9 Then he cried in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, ^[a]Cause ye them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. ² And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his ^[b]slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn ^[c]by his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.

³ And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn ^[d]by his side. ⁴ And Jehovah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof. ⁵ And to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; ⁶ slay ^[e]utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ^[f]old men that were before the house. ⁷ And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city. ⁸ And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?

⁹ Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of ^[g]wresting of judgment: for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the land, and Jehovah seeth not. ¹⁰ And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way upon their head. ¹¹ And, behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

10 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. ² And he spake unto the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and ^[h]scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. ³ Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ And the glory of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah’s glory. ⁵ And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of ^[i]God Almighty when he speaketh. ⁶ And it came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹ And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like unto a ^[j]beryl stone. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been ^[k]within a wheel. ¹¹ When they went, they went ^[l]in their four directions: they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. ¹² And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. ¹⁴ And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ And the cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶ And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also turned not from beside them. ¹⁷ When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit ^[m]of the living creature was in them.

¹⁸ And the glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹ And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels ^[n]beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

²⁰ This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. ²² And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

11 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold, at the door of the gate five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ² And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and that give wicked counsel in this city; ³ that say, ^[o]The time is not near to build houses: this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

⁵ And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said unto me, Speak, Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶ Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but ^[p]ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. ⁸ Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah. ⁹ And I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. ¹⁰ Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ¹¹ This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in the border of Israel; ¹² and ye shall know that I am Jehovah: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.

¹³ And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

¹⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ¹⁵ Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy ^[q]kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Jehovah; unto us is this land given for a possession. ¹⁶ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, ^[r]yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come. ¹⁷ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. ¹⁸ And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. ¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; ²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²² Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were ^[s]beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ²³ And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. ²⁴ And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had showed me.

12 The word of Jehovah also came unto me, saying, ² Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of the rebellious house, that have eyes to see, and see not, that have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house. ³ Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for ^[t]removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will ^[u]consider, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴ And thou shalt bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for ^[v]removing; and thou shalt go forth thyself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile. ⁵ Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. ⁶ In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the land: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

⁷ And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning came the word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ⁹ Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? ¹⁰ Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This ^[w]burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel ^[x]among whom they are. ¹¹ Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. ¹² And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. ¹³ My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. ¹⁴ And I will scatter toward every wind all that are round about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. ¹⁵ And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries. ¹⁶ But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations whither they come; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

¹⁷ Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ¹⁸ Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with fearfulness; ¹⁹ and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and despoiled of ^[y]all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. ²⁰ And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

²¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ²² Son of man, what is this proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? ²³ Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the ^[z]fulfilment of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am Jehovah; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²⁶ Again the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, ²⁷ Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of times that are far off. ²⁸ Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, saith the Lord Jehovah.