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.

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. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

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

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord arose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake;

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;

And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced

And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said to me, “Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

So I arose and went forth into the plain; 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.

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.

And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.”

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.”

Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries round about her.

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 according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you;

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.

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; my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.

“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.

You shall be 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—

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

The word of the Lord came to me:

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.

And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

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.

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.