Beginning
Yahweh’s Avenging Messenger Destroys the Wicked in the City
9 And he called in my ears with a loud voice, saying,[a] “They have come near,[b] the punishers of the city, and each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. 2 And look! Six men coming from the way of the upper gate[c] that faced northward,[d] and each with his weapon for[e] shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and the[f] writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel lifted itself up from upon the cherub that he was on[g] and went to the threshold of the house,[h] and he called to the man who was clothed in linen with a scribal writing case at his side.[i] 4 And Yahweh said to him, “Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and lamenting[j] about all of the detestable things that are being done[k] in the midst of her.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. 6 You must kill totally[l] old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but concerning[m] every man with the mark on him[n] you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin.” And they began with the old men who were before[o] the house.[p] 7 And he said to them, “Defile the house[q] and fill the courtyards with the dead; go out! And they went out, and they killed in the city. 8 And then[r] as they were striking,[s] and I was left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! “Will you be destroying all of the remnant of Israel while you pour out your rage[t] on Jerusalem?” 9 And he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly[u] great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and Yahweh does not see.[v] 10 And I, my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion; their way I will bring on their head.” 11 And look! The man clothed in linen and with a writing case at his side[w] was bringing back a word, saying,[x] “I have done all that you commanded me.”
God’s Presence Leaves the Temple
10 And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,[y] and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spoke[z] to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim[aa] and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. 3 Now[ab] the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,[ac] and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward[ad] the threshold of the house,[ae] and the house[af] was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as[ag] the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai[ah] when he speaks.[ai]
6 And then at his command[aj] to the man clothed in linen, saying,[ak] “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from among[al] the cherubim toward the fire that was among[am] the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave[an] it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.
8 And there appeared for[ao] the cherubim the form of a human hand[ap] under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,[aq] and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.[ar] 10 Their appearance[as] was the same for each of the four of them,[at] as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went[au] to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,[av] for the place to which the head[aw] turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And their whole body,[ax] and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.[ay] 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.[az] 14 And each one had four faces;[ba] the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures[bb] that I saw at the Kebar River.[bc] 16 And when the cherubim went,[bd] the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,[be] the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 When they stood,[bf] they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 And the glory of Yahweh went out from[bg] the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels were[bh] beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple[bi] of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[bj]
20 This was[bk] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the Kebar River,[bl] and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces,[bm] and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands[bn] was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the Kebar River;[bo] thus was their appearance, and they each went straight ahead.[bp]
Judgment On Evil Rulers
11 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple[bq] of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. 2 And he said to me, “Son of man,[br] these are the men who devise mischief,[bs] and who are offering bad counsel in this city, 3 who are saying, “The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh. 4 Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”[bt]
5 And the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say, ‘thus says Yahweh: “This is what you think, house of Israel, and I myself know them,[bu] the thoughts of your spirit. 6 You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain ones.”’[bv] 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they are the flesh, and it is the pot, and I[bw] will bring you out from its midst. 8 The sword you have feared, and the sword I will bring against you!” declares[bx] the Lord Yahweh. 9 “And I will bring you out from its midst, and I will give you into the hand of strangers, and I will execute judgments against you. 10 By the sword you will fall at the border of Israel; I will judge you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 11 It will not be as a pot to you, and so you would be[by] in the midst of it as flesh, for at the border of Israel I will judge you. 12 And you will know that I am Yahweh, whose[bz] rules you did not follow, and whose[ca] regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you acted.”’[cb]
13 And it happened that as I was prophesying,[cc] Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried with a loud voice, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, you are making a complete destruction of the remnant of Israel!” 14 And the word of Yahweh came[cd] to me, saying,[ce] 15 “Son of man,[cf] your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem,[cg] ‘They are far from Yahweh, therefore to us this land was given as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries to which they have gone.’”[ch] 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you. 18 And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it. 19 And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give[ci] in their inner parts. And I will remove their[cj] heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God. 21 But to[ck] the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” declares[cl] the Lord Yahweh.’”
22 Then[cm] the cherubim lifted up their wings, and their[cn] wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[co] 23 And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles,[cp] in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen left me.[cq] 25 And I spoke to the exiles[cr] all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.
The Announcement of the Imminent Coming of the Exile
12 And the word of Yahweh came[cs] to me, saying,[ct] 2 “Son of man,[cu] you are dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion who has eyes to see and they do not see;[cv] they have ears to hear,[cw] and they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion. 3 And you, son of man,[cx] prepare for yourself[cy] the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into[cz] exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion. 4 And you must bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like those who go into exile.[da] 5 Before their eyes dig through for yourself,[db] through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it. 6 Before their eyes, on your[dc] shoulder, you must lift up the baggage in the dusk, and your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you as a sign to the house of Israel.” 7 And I did just as[dd] I was commanded; my baggage, like the baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself[de] into[df] the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought the baggage on my shoulder; I carried it before their eyes. 8 And the word of Yahweh came[dg] to me in the morning, saying,[dh] 9 “Son of man,[di] did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and the entire[dj] house of Israel who are among them.”’[dk] 11 Say, ‘I am your sign, and just as[dl] I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into[dm] captivity they will go.’ 12 And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, and[dn] he will go out; the wall will be dug through[do] to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will[dp] not see the land with his[dq] eye. 13 And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. 14 And all who are around him, his help[dr] and all of his troops I will scatter in every direction,[ds] and I will draw[dt] the sword behind them. 15 And they will know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them[du] among the nations and I scatter them in the countries. 16 But[dv] I will spare from them a few men[dw] from the sword, from the famine and from the plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will go, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”
17 And the word of Yahweh came[dx] to me, saying,[dy] 18 “Son of man,[dz] you must eat your food with trembling, and your water with shuddering, and with anxiety you must drink. 19 And you must say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: “They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate from[ea] its fullness because of all the violence of those who are dwelling in it.[eb] 20 And the inhabited cites will be desolate,[ec] and the land will be a desolation, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
21 And the word of Yahweh came[ed] to me, saying,[ee] 22 “Son of man,[ef] what is this proverb you people have[eg] about the land of Israel, saying,[eh] ‘The days are prolonged,[ei] and every vision has come to nothing.’ 23 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel.”’ But[ej] say to them, ‘The days are near, and also the word of every vision.’ 24 For there will not be any longer any false vision[ek] or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel. 25 For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak as a word, and it will be done. It will not prolong itself any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!” declares[el] the Lord Yahweh. 26 And the word of Yahweh came[em] to me, saying,[en] 27 “Son of man,[eo] look! The house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he is seeing is for many days from now, and for distant times he is prophesying.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “None of my words will be prolonged any longer that I speak as a word, and it will be fulfilled!”’” declares[ep] the Lord Yahweh.
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