits long and ran parallel to the chambers and the outer court. For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long, while those facing the temple were a hundred cubits long. And below these chambers was the entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court were chambers adjoining the courtyard and opposite the building, with a passageway in front of them, just like the chambers that were on the north. They had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, there was a door in front of the walkway that was parallel to the wall extending eastward.

Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy. Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”

The Outer Measurements

Now when the man had finished measuring the interior of the temple area, he led me out by the gate that faced east, and he measured the area all around:

 * With a measuring rod he measured the east side to be five hundred cubits long.

 * He measured the north side to be five hundred cubits long.

 * He measured the south side to be five hundred cubits long.

 * And he came around and measured the west side to be five hundred cubits long.

So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

The Glory of the LORD Returns to the Temple

Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths. When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar of Sacrifice

These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge.

And this is the height of the altar: The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.

The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth. The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide. The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it: You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD. You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull. When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished. For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it. At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

The East Gate Assigned to the Prince

The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut. And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut. Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”

Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown. The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

Reproof of the Levites

Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’

This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.

Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it.

The Duties of the Priests

But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge.

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair. No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court. And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest. They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.

In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so, and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself. And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them. The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes. The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.

Consecration of the Land

“When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, you are to set aside a portion for the LORD, a holy portion of the land 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. This entire tract of land will be holy.

Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land.

From this holy portion, you are to measure off a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits, and in it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. It will be a holy portion of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister before the LORD. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy area for the sanctuary.

An adjacent area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide shall belong to the Levites who minister in the temple; it will be their possession for towns in which to live.

As the property of the city, you are to set aside an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the holy district. It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Portion

Now the prince will have the area bordering each side of the area formed by the holy district and the property of the city, extending westward from the western side and eastward from the eastern side, running lengthwise from the western boundary to the eastern boundary and parallel to one of the tribal portions. This land will be his possession in Israel.

And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’

Honest Scales

(Deuteronomy 25:13–16; Proverbs 11:1–3)

You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.

The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure for both.

The shekel will consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels will equal one mina.

Offerings and Feasts

This is the contribution you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley. The prescribed portion of oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath from each cor (a cor consists of ten baths or one homer, since ten baths are equivalent to a homer). And one sheep shall be given from each flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the people, declares the Lord GOD.

All the people of the land must participate in this contribution for the prince in Israel. And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths—for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court. You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who strays unintentionally or in ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.

On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to observe the Passover, a feast of seven days, during which unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. Each day during the seven days of the feast, he shall provide seven bulls and seven rams without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD, along with a male goat for a sin offering. He shall also provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin of olive oil for each ephah of grain. During the seven days of the feast that begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.’

The Prince’s Offerings

“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘The gate of the inner court that faces east must be kept shut during the six days of work, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening. On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are also to bow in worship before the LORD at the entrance to that gateway.

The burnt offering that the prince presents to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram. The grain offering with the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, along with a hin of oil per ephah. On the day of the New Moon he shall offer a young, unblemished bull, six lambs, and a ram without blemish. He is to provide a grain offering of an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and as much as he is able with the lambs, along with a hin of oil per ephah. When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.

When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship must go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate must go out by the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each must go out by the opposite gate.

When the people enter, the prince shall go in with them, and when they leave, he shall leave. At the festivals and appointed feasts, the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as one is able to give with the lambs, along with a hin of oil per ephah.

When the prince makes a freewill offering to the LORD, whether a burnt offering or a peace offering, the gate facing east must be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or peace offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate must be closed after he goes out.

And you shall provide an unblemished year-old lamb as a daily burnt offering to the LORD; you are to offer it every morning. You are also to provide with it every morning a grain offering of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour—a grain offering to the LORD. This is a permanent statute. Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering.’

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons as an inheritance, it will belong to his descendants. It will become their property by inheritance. But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it shall be theirs.

The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.’”

The Courts for Boiling and Baking

Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate into the holy chambers facing north, which belonged to the priests, and he showed me a place there at the far western end and said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people.”

Then he brought me into the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw a separate court in each of its corners. In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed courts, each forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Each of the four corner areas had the same dimensions. Around the inside of each of the four courts was a row of masonry with ovens built at the base of the walls on all sides.

And he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the sacrifices offered by the people.”

Waters from under the Temple

Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.

Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water.

Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.

Once again he measured off a thousand cubits, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough for swimming—a river that could not be crossed on foot.

“Son of man, do you see this?” he asked. Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

When I arrived, I saw a great number of trees along both banks of the river. And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. 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.

Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.

But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.”

The Borders of the Land

This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions. You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

This shall be the boundary of the land:

 * On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad,

Berothah, and Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. So the border will run from the Sea to Hazar-enan, along the northern border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern boundary.

 * On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.

 * On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern boundary.

 * And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.

You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who dwell among you and who have children. You are to treat them as native-born Israelites; along with you, they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe a foreigner dwells, you are to assign his inheritance there,” declares the Lord GOD.

The Portions for the Tribes

“Now these are the names of the tribes:

 * At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion bordering the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath and running on to Hazar-enan on the border of Damascus with Hamath to the north, and extending from the east side to the west side.

 * Asher will have one portion bordering the territory of Dan from east to west.

 * Naphtali will have one portion bordering the territory of Asher from east to west.

 * Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

 * Ephraim will have one portion bordering the territory of Manasseh from east to west.

 * Reuben will have one portion bordering the territory of Ephraim from east to west.

 * Judah will have one portion bordering the territory of Reuben from east to west.

The Portions for the Priests and Levites

Bordering the territory of Judah, from east to west, will be the portion you are to set apart. It will be 25,000 cubits wide, and the length of a tribal portion from east to west. In the center will be the sanctuary.

The special portion you set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide.

This will be the holy portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center will be the sanctuary of the LORD. It will be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. It will be a special portion for them set apart from the land, a most holy portion adjacent to the territory of the Levites.

Bordering the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. The whole length will be 25,000 cubits, and the width 10,000 cubits. They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.

The Common Portion

The remaining area, 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for common use by the city, for houses, and for pastureland. The city will be in the center of it and will have these measurements: 4,500 cubits on the north side, 4,500 cubits on the south side, 4,500 cubits on the east side, and 4,500 cubits on the west side.

The pastureland of the city will extend 250 cubits to the north, 250 cubits to the south, 250 cubits to the east, and 250 cubits to the west.

The remainder of the length bordering the holy portion and running adjacent to it will be 10,000 cubits on the east side and 10,000 cubits on the west side. Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city. The workers of the city who cultivate it will come from all the tribes of Israel.

The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits. You are to set apart the holy portion, along with the city property.

The Portion for the Prince

The remaining area on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, extending eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the holy district toward the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. And in the center of them will be the holy portion and the sanctuary of the temple.

So the Levitical property and the city property will lie in the center of the area belonging to the prince—the area between the borders of Judah and Benjamin.

The Portions for the Remaining Tribes

As for the rest of the tribes:

 * Benjamin will have one portion extending from the east side to the west side.

 * Simeon will have one portion bordering the territory of Benjamin from east to west.

 * Issachar will have one portion bordering the territory of Simeon from east to west.

 * Zebulun will have one portion bordering the territory of Issachar from east to west.

 * And Gad will have one portion bordering the territory of Zebulun from east to west.

The southern border of Gad will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt and out to the Great Sea. This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these will be their portions,” declares the Lord GOD.

The City Gates and Dimensions

“These will be the exits of the city:

 * Beginning on the north side, which will be 4,500 cubits long,

the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. On the north side there will be three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi.

 * On the east side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.

 * On the south side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.

 * And on the west side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.

The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits, and from that day on the name of the city will be:

title: Bible (Berean Standard)/Ezekiel