Ezekiel 1-21

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Vision of the Chariot

1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. ² On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoi′achin), ³ the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chalde′ans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

⁴ As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze. ⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures.^[a] And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, ⁶ but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: ⁹ their wings touched one another; they went every one straight forward, without turning as they went. ¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front;^[b] the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back.^{[c] 11} Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. ¹² And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. ¹³ In the midst of^[d] the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. ¹⁴ And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.^{[e] 16} As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions^[f] without turning as they went. ¹⁸ The four wheels had rims and they had spokes;^[g] and their rims were full of eyes round about. ¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. ²⁰ Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal,^[h] spread out above their heads. ²³ And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body.^{[i] 24} And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵ And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;^[j] and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. ²⁷ And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.^{[k] 28} Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.^[l] And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

The Vision of the Scroll

2 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation^[m] of rebels, who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. ⁴ The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ⁵ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. ⁷ And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I give you.” ⁹ And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and lo, a written scroll was in it; ¹⁰ and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. 3 ¹ And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, “Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart. ⁸ Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. ⁹ Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go, get you to the exiles, to your people, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Ezekiel at the River Chebar

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord arose^[n] from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake; ¹³ it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a great earthquake. ¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me; ¹⁵ and I came to the exiles at Tel-a′bib, who dwelt by the river Chebar.^[o] And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

¹⁶ And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ¹⁸ If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you will have saved your life. ²⁰ Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. ²¹ Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you will have saved your life.”

Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced

²² And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said to me, “Arise, go forth into the plain,^[p] and there I will speak with you.” ²³ So I arose and went forth into the plain;^[q] and lo, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. ²⁴ But the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. ²⁵ And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people; ²⁶ and I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them; for they are a rebellious house. ²⁷ But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; he that will hear, let him hear; and he that will refuse to hear, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.

The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

4 “And you, O son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem; ² and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about. ³ And take an iron plate, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

⁴ “Then lie upon your left side, and I will lay the punishment of the house of Israel upon you;^[r] for the number of the days that you lie upon it, you shall bear their punishment. ⁵ For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred and ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment; so long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. ⁶ And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, a day for each year. ⁷ And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared; and you shall prophesy against the city. ⁸ And behold, I will put cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.

⁹ “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make bread of them. During the number of days that you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it. ¹⁰ And the food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; once a day you shall eat it. ¹¹ And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; once a day you shall drink. ¹² And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.” ¹³ And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.” ¹⁴ Then I said, “Ah Lord God! behold, I have never defiled myself; from my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has foul flesh come into my mouth.” ¹⁵ Then he said to me, “See, I will let you have cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” ¹⁶ Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. ¹⁷ I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and waste away under their punishment.

A Sword against Jerusalem

5 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and divide the hair. ² A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed; and a third part you shall take and strike with the sword round about the city; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. ³ And you shall take from these a small number, and bind them in the skirts of your robe. ⁴ And of these again you shall take some, and cast them into the fire, and burn them in the fire; from there a fire will come forth into all the house of Israel. ⁵ Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries round about her. ⁶ And she has wickedly rebelled against my ordinances^[s] more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries round about her, by rejecting my ordinances and not walking in my statutes. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes or kept my ordinances, but have acted^[t] according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you; ⁸ therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. ¹¹ Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will cut you down;^[u] my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. ¹² A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in the midst of you; a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

¹³ “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy, when I spend my fury upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations round about you and in the sight of all that pass by. ¹⁵ You shall be^[v] a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious chastisements—I, the Lord, have spoken— ¹⁶ when I loose against you^[w] my deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will loose to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you, and break your staff of bread. ¹⁷ I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Judgment on Idolatrous Israel

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, ³ and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. ⁴ Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain before your idols. ⁵ And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. ⁶ Wherever you dwell your cities shall be waste and your high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,^[x] your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, ⁹ then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, when I have broken^[y] their wanton heart which has departed from me, and blinded their eyes which turn wantonly after their idols; and they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

¹¹ Thus says the Lord God: “Clap your hands, and stamp your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ¹² He that is far off shall die of pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols. ¹⁴ And I will stretch out my hand against them, and make the land desolate and waste, throughout all their habitations, from the wilderness to Riblah.^[z] Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Impending Disaster

7 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you, and I will let loose my anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations. ⁴ And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes. ⁶ An end has come, the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. ⁷ Your doom^[aa] has come to you, O inhabitant of the land; the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting upon the mountains. ⁸ Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations. ⁹ 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. Then you will know that I am the Lord, who smite.

¹⁰ “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom^[ab] has come, injustice^[ac] has blossomed, pride has budded. ¹¹ Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be pre-eminence among them.^{[ad] 12} The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude. ¹³ For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For wrath^[ae] is upon all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.^[af]

¹⁴ “They have blown the trumpet and made all ready; but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. ¹⁵ The sword is without, pestilence and famine are within; he that is in the field dies by the sword; and him that is in the city famine and pestilence devour. ¹⁶ And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one over his iniquity. ¹⁷ All hands are feeble, and all knees weak as water. ¹⁸ They gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror covers them; shame is upon all faces, and baldness on all their heads. ¹⁹ They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing; 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. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. ²⁰ Their^[ag] beautiful ornament they used for vainglory, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it; therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them. ²¹ And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. ²² I will turn my face from them, that they may profane my precious^[ah] place; robbers shall enter and profane it, ²³ and make a desolation.^[ai]

“Because the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence, ²⁴ I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to their proud might, and their holy places shall be profaned. ²⁵ When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. ²⁶ Disaster comes upon disaster, rumor follows rumor; they seek a vision from the prophet, but the law perishes from the priest, and counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are palsied by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their own judgments I will judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Abominations in the Temple

8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. ² Then I beheld, and lo, a form that had the appearance of a man;^[aj] below what appeared to be his loins it was fire, and above his loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming bronze. ³ He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴ And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

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

⁷ And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸ Then said he to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall”; and when I dug in the wall, lo, there was a door. ⁹ And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and saw; and there, portrayed upon the wall round about, were all kinds of creeping things, and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. ¹¹ And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Ja-azani′ah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and 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 in the dark, every man in his room^[ak] of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” ¹³ He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations which they commit.”

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

¹⁶ And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. ¹⁷ Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence, and provoke me further to anger? Lo, they put the branch to their nose. ¹⁸ Therefore I will deal in wrath; my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

The Slaughter of the Idolaters

9 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ² And lo, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, every man with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherubim on which it rested to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” ⁵ And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity; ⁶ slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one upon whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. ⁷ Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth.” So they went forth, and smote in the city. ⁸ And while they were smiting, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all that remains of Israel in the outpouring of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?”

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

¹¹ And lo, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his side, brought back word, saying, “I have done as thou didst command me.”

God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem

10 Then I looked, and behold, on the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in form resembling a throne. ² And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”

And he went in before my eyes. ³ Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in; and a cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherubim to the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And a cherub stretched forth 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 the form of a human hand under their wings.

⁹ And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling chrysolite. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ¹¹ When they went, they went in any of their four directions^[am] without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced the others followed without turning as they went. ¹² And^[an] their rims, and their spokes,^[ao] and the wheels were full of eyes round about—the wheels that the four of them 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. These were the living creatures 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 did not turn from beside them. ¹⁷ When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creatures^[ap] was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord went forth from 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 as they went forth, with the wheels beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the Lord; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

²⁰ These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the semblance of human hands. ²² And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the very faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. They went every one straight forward.

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the door of the gateway there were twenty-five men; and I saw among them Ja-azani′ah the son of Azzur, and Pelati′ah the son of Benai′ah, princes of the people. ² And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ³ who say, ‘The time is not near^[aq] 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 the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶ You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of the midst of it. ⁸ You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God. ⁹ And I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. ¹⁰ You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the flesh in the midst of it; I will judge you at the border of Israel; ¹² and you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in my statutes, nor executed my ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.”

¹³ And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelati′ah the son of Benai′ah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

God Will Restore Israel

¹⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, your fellow exiles,^[ar] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^[as] in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. ¹⁹ And I will give them one^[at] heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those^[au] whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will requite their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.”

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ And the glory of the Lord 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 Chalde′a, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had showed me.

Judah’s Captivity Portrayed

12 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not; ³ for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though^[av] they are a rebellious house. ⁴ You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and you shall go forth yourself at evening in their sight, as men do who must go into exile. ⁵ Dig through the wall in their sight, and go^[aw] out through it. ⁶ In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you may not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.”

⁷ And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I went forth in the dark, carrying my outfit upon my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’^{[ax] 11} Say, ‘I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.’ ¹² And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth; he^[ay] shall dig through the wall and go^[az] out through it; he shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. ¹³ And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chalde′ans, yet he shall not see it; and he shall die there. ¹⁴ And I will scatter toward every wind all who are round about him, his helpers^[ba] and all his troops; and I will unsheathe the sword after them. ¹⁵ And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. ¹⁶ But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may confess all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the Lord.”

Judgment Not Postponed

¹⁷ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with fearfulness; ¹⁹ and say of the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink water in dismay, because their land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. ²⁰ And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

²¹ And the word of the Lord came to me: ²² “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nought’? ²³ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are at hand, and the fulfilment^[bb] of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ But I the Lord will speak the word which I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, says the Lord God.”

²⁶ Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷ “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days hence, and he prophesies of times far off.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word which I speak will be performed, says the Lord God.”

False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, prophesy^[bc] and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ³ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ⁴ Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins, O Israel. ⁵ You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. ⁶ They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie; they say, ‘Says the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfil their word. ⁷ Have you not seen a delusive vision, and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Says the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered delusions and seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you, says the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see delusive visions and who give lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord God. ¹⁰ Because, yea, because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace; and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets daub it with whitewash; ¹¹ say to those who daub it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain,^[bd] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind break out; ¹² and when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the daubing with which you daubed it?’ ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath; and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall, and upon those who have daubed it with whitewash; and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who daubed it, ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, says the Lord God.

¹⁷ “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds; prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people, and keep other souls alive for your profit? ¹⁹ You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death persons who should not die and keeping alive persons who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.

²⁰ “Wherefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls,^[be] and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls that you hunt go free^[bf] like birds. ²¹ Your veils also I will tear off, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his wicked way to save his life; ²³ therefore you shall no more see delusive visions nor practice divination; I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

God’s Judgments Justified

14 Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? ⁴ Therefore speak to them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him myself^[bg] because of the multitude of his idols, ⁵ that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. ⁷ For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to inquire for himself of me, I the Lord will answer him myself; ⁸ and I will set my face against that man, I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁹ And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— ¹¹ that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, says the Lord God.”

^12 [bh]And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹³ “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it, and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, ¹⁴ even if these three men, Noah, Daniel,^[bi] and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God. ¹⁵ If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts; ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Let a sword go through the land; and I cut off from it man and beast; ¹⁸ though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered. ¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast; ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹ “For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four sore acts of judgment, sword, famine, evil beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! ²² Yet, if there should be left in it any survivors to lead out sons and daughters, when they come forth to you, and you see their ways and their doings, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. ²³ They will console you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.”

The Useless Vine

15 And the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do men take a peg from it to hang any vessel on? ⁴ Lo, it is given to the fire for fuel; when the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? ⁵ Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing; how much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! ⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷ And I will set my face against them; though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them; and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. ⁸ And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, says the Lord God.”

God’s Faithless Bride

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel string was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor swathed with bands. ⁵ No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you; but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

⁶ “And when I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live, ⁷ and grow up^[bj] like a plant of the field.’ And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full maidenhood;^[bk] your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, behold, you were at the age for love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine. ⁹ Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with leather, I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ And I decked you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your arms, and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. ¹³ Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth; you ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful, and came to regal estate. ¹⁴ And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor which I had bestowed upon you, says the Lord God.

¹⁵ “But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown, and lavished your harlotries on any passer-by. ¹⁶ You took some of your garments, and made for yourself gaily decked shrines, and on them played the harlot; the like has never been, nor ever shall be. ¹⁷ You also took your fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the harlot; ¹⁸ and you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. ¹⁹ Also my bread which I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing odor, says the Lord God.^{[bl] 20} And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter ²¹ that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? ²² And in all your abominations and your harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, weltering in your blood.

²³ “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says the Lord God), ²⁴ you built yourself a vaulted chamber, and made yourself a lofty place in every square; ²⁵ at the head of every street you built your lofty place and prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to any passer-by, and multiplying your harlotry. ²⁶ You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your harlotry, to provoke me to anger. ²⁷ Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you, and diminished your allotted portion, and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. ²⁸ You played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yea, you played the harlot with them, and still you were not satisfied. ²⁹ You multiplied your harlotry also with the trading land of Chalde′a; and even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰ “How lovesick is your heart, says the Lord God, seeing you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot; ³¹ building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned hire. ³² Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Men give gifts to all harlots; but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side for your harlotries. ³⁴ So you were different from other women in your harlotries: none solicited you to play the harlot; and you gave hire, while no hire was given to you; therefore you were different.

³⁵ “Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God, Because your shame was laid bare and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotries with your lovers, and because of all your idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you loathed; I will gather them against you from every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. ³⁸ And I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ And I will give you into the hand of your lovers, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your fair jewels, and leave you naked and bare. ⁴⁰ They shall bring up a host against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women; I will make you stop playing the harlot, and you shall also give hire no more. ⁴² So will I satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you; I will be calm, and will no more be angry. ⁴³ Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things; therefore, behold, I will requite your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God.

“Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations? ⁴⁴ Behold, every one who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ And your elder sister is Samar′ia, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ⁴⁷ Yet you were not content to walk in their ways, or do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. ⁴⁸ As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them, when I saw it. ⁵¹ Samar′ia has not committed half your sins; you have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations which you have committed. ⁵² Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have made judgment favorable to your sisters; because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³ “I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samar′ia and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in the midst of them, ⁵⁴ that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. ⁵⁵ As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and Samar′ia and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate. ⁵⁶ Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷ before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become like her^[bm] an object of reproach for the daughters of Edom^[bn] and all her neighbors, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those round about who despise you. ⁵⁸ You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.

An Everlasting Covenant

⁵⁹ “Yea, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, ⁶⁰ yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant. ⁶¹ Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I^[bo] take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. ⁶² I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord God.”

The Two Eagles and the Vine

17 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 [bp]“Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel; ³ say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar; ⁴ he broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade, and set it in a city of merchants. ⁵ Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, ⁶ and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches and put forth foliage.

⁷ “But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him that he might water it. From the bed where it was planted ⁸ he transplanted it^[bq] to good soil by abundant waters, that it might bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble vine. ⁹ Say, Thus says the Lord God: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its branches,^[br] so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. ¹⁰ Behold, when it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it grew?”

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹² “Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon. ¹³ And he took one of the seed royal and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. (The chief men of the land he had taken away, ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and that by keeping his covenant it might stand.) ¹⁵ But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can a man escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? ¹⁶ As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷ Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. ¹⁸ Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely my oath which he despised, and my covenant which he broke, I will requite upon his head. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me. ²¹ And all the pick^[bs] of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Israel Exalted at Last

²² Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it out; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain; ²³ on the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under it will dwell all kinds of beasts;^[bt] in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. ²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”

Individual Retribution

18 The word of the Lord came to me again: ² “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ³ As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. ⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins shall die.

⁵ “If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right— ⁶ if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of impurity, ⁷ does not oppress any one, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ⁸ does not lend at interest or take any increase, withholds his hand from iniquity, executes true justice between man and man, ⁹ walks in my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances^[bu]—he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God.

¹⁰ “If he begets a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood,^{[bv] 11} who does none of these duties, but eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, ¹³ lends at interest, and takes increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

¹⁴ “But if this man begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and fears, and does not do likewise, ¹⁵ who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ does not wrong any one, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ¹⁷ withholds his hand from iniquity,^[bw] takes no interest or increase, observes my ordinances, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹ “But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²² None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. ²³ Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? ²⁴ But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? ²⁶ When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it; for the iniquity which he has committed he shall die. ²⁷ Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

³⁰ “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.^{[bx] 31} Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Israel Degraded

19 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ² and say:

This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.

Israel’s Continuing Rebellion

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. ⁴ Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵ and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. ⁶ On that day I swore to them that I would 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 most glorious of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. ⁸ But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my statutes and showed them my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live. ¹² Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them. ¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not walk in my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned.

“Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, ¹⁶ because they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷ Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ “And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I the Lord am your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to observe my ordinances, ²⁰ and hallow my sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I the Lord am your God. ²¹ But the children rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, and were not careful to observe my ordinances, by whose observance man shall live; they profaned my sabbaths.

“Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ²² But I withheld my hand, and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³ Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, ²⁴ because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. ²⁵ Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life; ²⁶ and I defiled them through their very gifts in making them offer by fire all their first-born, that I might horrify them; I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.

²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this again your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. ²⁸ For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their soothing odors, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ (I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? So its name is called Bamah^[cc] to this day.) ³⁰ Wherefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go astray after their detestable things? ³¹ When you offer your gifts and sacrifice your sons by fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

³² “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’

God Will Restore Israel

³³ “As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. ³⁴ I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; ³⁵ and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶ As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God. ³⁷ I will make you pass under the rod, and I will let you go in by number.^{[cd] 38} I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

⁴⁰ “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. ⁴¹ As a pleasing odor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ⁴² And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country which I swore to give to your fathers. ⁴³ And there you shall remember your ways and all the doings with which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. ⁴⁴ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.”

A Prophecy against the Negeb

^45 [ce] And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁴⁶ “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb; ⁴⁷ say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. ⁴⁸ All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ⁴⁹ Then I said, “Ah Lord God! they are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of allegories?’”

The Drawn Sword of God

21 ^[cf] The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel ³ and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. ⁴ Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north; ⁵ and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. ⁶ Sigh therefore, son of man; sigh with breaking heart and bitter grief before their eyes. ⁷ And when they say to you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the tidings. When it comes, every heart will melt and all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will be fulfilled,’” says the Lord God.

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, Say:

Or do we make mirth? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood. ¹¹ So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be handled; it is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. ¹² Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all the princes of Israel; they are delivered over to the sword with my people. Smite therefore upon your thigh. ¹³ For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?” says the Lord God.

¹⁴ “Prophesy therefore, son of man; clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yea thrice, the sword for those to be slain; it is the sword for the great slaughter, which encompasses them, ¹⁵ that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword; ah! it is made like lightning, it is polished^[cg] for slaughter. ¹⁶ Cut sharply to right^[ch] and left where your edge is directed. ¹⁷ I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken.”

¹⁸ The word of the Lord came to me again: ¹⁹ “Son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall come forth from the same land. And make a signpost, make it at the head of the way to a city; ²⁰ mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah and to^[ci] Jerusalem the fortified.