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

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Disaster! Unheard-of disaster! See, it comes!

The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes!

“‘See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed!

When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain.

And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.”

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’”

Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose!

He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’

(Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)

Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim.

Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me,

“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.

Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the Israelites.”

“The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land.

I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

“Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?