Beginning
Ezekiel Shaves with a Sword
5 “Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.[a] 2 You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you’ve finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword. Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I’ll unsheathe my sword and pursue them. 3 You are to preserve a few strands of hair and hide them in the folds[b] of your garment. 4 Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there.”
Jerusalem’s Desolation Predicted
5 “This is what the Lord God says, ‘This is Jerusalem. I placed her in the center of nations, with many[c] nations surrounding her. 6 But she rebelled against my ordinances and my statutes. She practiced more evil than all the nations and territories around her. They rejected my ordinances and didn’t live by[d] my statutes.’
7 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you’re more disrespectful than the nations that surround you, you didn’t follow my statutes or follow my ordinances. You didn’t even follow the ordinances of the surrounding nations!’
8 “Therefore this is what the Lord God says: ‘Watch out! I—that’s right, even I—am against you. I’ll carry out my sentence among you right in front of the nations. 9 In fact, I’m going to do what I’ve never done before and what I’ll never again do, because of all of your loathsome behavior: 10 Fathers will eat their children in your midst. After this, your sons will eat their fathers as I carry out my sentence against you and scatter your survivors to the winds!’
11 “Therefore, as sure as I live,” declares the Lord God, “because you’ve defiled my sanctuary with every loathsome thing and every abomination, I’ll restrain myself, and I’ll show neither pity nor compassion.[e] 12 A third of you will die by pestilence, starving because of the famine in your midst. Another third will die violently by the violence of war[f] around you. The final third I’ll scatter to the wind as I unsheathe my sword to pursue them.
13 “Only then will I stop being angry—my burning in anger. Then they’ll know that I’ve spoken out in my arduous anger. Only then will my burning anger[g] against them be exhausted. 14 I’m also going to turn you into a waste and an object of insult among the nations that surround you and in front of every person who passes by. 15 As a result, Jerusalem[h] will become an insult, an object of taunt, an example of chastisement, and a useless waste to all the nations that surround you when I carry out my sentence against you in my anger, my burning rage, and my burning rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken it. 16 I’ll send arrows of severe famine in their direction, meant for destruction, which I’ll shoot, intending to destroy them. I’ll make you have more and more famines that will attack you, and I’ll disrupt your source of food.[i]
17 “I’ll send famine and wild beasts against you that will rob you of your children.[j] Pestilence and bloodshed will devastate you when[k] I’ll declare war on[l] you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Prophecy against the Mountains of Israel
6 The Lord continued with his message to me. 2 “Son of Man,” he said, “turn your face to oppose the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Tell the mountains of Israel to listen as the Lord God speaks. This is what the Lord God has to say to the mountains, hills, streams, and the valleys: ‘Look! I’m about to bring my sword against you. I’m going to destroy your high places. 4 Your altars will become desolate and your sun pillars will be shattered. I’ll throw your slain down right in front of your idols. 5 I’ll place the corpses of the Israelis in front of their idols. I’ll scatter your bones around your altar. 6 In all the places where you live, the cities will be desolate. The high places will also be desolate so that your altars will be laid waste, bearing the punishment appropriate to them.[m] Your idols will be shattered, your sun pillars will be hewn down, and your works will be obliterated. 7 The fatally wounded among you will fall, and at that time you’ll know that I am the Lord. 8 I’ll leave a remnant among you—those who will escape the sword when I’ll have scattered you throughout the earth. 9 Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they’ll be taken captives. I’ve been crushed by their unfaithful[n] hearts that have turned against me. 10 Then they’ll know that I am the Lord. I didn’t declare this evil that’s intended for them[o] without a reason.’”
11 This is what the Lord God says: “Clap your hands and stamp your feet! Say, ‘Oh, no!’ Because of all the detestable evil that has come from Israel’s house, they’ll fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence. 12 The one who lives far away will die by pestilence and the one who is near will die violently.[p] The survivors and their surveillance details will die by famine as I exhaust my rage against them.
13 “You’ll learn[q] that I am the Lord, when the fatally wounded will be among their idols, around their altars, on every hill, on top of the mountains, under every luxuriant tree, and under all the full-grown[r] foliage—every place where they’ve offered fragrant aromas to all their idols. 14 I’ll stretch out my hands to strike[s] them and send devastation to the land, from the wilderness of Diblah, throughout all their dwelling places. Then they’ll know that I am the Lord.”
The End has Come
7 This message from the Lord arrived for me: 2 “Son of Man, this is what Lord God says to the land of Israel: ‘It’s over! All four corners of the land are out of time! 3 Your time is up! I’m sending my anger against you to judge you according to how you live your lives,[t] and I’m going to pay you back with the consequences of all your detestable practices. 4 I won’t be showing pity on you and I won’t be showing compassion. I’m going to turn your own lifestyles against you while your detestable practices remain among you. Then you’ll learn[u] that I am the Lord.’”
One Bad Thing after Another
5 “This is what the Lord God says: ‘It’s one evil event after another!
“‘Look out! It’s coming!
6 “‘The end is coming!
“‘The end is here!
“‘And it’s looking in your direction![v]
“‘Look out! It’s arrived!
7 “‘Your doom has come to you, you who live in the land. The time has arrived, and the day of confusion is near. There will be no shouts of joy on the mountains. 8 Very soon now, I’ll pour out my burning anger on you. I’ll complete expressing my anger at you, judge you according to your behavior, and repay you for all your detestable practices. 9 I won’t be showing pity or compassion. I’ll repay you according to your behavior while your detestable practices remain among you. And you’ll know that I, the Lord, have been attacking you.’”[w]
The Harvest Approaches
10 “Look out! The day!
“Look out! It’s coming!
“Doom has blossomed.
“Arrogance has sprouted!
11 “Violence has matured into a branch that is wicked. No one will survive from that vast crowd, from their wealthy people, or from the famous among them.
12 “The time has come!
“The day has arrived.[x] Don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller lament, because wrath is coming to attack the entire multitude. 13 The seller won’t regain what he has sold while the crowd remains[y] alive, because the vision concerning the entire multitude won’t be annulled. No person will be able to survive because of the sin in his life.
14 “They’ve sounded the alarm,[z] and everyone is prepared, but no one is marching for battle, since I’m angry at the entire multitude. 15 The sword lurks outside, but pestilence and famine are on the prowl inside the house. Whoever is in the field will die by violence,[aa] while famine and pestilence will devour those in the city. 16 Fugitives will escape to the mountains like doves fleeing through the valleys, all of them moaning because of their own iniquity. 17 Every hand will be limp. Every knee will glisten with sweat.”[ab]
The Coming Terror
18 “They’ll clothe themselves with sackcloth, terror will overcome them, shame will cover their faces, and baldness will spread over their entire heads. 19 They’ll fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will be cast away as impure. Their silver and gold won’t be able to deliver them during the time[ac] of the Lord’s wrath. They won’t be able to satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs, because their iniquity has tripped them up.”
The Temple Defiled
20 “As for his beautiful ornament,[ad] he set it up in majesty, but they made detestable images and loathsome idols. Therefore, I’ll give them something loathsome— 21 I’ll give it as plunder into the control of strangers and as the spoils of war to the wicked who will invade the land to profane it. 22 I’ll turn my face away from them so that they’ll defile my treasured place. Robbers will enter and profane it!
23 “Forge a chain, because the land is full of bloody judgment and the city is filled with violence. 24 Therefore, I’m bringing the worst of the nations, who will take possession of their houses. I’ll cause the pride of the mighty to cease, and their sanctuaries will be profaned.
25 “When destruction comes, they’ll seek peace, but there will be none to be found. 26 Disaster upon disaster will come, followed by rumor after rumor. They’ll seek an oracle from the prophet, but the Law will be gone from the priests, and counsel from the elders.
27 “The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation,[ae] and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I’ll deal with them according to their behavior and I will judge them by how they’ve judged. Then they’ll learn[af] that I am the Lord.”
The Vision of Jerusalem
8 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I had just sat down in my house, with the elders of Judah seated in front of me. All of a sudden, the hand of the Lord God touched me 2 and I saw a likeness comparable to the appearance of a man. From his thighs downward there was the appearance of fire, and from his waist upward, there was the appearance of brightness that looked like brass.
3 The form of a hand reached out and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, brought me toward Jerusalem, and in visions that came from God took me through the doors of the inner gate that faced north, where an image that provoked God’s jealous anger had been erected.
4 All of a sudden, the glory of the God of Israel was there! It looked like what I had seen back in the valley. 5 Then he told me, “Son of Man, look up toward the north.”
So I looked off toward the north. Suddenly, off toward the north, facing the gate that led to the altar, the image that provoked God’s jealousy was standing near the entrance.
6 Then the Spirit[ag] told me, “Son of Man, don’t you see what they’re doing? The house of Israel practices awful, detestable things here, so I’m going far away from my sanctuary. But you’re about to see things even more detestable than these.”
Idol Worship in the Temple
7 Then the Spirit[ah] brought me to the entrance of the court. As I watched, all of a sudden, there was a[ai] hole in the wall! 8 Then he told me, “Son of Man, dig through the wall!” So I dug into the wall. That’s when I uncovered an entrance!
9 Then he told me, “Go on through that entrance, so you may see the wicked, detestable things that they’re committing here.”
10 So I entered, looked around, and there was every form of crawling thing, loathsome animals, and all kinds of idols from the house of Israel carved all around the wall. 11 I saw 70 men from the elders of the house of Israel standing among them, including Shaphan’s son Jaazaniah. Each man held a censer in his hand. As the scent of the cloud of incense ascended, 12 the Spirit[aj] asked me, “Do you see, Son of Man, what the elders of Israel’s house are doing in secret, each in the chamber of his own carved idol? They keep saying, ‘God doesn’t see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”
13 Then the Spirit[ak] told me, “You’re about to see even more detestable practices that they’re doing!”
Women Weeping for Tammuz
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate to the Lord’s Temple, which faced the north. That’s where I saw women seated, weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he asked me, “Do you see this, Son of Man? You’re about to see even more detestable practices than these.”
Sun Worship in the Temple
16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s Temple. There, at the entrance to the Lord’s Temple, between the porch and the altar, were 25 men, with their backs toward the Lord’s Temple and facing the east, prostrating themselves to the sun.
17 “Do you see this, Son of Man?” he asked me. “Is it an insignificant thing for Judah’s house to commit the detestable things that they’re doing here? They’ve filled the land with violence and turned away from me, causing me to become angry again. Look how they’re sniffing with their noses![al] 18 I’m going to deal with them in rage and anger. I’ll show neither pity nor compassion. They’ll cry loudly directly in my ears, but I won’t listen to them.”
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