Ezekiel 4-11

New American Standard Bible 1995

Siege of Jerusalem Predicted

4 “Now you son of man, ^(A)get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. ² Then ^(B)lay siege against it, build a siege wall, ^[a]raise up a ramp, pitch 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 you and the city, and set your face toward it so that ^(C)it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a ^(D)sign to the house of Israel.

⁴ “As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall ^(E)bear their iniquity 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 iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus ^(F)you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. ⁶ When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for ^(G)each year. ⁷ Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and ^(H)prophesy against it. ⁸ Now behold, I will ^(I)put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

Defiled Bread

⁹ “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and ^(J)spelt, 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, three hundred and ninety days. ¹⁰ Your food which you eat shall be ^(K)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. ¹¹ The water you drink shall be the sixth part 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 ^(L)dung.” ¹³ Then the Lord said, “Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread ^(M)unclean among the nations where I will banish them.” ¹⁴ But I said, “^(N)Ah, Lord ^[b]God! Behold, I have ^(O)never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what ^(P)died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any ^(Q)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 over which you will prepare your bread.” ¹⁶ Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to ^(R)break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by ^(S)weight and with anxiety, and drink water by ^(T)measure and in horror, ¹⁷ because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and ^(U)waste away in their iniquity.

Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold

5 “As for you, son of man, take a ^(V)sharp sword; take and ^[c]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take ^(W)scales for weighing and divide ^[d]the hair. ² One third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the ^(X)days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take one third and strike it with the sword all around ^[e]the city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will ^(Y)unsheathe a sword behind them. ³ Take also a few in number from ^[f]them and bind them in the edges 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 ^[g]spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord ^[h]God, ‘This is ^(Z)Jerusalem; I have set her at the ^(AA)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 ^(AB)more than the lands which surround her; for they have ^(AC)rejected My ordinances and have not walked ^[i]in My statutes.’ ⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have ^(AD)more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ ⁸ therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I, even I, am ^(AE)against you, and I will ^(AF)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 ^(AG)not done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore, ^(AH)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and ^(AI)scatter all your remnant to every wind. ¹¹ So as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have ^(AJ)defiled My sanctuary with all your ^(AK)detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare. ¹² One third of you will die by ^(AL)plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will ^(AM)scatter to every wind, and I will ^(AN)unsheathe a sword behind them.

¹³ ‘Thus My anger will be spent and I will ^[j]satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be ^[k](AO)appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have ^(AP)spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. ¹⁴ Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a ^(AQ)reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵ So ^[l]it will be a reproach, a reviling, a ^(AR)warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I ^(AS)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ When I send against them the ^[m]deadly arrows of famine which ^[n]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. ¹⁷ Moreover, ^(AT)I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; ^(AU)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 And the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, set your face toward the ^(AV)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them ³ and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord ^[o]God! Thus says the Lord ^[p]God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and ^(AW)I will destroy your high places. ⁴ So your ^(AX)altars will become desolate 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 ^(AY)bones around your altars. ⁶ In all your dwellings, ^(AZ)cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and ^[q]desolate, your ^(BA)idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. ⁷ The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “However, I will leave a ^(BB)remnant, for you will have those who ^(BC)escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. ⁹ Then those of you who escape will ^(BD)remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have ^[r](BE)been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will ^(BF)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 ^[s]that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

¹¹ “Thus says the Lord ^[t]God, ‘Clap your hand, ^(BG)stamp your foot and say, “^(BH)Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by ^(BI)sword, famine and plague! ¹² He who is ^(BJ)far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I ^(BK)spend My wrath on them. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their ^(BL)slain are among their idols around their altars, on ^(BM)every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ So throughout all their habitations I will ^(BN)stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Punishment for Wickedness Foretold

7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord ^[u]God to the land of Israel, ‘An ^(BO)end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. ⁴ For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will ^(BP)bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will ^(BQ)know that I am the Lord!’

⁵ “Thus says the Lord ^[v]God, ‘A ^(BR)disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! ⁶ An end is coming; the end has come! It has ^(BS)awakened against you; behold, it has come! ⁷ Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The ^(BT)time has come, the ^(BU)day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. ⁸ Now I will shortly ^(BV)pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; ^(BW)judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. ⁹ My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will ^[w]repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting.

¹⁰ ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the ^(BX)rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. ¹¹ Violence ^[x]has grown into a rod of ^(BY)wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their ^(BZ)wealth, nor anything eminent among them. ¹² The ^(CA)time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the ^(CB)buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for ^(CC)wrath is against all their multitude. ¹³ Indeed, the seller will not ^[y](CD)regain ^[z]what he sold as long as ^[aa]they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not ^[ab]be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

¹⁴ ‘They have ^(CE)blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all ^[ac]their multitude. ¹⁵ The ^(CF)sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. ¹⁶ Even when their survivors ^(CG)escape, they will be on the mountains like ^(CH)doves of the valleys, all of them ^[ad](CI)mourning, each over his own iniquity. ¹⁷ All ^(CJ)hands will hang limp and all knees will ^[ae]become like water. ¹⁸ They will ^(CK)gird themselves with sackcloth and ^(CL)shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and ^(CM)baldness on all their heads. ¹⁹ They will ^(CN)fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their ^(CO)silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their ^[af]appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

The Temple Profaned

²⁰ They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and ^(CP)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. ²¹ I will give it into the hands of the ^(CQ)foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. ²² I will also turn My ^(CR)face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

²³ ‘^(CS)Make the chain, for the land is full of ^[ag](CT)bloody crimes and the city is ^(CU)full of violence. ²⁴ Therefore, I will bring the worst of the ^(CV)nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the ^(CW)pride of the strong ones cease, and their ^(CX)holy places will be profaned. ²⁵ When anguish comes, they will seek ^(CY)peace, but there will be none. ^26 (CZ)Disaster will come upon disaster and ^(DA)rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a ^(DB)vision from a prophet, but the ^(DC)law will be lost from the priest and ^(DD)counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king will mourn, the prince will be ^(DE)clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will ^[ah]tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem

8 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord ^[ai]God fell on me there. ² Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of ^[aj]a man; from His loins and downward there was the ^(DF)appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance ^(DG)of ^[ak]glowing metal. ³ He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the ^(DH)Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the ^[al]north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which ^(DI)provokes to jealousy, was located. ⁴ And behold, the ^(DJ)glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

⁵ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(DK)raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this ^(DL)idol of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great ^(DM)abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”

⁷ Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. ⁸ He said to me, “Son of man, now ^(DN)dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. ⁹ And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. ¹¹ Standing in front of them were ^(DO)seventy ^(DP)elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his ^(DQ)censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. ¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘^(DR)The Lord does not see us; the Lord has ^(DS)forsaken the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the entrance of the ^(DT)gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.”

¹⁶ Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their ^(DU)backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and ^(DV)they were ^[am]prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. ¹⁷ He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have ^(DW)filled the land with violence and ^(DX)provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. ¹⁸ Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and ^(DY)though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

The Vision of Slaughter

9 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud ^(DZ)voice saying, “Draw near, ^[an]O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ² Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was ^(EA)a certain man clothed in linen with a ^[ao]writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Then the ^(EB)glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the ^[ap]temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. ⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a ^(EC)mark on the foreheads of the men who ^(ED)sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” ⁵ But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. ^6 [aq]Utterly ^(EE)slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not ^(EF)touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall ^(EG)start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the ^[ar]elders who were before the ^[as]temple. ⁷ And He said to them, “^(EH)Defile the ^[at]temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. ⁸ As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I ^(EI)fell on my face and cried out ^[au]saying, “^(EJ)Alas, Lord ^[av]God! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel ^[aw]by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is ^(EK)filled with blood and the city is ^(EL)full of perversion; for ^(EM)they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ¹⁰ But as for Me, ^(EN)My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but ^(EO)I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

¹¹ Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the ^[ax]writing case ^[ay]reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, in the ^[az](EP)expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a ^(EQ)sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a ^(ER)throne, appeared above them. ² And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Enter between the ^(ES)whirling wheels under the ^[ba]cherubim and fill your hands with ^(ET)coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the ^[bb]temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the ^(EU)inner court. ⁴ Then the ^(EV)glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the ^(EW)temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the ^(EX)brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the ^(EY)voice of ^[bc]God Almighty when He speaks.

⁶ It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹ Then I looked, and behold, ^(EZ)four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a ^[bd](FA)Tarshish stone. ¹⁰ As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they went ^(FB)in any of their four ^[be]directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which ^[bf]they faced, without turning as they went. ¹² Their ^(FC)whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the ^(FD)wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. ¹³ The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. ¹⁴ And ^(FE)each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose up. They are the ^(FF)living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. ¹⁶ Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. ¹⁷ When ^[bg]the cherubim ^(FG)stood still, ^[bh]the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, ^[bi]the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood ^(FH)over the cherubim. ¹⁹ When ^(FI)the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel ^[bj]hovered over them.

²⁰ These are the ^(FJ)living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by ^(FK)the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (FL)Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. ²² As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

11 Moreover, the ^(FM)Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^(FN)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and ^(FO)give evil advice in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ^[bk]This ^(FP)city is the pot and we are the flesh.’ ⁴ Therefore, ^(FQ)prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for ^(FR)I know ^[bl]your ^(FS)thoughts. ⁶ You have ^(FT)multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ^[bm]them.” ⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord ^[bn]God, “Your ^(FU)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^[bo]the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ^[bp]I will ^(FV)bring you out of it. ⁸ You have ^(FW)feared a sword; so I will ^(FX)bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the midst of ^[bq]the city and deliver you into the hands of ^(FY)strangers and ^(FZ)execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will ^(GA)fall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^(GB)border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will ^(GC)not be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel. ¹² Thus you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^(GD)executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^(GE)nations around you.”’”

¹³ Now it came about as I prophesied, that ^(GF)Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^(GG)Alas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your ^[br]relatives, ^[bs]your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; this land has been given ^(GH)us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^(GI)sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will ^(GJ)gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they come there, they will ^(GK)remove all its ^(GL)detestable things and all its abominations from it. ¹⁹ And I will ^(GM)give them one heart, and put a new spirit within ^[bt]them. And I will take the ^(GN)heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^(GO)heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may ^(GP)walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^(GQ)My people, and I shall be their God. ^21 [bu]But as for those whose hearts go after their ^(GR)detestable things and abominations, I will ^(GS)bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim ^(GT)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^(GU)the glory of the God of Israel ^[bv]hovered over them. ²³ The ^(GV)glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(GW)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. ²⁴ And the ^(GX)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ^[bw]in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^[bx](GY)left me. ²⁵ Then I ^(GZ)told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.