Ezekiel 24:15-25:17

New American Standard Bible

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

¹⁵ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you ^(A)what is precious to your eyes with a ^(B)fatal blow; but you shall not ^(C)mourn and you shall not weep, and your ^(D)tears shall not come. ¹⁷ Groan silently; do ^(E)no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not ^[a]cover your mustache, and ^(F)do not eat the ^[b]bread of other people.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹ And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are doing?” ²⁰ Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹ ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “This is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, ^(G)that which is precious in your eyes and the longing of your soul; and your ^(H)sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. ²² And you will do just as I have done; you will not ^[c]cover your mustache, and you will not eat the ^[d]bread of other people. ²³ Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You ^(I)will not mourn and you will not weep; but ^(J)you will rot away in your guilty deeds, and you will groan ^[e]to one another. ²⁴ So Ezekiel will be a ^(K)sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

²⁵ ‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their ^(L)stronghold, the joy of their splendor, that which is precious in their eyes and their ^[f]heart’s longing, their sons and their daughters, ²⁶ that on that day the one who ^(M)escapes will come to you with information for your ears? ²⁷ On that day your ^(N)mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be silenced. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Judgment on Gentile Nations—Ammon

25 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face against the ^(O)sons of Ammon and prophesy against them, ³ and say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord ^[g]God! This is what the Lord God says: “Because you said, ‘^(P)Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴ therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the ^[h](Q)people of the east as a possession, and they will set up their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will ^(R)eat your fruit and drink your milk. ⁵ I will make ^(S)Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ⁶ For this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have ^(T)clapped your hands and stamped your feet, and have ^(U)rejoiced with all the malice in your soul against the land of Israel, ⁷ therefore, behold, I have ^(V)reached out with My hand against you and I will give you as ^(W)plunder to the nations. And I will ^(X)cut you off from the peoples and ^(Y)eliminate you from the lands. I will exterminate you. So you will ^(Z)know that I am the Lord.”

Moab

⁸ ‘The Lord God says this: “Because ^(AA)Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’ ⁹ therefore, behold, I am going to ^[i]deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities ^[j]which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, ^(AB)Beth-jeshimoth, ^(AC)Baal-meon, and ^(AD)Kiriathaim; ¹⁰ and I will give it as a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the ^[k](AE)people of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. ¹¹ So I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

Edom

¹² ‘The Lord God says this: “Because ^(AF)Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred great guilt, and avenged themselves upon them,” ¹³ therefore this is what the Lord God says: “I will also ^(AG)reach out with My hand against Edom and ^(AH)eliminate human and animal life from it. And I will turn it into ruins; from ^(AI)Teman even to ^(AJ)Dedan they will fall by the sword. ¹⁴ And ^(AK)I will inflict My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom ^(AL)in accordance with My anger and My wrath; so they will know My vengeance,” declares the Lord God.

Philistia

¹⁵ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Because the Philistines have acted in ^(AM)revenge, and have taken vengeance with malice in their souls to destroy with everlasting hostility,” ¹⁶ therefore this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to ^(AN)reach out with My hand against the Philistines and eliminate the ^(AO)Cherethites; and I will destroy the remnant of the seacoast. ¹⁷ I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will ^(AP)know that I am the Lord, when I inflict My vengeance on them.”’”