Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

5 “And you, ^(A)O son of man, take a ^(B)sharp sword. Use it as ^(C)a barber's razor and ^(D)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. ^2 (E)A third part you shall burn in the fire ^(F)in the midst of the city, ^(G)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^(H)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ^(I)I will unsheathe the sword after them. ^3 (J)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. ^4 (K)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(L)This is Jerusalem. I have set her ^(M)in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. ⁶ And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness ^(N)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than ^(O)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are ^(P)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, ^(Q)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, ^(R)and have not^[a] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, ⁸ therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ^(S)am against you. ^(T)And I will execute judgments^[b] in your midst ^(U)in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do with you ^(V)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(W)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. ^(X)And I will execute judgments on you, ^(Y)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. ¹¹ Therefore, ^(Z)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ^(AA)because you have defiled my sanctuary ^(AB)with all your detestable things and with all your ^(AC)abominations, ^(AD)therefore I will withdraw.^{[c] (AE)}My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. ^12 (AF)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^(AG)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^(AH)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

^13 (AI)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^(AJ)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—^(AK)when I spend my fury upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you ^(AL)a desolation and ^(AM)an object of reproach among ^(AN)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You shall be^[d] a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^(AO)and a horror, to ^(AP)the nations all around you, ^(AQ)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^(AR)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— ¹⁶ when I send against you^{[e] (AS)}the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^(AT)you and break your supply^[f] of bread. ¹⁷ I will send famine and ^(AU)wild beasts against you, ^(AV)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^(AW)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Judgment Against Idolatry

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (AX)“Son of man, ^(AY)set your face toward ^(AZ)the mountains of Israel, and ^(BA)prophesy against them, ³ and say, ^(BB)You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to ^(BC)the mountains and ^(BD)the hills, to ^(BE)the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, ^(BF)and I will destroy your high places. ^4 (BG)Your altars shall become desolate, and your ^(BH)incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. ^5 (BI)And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, ^(BJ)and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ Wherever you dwell, ^(BK)the cities shall be waste and ^(BL)the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,^[g] your idols broken and destroyed, your ^(BM)incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

^8 (BN)“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations ^(BO)some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, ⁹ then those of you who escape ^(BP)will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how ^(BQ)I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ^(BR)that go whoring after their idols. ^(BS)And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord. ^(BT)I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

¹¹ Thus says the Lord God: ^(BU)“Clap your hands ^(BV)and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, ^(BW)for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ^12 (BX)He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. ^(BY)Thus I will spend my fury upon them. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(BZ)when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, ^(CA)on every high hill, ^(CB)on all the mountaintops, ^(CC)under every green tree, and under ^(CD)every leafy oak, wherever ^(CE)they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ And ^(CF)I will stretch out my hand against them and ^(CG)make the land desolate and waste, ^(CH)in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to ^(CI)Riblah.^[h] Then ^(CJ)they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Day of the Wrath of the Lord

7 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “And you, ^(CK)O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: ^(CL)An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.^{[i] 3} Now ^(CM)the end is upon you, and ^(CN)I will send my anger upon you; ^(CO)I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. ^4 (CP)And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but ^(CQ)I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. ^(CR)Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster ^(CS)after disaster!^[j] Behold, it comes. ^6 (CT)An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. ^7 (CU)Your doom^[k] has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. ^(CV)The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not ^(CW)of joyful shouting on the mountains. ⁸ Now I will soon ^(CX)pour out my wrath upon you, and ^(CY)spend my anger against you, ^(CZ)and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. ^9 (DA)And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. ^(DB)Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.

^10 (DC)“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! ^(DD)Your doom has come; ^(DE)the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. ^11 (DF)Violence has grown up into ^(DG)a rod of wickedness. ^(DH)None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.^{[l] 12 (DI)}The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not ^(DJ)the buyer rejoice, nor ^(DK)the seller mourn, ^(DL)for wrath is upon all their multitude.^{[m] 13} For ^(DM)the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. ^(DN)For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.^[n]

¹⁴ “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, ^(DO)for my wrath is upon all their multitude. ^15 (DP)The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. ^(DQ)He who is in the field dies by the sword, ^(DR)and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. ^16 (DS)And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like ^(DT)doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. ^17 (DU)All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. ^18 (DV)They put on sackcloth, and ^(DW)horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and ^(DX)baldness on all their heads. ¹⁹ They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. ^(DY)Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. ^(DZ)For it was ^(EA)the stumbling block of their iniquity. ^20 (EB)His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and ^(EC)they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore ^(ED)I make it an unclean thing to them. ²¹ And I will give it into the hands of ^(EE)foreigners for prey, ^(EF)and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and ^(EG)they shall profane it. ²² I will turn my face from them, and ^(EH)they shall profane my treasured^[o] place. Robbers shall enter ^(EI)and profane it.

^23 (EJ)“Forge a chain!^{[p] (EK)}For the land is full of bloody crimes ^(EL)and the city is full of violence. ²⁴ I will bring ^(EM)the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. ^(EN)I will put an end to the pride of the strong, ^(EO)and their holy places^[q] shall be profaned. ^25 (EP)When anguish comes, ^(EQ)they will seek peace, but there shall be none. ^26 (ER)Disaster comes upon disaster; ^(ES)rumor follows rumor. ^(ET)They seek a vision from the prophet, while ^(EU)the law^[r] perishes from the priest and ^(EV)counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way ^(EW)I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, ^(EX)and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Abominations in the Temple

8 ^(EY)In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(EZ)as I sat in my house, with ^(FA)the elders of Judah sitting before me, ^(FB)the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, ^(FC)a form that had the appearance of a man.^{[s] (FD)}Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like ^(FE)gleaming metal.^{[t] 3} He ^(FF)put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up ^(FG)between earth and heaven and ^(FH)brought me in ^(FI)visions of God to Jerusalem, ^(FJ)to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, ^(FK)where was the seat of the ^(FL)image of jealousy, ^(FM)which provokes to jealousy. ⁴ And behold, ^(FN)the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw ^(FO)in the valley.

⁵ Then he said to me, ^(FP)“Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of ^(FQ)the altar gate, in the entrance, was this ^(FR)image of jealousy. ⁶ And he said to me, “Son of man, ^(FS)do you see what they are doing, ^(FT)the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, ^(FU)to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

⁷ And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ Then he said to me, “Son of man, ^(FV)dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. ⁹ And he said to me, “Go in, and see ^(FW)the vile abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw. And there, ^(FX)engraved on the wall all around, was ^(FY)every form of ^(FZ)creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. ¹¹ And before them stood ^(GA)seventy men of ^(GB)the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of ^(GC)Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and ^(GD)the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. ¹² Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing ^(GE)in the dark, each ^(GF)in his room of pictures? For they say, ^(GG)‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” ¹³ He said also to me, ^(GH)“You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

¹⁴ Then he brought me to ^(GI)the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O ^(GJ)son of man? ^(GK)You will see still greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶ And he brought me into ^(GL)the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, ^(GM)between the ^(GN)porch and ^(GO)the altar, were about twenty-five men, ^(GP)with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping ^(GQ)the sun toward the east. ¹⁷ Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O ^(GR)son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit ^(GS)the abominations that they commit here, that ^(GT)they should fill the land with violence and ^(GU)provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their^[u] nose. ¹⁸ Therefore ^(GV)I will act in wrath. ^(GW)My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. ^(GX)And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Idolaters Killed

9 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, ^(GY)each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ² And behold, six men came from the direction of ^(GZ)the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was ^(HA)a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside ^(HB)the bronze altar.

³ Now ^(HC)the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to ^(HD)the threshold of the house. And he called to ^(HE)the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and ^(HF)put a mark on the foreheads of the men who ^(HG)sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” ⁵ And to ^(HH)the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. ^(HI)Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. ^6 (HJ)Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but ^(HK)touch no one on whom is the mark. And ^(HL)begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. ⁷ Then he said to them, ^(HM)“Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. ⁸ And while they were striking, and I was left alone, ^(HN)I fell upon my face, and cried, ^(HO)“Ah, Lord God! ^(HP)Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel ^(HQ)in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then he said to me, ^(HR)“The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. ^(HS)The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For ^(HT)they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰ As for me, ^(HU)my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; ^(HV)I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

¹¹ And behold, ^(HW)the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, ^(HX)on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ^(HY)like a sapphire,^[v] in appearance like a throne. ² And he said to ^(HZ)the man clothed in linen, “Go in among ^(IA)the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with ^(IB)burning coals from between the cherubim, and ^(IC)scatter them over the city.”

And he went in ^(ID)before my eyes. ³ Now the cherubim were standing ^(IE)on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^(IF)a cloud filled ^(IG)the inner court. ⁴ And ^(IH)the glory of the Lord ^(II)went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house ^(IJ)was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with ^(IK)the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ And ^(IL)the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, ^(IM)like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ And when he commanded ^(IN)the man clothed in linen, ^(IO)“Take fire from between ^(IP)the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have ^(IQ)the form of a human hand under their wings.

^9 (IR)And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and ^(IS)the appearance of the wheels was ^(IT)like sparkling ^(IU)beryl. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ^11 (IV)When they went, they went in any of their four directions^{[w] (IW)}without turning as they went, ^(IX)but in whatever direction the front wheel^[x] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. ^12 (IY)And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,^[y] and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ^(IZ)“the whirling wheels.” ^14 (JA)And every one had four faces: ^(JB)the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was ^(JC)a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

^15 (JD)And the cherubim mounted up. These were ^(JE)the living creatures that I saw by ^(JF)the Chebar canal. ^16 (JG)And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And ^(JH)when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. ^17 (JI)When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures^[z] was in them.

^18 (JJ)Then ^(JK)the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ^19 (JL)And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ^(JM)before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the ^(JN)east gate of the house of the Lord, and ^(JO)the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

^20 (JP)These were the living creatures that I saw ^(JQ)underneath the God of Israel by ^(JR)the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (JS)Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings ^(JT)the likeness of human hands. ^22 (JU)And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. ^(JV)Each one of them went straight forward.

Preach the Word

4 ^(A)I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, ^(B)who is to judge the living and the dead, and by ^(C)his appearing and his kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^(D)reprove, rebuke, and ^(E)exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ^3 (F)For the time is coming when people will not endure ^(G)sound^[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and ^(H)will turn away from listening to the truth and ^(I)wander off into myths. ⁵ But as for you, ^(J)always be sober-minded, ^(K)endure suffering, do the work of ^(L)an evangelist, ^(M)fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For ^(N)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my ^(O)departure has come. ^7 (P)I have fought the good fight, ^(Q)I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is ^(R)laid up for me ^(S)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, ^(T)the righteous judge, will award to me on ^(U)that day, and not only to me but also to all ^(V)who have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

^9 (W)Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For ^(X)Demas, ^(Y)in love with ^(Z)this present world, ^(AA)has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{[b] (AB)}Titus to Dalmatia. ^11 (AC)Luke alone is with me. Get ^(AD)Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ^12 (AE)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. ^14 (AF)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^(AG)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. ^(AH)May it not be charged against them! ¹⁷ But ^(AI)the Lord stood by me and ^(AJ)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^(AK)all the Gentiles might hear it. So ^(AL)I was rescued ^(AM)from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^(AN)To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

¹⁹ Greet ^(AO)Prisca and Aquila, and ^(AP)the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left ^(AQ)Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. ^21 (AR)Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.^[c]

²² The Lord be ^(AS)with your spirit. ^(AT)Grace be with you.^[d]