Ezekiel 3:16-6:14
New American Standard Bible
16 Now (A)at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a (B)watchman for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, (C)warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for wrongdoing, but his (D)blood I will require from your hand. 19 However if you have (E)warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die for wrongdoing, but you have (F)saved yourself. 20 Again, (G)when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, and I place an (H)obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand. 21 However, if you have (I)warned [a]the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.”
22 Now the hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will (J)speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the (K)glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory that (L)I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 But the (M)Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and He spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And as for you, son of man, they will (N)put ropes [b]around you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them. 26 Moreover, (O)I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak and will not be a man who reprimands them, since they are a rebellious house. 27 But (P)when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord [c]God says:’ The one who hears, let him hear; and the one who refuses, let him refuse; (Q)for they are a rebellious house.
Siege of Jerusalem Predicted
4 “Now you, son of man, (R)get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Then (S)lay siege against it, build a siege wall, pile up an assault ramp, set up camps, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and direct your face toward it so that (T)it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a (U)sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Then you are to lie down on your left side and put the wrongdoing of the house of Israel on it; you shall (V)bear their wrongdoing for the number of days that you lie on it. 5 For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so (W)you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for (X)each year. 7 Then you shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and (Y)prophesy against it. 8 Now behold, I will (Z)put ropes [d]around you so that you cannot turn from your one side to your other until you have completed the days of your siege.
Defiled Bread
9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and (AA)spelt, and put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 Your food which you eat shall be (AB)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 The water you drink shall be a [e]sixth of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human (AC)dung.” 13 Then the Lord said, “In this way the sons of Israel will eat their bread (AD)unclean among the nations where I will scatter them.” 14 But I said, “(AE)Oh, Lord [f]God! Behold, [g]I have (AF)never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what (AG)died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has any (AH)unclean meat ever entered my mouth!” 15 Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung, so that you may prepare your bread over it.” 16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to (AI)break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by (AJ)weight and with anxiety, and drink water by (AK)measure and in horror, 17 because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and (AL)waste away in their guilt.
Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold
5 “As for you, son of man, take a (AM)sharp sword; take and [h]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take (AN)scales for weighing and divide [i]the hair. 2 A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the (AO)days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around [j]the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will (AP)unsheathe a sword behind them. 3 Take also a few hairs in number from [k]them and bind them in the hems of your robes. 4 Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will [l]spread to all the house of Israel.
5 “This is what the Lord [m]God says: ‘This is (AQ)Jerusalem; I have placed her at the (AR)center of the nations, with lands around her. 6 But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes (AS)more than the lands which surround her; for they have (AT)rejected My ordinances and have not walked [n]in My statutes.’ 7 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have (AU)more turmoil than the nations that surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, nor acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you,’ 8 therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am (AV)against you, and I will (AW)execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do among you what I have (AX)not done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore, (AY)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and (AZ)scatter all your remnant to every wind. 11 Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have (BA)defiled My sanctuary with all your (BB)detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. 12 A third of you will die by (BC)plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will (BD)scatter to every wind, and I will (BE)unsheathe a sword behind them.
13 ‘Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be (BF)appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have (BG)spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a site of ruins and a (BH)disgrace among the nations that surround you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 So [o]it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a (BI)warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I (BJ)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 When I send against them the [p]deadly arrows of famine which [q]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break off your [r]provision of bread. 17 (BK)I will send on you famine and vicious animals, and they will bereave you of children; (BL)plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
Idolatrous Worship Denounced
6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the (BM)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them 3 and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord [s]God! This is what the Lord [t]God says to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword against you, and (BN)I will destroy your high places. 4 So your (BO)altars will become deserted and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5 I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your (BP)bones around your altars. 6 [u]Everywhere you live, (BQ)cities will be in ruins and the high places will be deserted, so that your altars will be in ruins and [v]deserted, your (BR)idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars will be cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “However, I will leave a (BS)remnant, in that you will have those who (BT)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will (BU)remember Me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have [w](BV)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which committed infidelity with their idols; and they will (BW)loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’
11 “This is what the Lord [x]God says: ‘Clap your hands, (BX)stamp your foot and say, “(BY)Woe, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by the (BZ)sword, famine, and plague! 12 Anyone who is (CA)far away will die by the plague, anyone who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who remains and is spared from these will die by the famine. So I will (CB)expend My wrath on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their (CC)dead are among their idols around their altars, on (CD)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every leafy tree and under every massive oak with thick branches—the places where they offered a soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 So through all their dwelling places I will (CE)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; so they will know that I am the Lord.”’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 3:21 Lit him, the righteous
- Ezekiel 3:25 Lit on
- Ezekiel 3:27 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 4:8 Lit on
- Ezekiel 4:11 About 0.6 qt. or 0.6 liter
- Ezekiel 4:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 4:14 Lit my soul has
- Ezekiel 5:1 Lit pass it over your head
- Ezekiel 5:1 Lit them
- Ezekiel 5:2 Lit it
- Ezekiel 5:3 Lit there
- Ezekiel 5:4 Lit go out
- Ezekiel 5:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 5:6 Lit in them, My statutes
- Ezekiel 5:15 Ancient versions you
- Ezekiel 5:16 Lit evil
- Ezekiel 5:16 Or are for destruction, which I will send
- Ezekiel 5:16 Lit staff
- Ezekiel 6:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 6:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 6:6 Lit In all your dwellings
- Ezekiel 6:6 As in some ancient versions; MT suffer for their guilt
- Ezekiel 6:9 Lit been broken; another reading is broken their (but unlikely)
- Ezekiel 6:11 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Ezekiel 3:16-6:14
New Living Translation
A Watchman for Israel
16 After seven days the Lord gave me a message. He said, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. 18 If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. 19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.
20 “If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. 21 But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”
22 Then the Lord took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out into the valley, and I will speak to you there.” 23 So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen in my first vision by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. He spoke to me and said, “Go to your house and shut yourself in. 25 There, son of man, you will be tied with ropes so you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels. 27 But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. Then you will say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels.
A Sign of the Coming Siege
4 “And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Show the city under siege. Build a wall around it so no one can escape. Set up the enemy camp, and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams. 3 Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.
4 “Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side. 5 I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days—one day for each year of their sin. 6 After that, turn over and lie on your right side for 40 days—one day for each year of Judah’s sin.
7 “Meanwhile, keep staring at the siege of Jerusalem. Lie there with your arm bared and prophesy her destruction. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so you won’t be able to turn from side to side until the days of your siege have been completed.
9 “Now go and get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat, and mix them together in a storage jar. Use them to make bread for yourself during the 390 days you will be lying on your side. 10 Ration this out to yourself, eight ounces[a] of food for each day, and eat it at set times. 11 Then measure out a jar[b] of water for each day, and drink it at set times. 12 Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread.” 13 Then the Lord said, “This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I will banish them!”
14 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law.”
15 “All right,” the Lord said. “You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung.” 16 Then he told me, “Son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. The water will be rationed out drop by drop, and the people will drink it with dismay. 17 Lacking food and water, people will look at one another in terror, and they will waste away under their punishment.
A Sign of the Coming Judgment
5 “Son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave your head and beard. Use a scale to weigh the hair into three equal parts. 2 Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After acting out the siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and chop it with a sword. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will scatter my people with the sword. 3 Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe. 4 Then take some of these hairs out and throw them into the fire, burning them up. A fire will then spread from this remnant and destroy all of Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is an illustration of what will happen to Jerusalem. I placed her at the center of the nations, 6 but she has rebelled against my regulations and decrees and has been even more wicked than the surrounding nations. She has refused to obey the regulations and decrees I gave her to follow.
7 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you. 8 Therefore, I myself, the Sovereign Lord, am now your enemy. I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch. 9 Because of your detestable idols, I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or ever will again. 10 Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter to the winds the few who survive.
11 “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will cut you off completely. I will show you no pity at all because you have defiled my Temple with your vile images and detestable sins. 12 A third of your people will die in the city from disease and famine. A third of them will be slaughtered by the enemy outside the city walls. And I will scatter a third to the winds, chasing them with my sword. 13 Then at last my anger will be spent, and I will be satisfied. And when my fury against them has subsided, all Israel will know that I, the Lord, have spoken to them in my jealous anger.
14 “So I will turn you into a ruin, a mockery in the eyes of the surrounding nations and to all who pass by. 15 You will become an object of mockery and taunting and horror. You will be a warning to all the nations around you. They will see what happens when the Lord punishes a nation in anger and rebukes it, says the Lord.
16 “I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food is gone. 17 And along with the famine, wild animals will attack you and rob you of your children. Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the sword of the enemy against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Judgment against Israel’s Mountains
6 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, turn and face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Proclaim this message from the Sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. 4 All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed. I will kill your people in front of your idols.[c] 5 I will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you live there will be desolation, and I will destroy your pagan shrines. Your altars will be demolished, your idols will be smashed, your places of worship will be torn down, and all the religious objects you have made will be destroyed. 7 The place will be littered with corpses, and you will know that I alone am the Lord.
8 “But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. 9 Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins. 10 They will know that I alone am the Lord and that I was serious when I said I would bring this calamity on them.
11 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands in horror, and stamp your feet. Cry out because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have committed. Now they are going to die from war and famine and disease. 12 Disease will strike down those who are far away in exile. War will destroy those who are nearby. And anyone who survives will be killed by famine. So at last I will spend my fury on them. 13 They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols. 14 I will crush them and make their cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah[d] in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
