Ezekiel 3:16-6:14

Contemporary English Version

The Lord Appoints Ezekiel To Stand Watch

(Ezekiel 33.1-9)

¹⁶ Seven days after I had seen the brightness of the Lord's glory, the Lord said:

¹⁷ Ezekiel, son of man, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me. ¹⁸ When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways so they won't be punished. If you refuse, you are responsible for their death. ¹⁹ However, if you do warn them, and they keep on sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.

²⁰ Now suppose faithful people start sinning, and I decide to put stumbling blocks in their paths to make them fall. They deserve to die because of their sins. So if you refuse to warn them, I will forget about the times they were faithful, and I will hold you responsible for their death. ²¹ But if you do warn them, and they listen to you and stop sinning, I will let them live. And you will be innocent.

Ezekiel Cannot Talk

²² The Lord took control of me and said, “Stand up! Go into the valley, and I will talk with you there.”

²³ I immediately went to the valley, where I saw the brightness of the Lord's glory, just as I had seen it near the Chebar River, and I bowed with my face to the ground. ²⁴ His Spirit took control of me and lifted me to my feet. Then the Lord said:

Go back and lock yourself in your house! ²⁵ You will be tied up to keep you inside, ²⁶ and I will make you unable to talk or to warn those who have rebelled against me. ²⁷ But the time will come, when I will tell you what to say, and you will again be able to speak my message.^[a] Some of them will listen; others will be stubborn and refuse to listen.

Ezekiel Acts Out an Attack on Jerusalem

The Lord said:

4 Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it. ² Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. ³ Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.

^4-5 After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for 390 days as a sign of Israel's punishment^[b]—one day for each year of its suffering. ⁶ Then turn over and lie on your right side 40 more days. That will be a sign of Judah's punishment—one day for each year of its suffering.

⁷ The brick stands for Jerusalem, so attack it! Stare at it and shout angry warnings. ⁸ I will tie you up, so you can't leave until your attack has ended.

⁹ Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. ¹⁰ Eat only a small loaf of bread each day ¹¹ and drink only two large cups of water. ¹² Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. ¹³ When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.^[c]

¹⁴ I said, “Lord God, please don't make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I've never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean.”

¹⁵ The Lord replied, “Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure. ¹⁶ Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless. ¹⁷ Everyone will be shocked at what is happening, and, because of their sins, they will die a slow death.”

Jerusalem's Coming Destruction

The Lord said:

5 Ezekiel, son of man, get a sharp sword and use it to cut off your hair and beard. Weigh the hair and divide it into three equal piles. ² After you attack the brick that stands for Jerusalem, burn one pile of your hair on the brick. Chop up the second pile and let the small pieces of hair fall around the brick. Throw the third pile into the wind, and I will strike it with my own sword.

³ Keep a few of the hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. ⁴ Then pull out a few of those hairs and throw them in the fire, so they will also burn. This fire will spread, destroying everyone in Israel.

⁵ I am the Lord God, and I have made Jerusalem the most important place in the world, and all other nations admire it. ⁶ But the people of Jerusalem rebelled and refuse to obey me. They ignored my laws and have become even more sinful than the nations around them.

⁷ So tell the people of Jerusalem:

I am the Lord God! You have refused to obey my laws and teachings, and instead you have obeyed the laws of the surrounding nations. You have become more rebellious than any of them! ⁸ Now all those nations will watch as I turn against you and punish you ⁹ for your sins. Your punishment will be more horrible than anything I've ever done or will ever do again. ^10 (A) Parents will be so desperate for food that they will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. Those who survive this horror will be scattered in every direction.

¹¹ Your sins have disgusted me and made my temple unfit as a place to worship me. So I swear by my own life that I will cut you down^[d] and show you no pity. ¹² A third of you will die here in Jerusalem from disease or starvation. Another third will be killed in war. And I will scatter the last third of you in every direction, then track you down and kill you.

¹³ You will feel my fierce anger until I have finished taking revenge. Then you will know that I, the Lord, was furious because of your disobedience. ¹⁴ Every passerby will laugh at your destruction. Foreign nations ¹⁵ will insult you and make fun of you, but they will also be shocked and terrified at what I did in my anger. ¹⁶ I will destroy your crops until you starve to death, and disasters will strike you like arrows. ^17 (B) Starvation and wild animals will kill your children. I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and your enemies will strike you down with their swords. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Israel Is Doomed

6 The Lord God said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, face the hills of Israel and tell them:

³ Listen, you mountains and hills, and every valley and gorge! I, the Lord, am about to turn against you and crush all the places where foreign gods are worshiped. ⁴ Every altar will be smashed, and in front of the idols I will put to death the people who worship them. ⁵ Dead bodies and bones will be lying around the idols and the altars. ⁶ Every town in Israel will be destroyed to make sure that each shrine, idol, and altar is smashed—everything the Israelites made will be a pile of ruins.^{[e] 7} All over the country, your people will die. And those who survive will know that I, the Lord, did these things. ⁸ I will let some of the people live through this punishment, but I will scatter them among the nations, ⁹ where they will be prisoners. And when they think of me, they will realize that they disgraced me by rebelling and by worshiping idols. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did, ¹⁰ and they will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings must be taken seriously.

¹¹ The Lord God then said:

Ezekiel, beat your fists together and stomp your feet in despair! Moan in sorrow, because the people of Israel have done disgusting things and now will be killed by enemy troops, or they will die from starvation and disease. ¹² Those who live far away will be struck with deadly diseases. Those who live nearby will be killed in war. And the ones who are left will starve to death. I will let loose my anger on them! ¹³ These people used to offer incense to idols at altars built on hills and mountaintops and in the shade of large oak trees. But when they see dead bodies lying around those altars, they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will make their country a barren wasteland, from the Southern Desert to the town of Diblah in the north. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have done these things.