Beginning

The Slaughter of the Wicked

9 He cried out also in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Cause those who have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.” ² Six men came from the way of the higher gate which lies toward the north, each with his battle weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen with a writer’s case by his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Then the glory of the God of Israel ascended from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen who had the writer’s case by his side. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan for all the abominations that are done in its midst.”

⁵ To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and strike. Do not let your eye spare or have pity. ⁶ Utterly slay old and young, both maidens and little children, and women. But do not touch any man on whom is the mark. And begin at My sanctuary.” Then they began with the elders who were before the temple.

⁷ Then he said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” So they went out and killed in the city. ⁸ While they were killing, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the rest of Israel by Your pouring out of Your fury upon Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city is full of perverseness. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰ But as for Me, My eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their heads.”

¹¹ Then the man clothed with linen who had the case by his side reported the matter, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

The Glory of God Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and in the expanse that was above the heads of the cherubim there appeared over them, as it were, a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. ² And He spoke to the man clothed with linen and said, “Go in between the wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered in my sight.

³ Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub and stood over the threshold of the temple. And the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of the Almighty God when He speaks.

⁶ When He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, “Take fire from between the wheels, from among the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside the wheel. ⁷ One cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubs, and took some, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed with linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ There appeared among the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

⁹ Then I looked, and there were the four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub. And the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a beryl stone. ¹⁰ As for their appearances, all four had one likeness, as if one wheel had been in the middle of a wheel. ¹¹ When they went, they went on their four sides. They did not turn as they went, but they followed to the place wherever the head looked. They did not turn as they went. ¹² Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels that the four had were full of eyes all round. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. ¹⁴ 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 living creatures that I saw by the River Kebar. ¹⁶ When the cherubim went, the wheels went by them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also would not turn from beside them. ¹⁷ When the cherubim stood, the wheels stood. And when they rose up, the wheels also rose up with them. For the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸ Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹ The cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them. They stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the Lord; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

²⁰ These are the living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the River Kebar. So I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings. And the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. ²² The likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the River Kebar, their appearances and themselves. Each went straight forward.

God’s Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord which faces eastward. And at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, officials of the people. ² Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise mischief and give wicked counsel in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This city is the cauldron, and we are the flesh.’ ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, Say, Thus says the Lord: Thus you have said, O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. ⁶ You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled the streets with them.

⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh and this city is the cauldron. But I will bring you out of the midst of it. ⁸ You have feared the sword, so I will bring a sword upon you, says the Lord God. ⁹ I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you in the border of Israel. ¹² Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in My statutes, or executed My judgments, but have done after the customs of the nations all around you.

¹³ Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

The Exiles’ Return Promised

¹⁴ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁵ Son of man, your brothers, your kindred, your fellow captives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Go far from the Lord. This land has been given to us as a possession.”

¹⁶ Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: Although I have cast them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I will be a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone.

¹⁷ Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

¹⁸ When they come there, they shall take away all the detestable things and all the abominations from it. ¹⁹ I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts walk after the hearts of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them. And the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city. ²⁴ Afterwards the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea to those of the captivity.

So the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ Then I spoke to those of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Judah’s Captivity Symbolized

12 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying: ² Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear. For they are a rebellious house.

³ Therefore, son of man, prepare baggage for captivity and go into captivity by day in their sight. And you shall go into captivity from your place to another place in their sight. It may be that they understand, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴ You shall bring out your belongings by day in their sight, as baggage for exile; and you shall go out at evening in their sight, as those who go into exile. ⁵ Dig a hole through the wall in their sight, and go out thereby. ⁶ In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulders and carry it out in the twilight. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.

⁷ I did so as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day as baggage for captivity, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought it out at twilight, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ In the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁹ Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?”

¹⁰ Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.” ¹¹ Say, “I am your sign.

“As I have done, so it shall be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.”

¹² The prince who is among them shall bear his baggage on his shoulder in the twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry it out thereby. He shall cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³ My net also I will spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans. Yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. ¹⁴ I will scatter toward every wind all who are about him, his helpers and all his troops. And I will draw out the sword after them.

¹⁵ Then they shall know that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the countries. ¹⁶ But I will spare a few men of them from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, so that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go and know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ¹⁸ Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with anxiety. ¹⁹ And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with carefulness and drink their water with astonishment, because their land shall be desolate from all that is in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it. ²⁰ The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.

²¹ The word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²² Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have in the land of Israel, saying, “The days are prolonged, and every vision fails”? ²³ Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will make this proverb cease so that they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, The days are at hand and the effect of every vision. ²⁴ For there shall be no more any vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I the Lord will speak, and the word that I speak shall come to pass. It shall be no more prolonged. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word, and will perform it, says the Lord God.

²⁶ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²⁷ Son of man, look, the house of Israel says, “The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.”

²⁸ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of My words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, says the Lord God.