Beginning

Chapter 9^[a]

Punishment of the Idolaters. ¹ Then he shouted loudly for me to hear: “The scourges of the city are drawing near, each brandishing his weapon of destruction.” ² Thereupon, I saw six men approaching from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each one with a weapon for slaughter in his hand. Among them was a man clothed in linen,^[b] with the necessary paraphernalia for writing in his hand. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ The glory of the God of Israel had risen above the cherubim upon which it rested to the threshold of the temple. Then he called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing case at his side, ⁴ and he said to him: “Go throughout the city, throughout Jerusalem, and mark^[c] with a cross the foreheads of all those who grieve and lament over all the abominable practices that run rampant throughout its boundaries.”

⁵ To the others I heard him say: “Follow him throughout the city and kill, without looking upon them with pity or showing them any mercy. ⁶ Cut down old men, young men and maidens, small children and women, but touch no one who is marked on the forehead with a cross. Begin at my sanctuary.” And so they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. ⁷ Then he said to them: “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with the slain.” Then they went forth and killed their way through the city.

⁸ While they continued with their mission of slaying, I was left alone. Throwing myself on the ground, I cried out, “Ah, Lord God, will you annihilate all that is left of Israel by pouring out your wrath on Jerusalem?” ⁹ He answered: “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is filled with bloodshed and the city is filled with perversity. They believe that the Lord has forsaken the land and that he does not see. ¹⁰ However, I will not look upon them with pity or show them any mercy. I will bring down their deeds upon their heads.”

¹¹ Then the man clothed in linen and carrying the writing case reported, “I have done as you commanded me.”

Chapter 10

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple. ¹ Then I looked and observed that above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim there was what appeared to be a sapphire in the shape of a throne. ² The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go within the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill both of your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” As I looked on, the man entered.

³ The cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple as the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. ⁴ Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the entire court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God when he speaks.

⁶ When the Lord had commanded the man dressed in linen to take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim, the man entered and stood by one of the wheels. ⁷ Then one of the cherubim stretched out his hand to the fire in their midst, took up some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and then went outside. ⁸ The cherubim seemed to have under their wings what appeared to be a human hand.

⁹ As I looked on, I saw that there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels had the appearance of sparkling chrysolite. ¹⁰ As for their appearance, all four seemed to be identical, something like a wheel within a wheel.

¹¹ When the cherubim moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering from their course. In whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without swerving as they moved. ¹² Their entire bodies—their backs, their hands, and their wings—were filled with eyes, as were their wheels.

¹³ As for the wheels, I heard them called “the wheelworks.” ¹⁴ Each one had four faces. The first face was that of a cherub, the second was that of a human, the third was that of a lion, and the fourth was that of an eagle.

¹⁵ The cherubim rose up—the identical living creatures that I had seen by the River Chebar. ¹⁶ When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the cherubim lifted up their wings and rose from the ground, the wheels at their side did not veer. ¹⁷ When they stopped, the others stopped, and when they rose up, the others rose with them, for the Spirit of the living creatures was in them.

^18 [d]Then the glory of the Lord came forth from the threshold of the temple and paused above the cherubim. ¹⁹ The cherubim lifted up their wings, and I beheld them as they rose from the ground, with the wheels beside them. They halted at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was with them.

²⁰ These were the living creatures that I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Each had four faces and four wings, and underneath their wings were what appeared to be human hands. ²² Their faces were identical to those I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one moved straight ahead.

Chapter 11

Punishment of the Rulers. ¹ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the temple of the Lord that faces eastward. There at the entrance to the gate twenty-five men were standing. Among them I saw Jaazaniah, the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

² The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil deeds and offering wicked counsel in this city. ³ They say, ‘The time has not yet come to build houses. This city is the cooking pot and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore, prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he instructed me to say: Thus says the Lord. This is what you are saying to yourselves, house of Israel, and I am well aware of what you are plotting. ⁶ You have killed many in this city and filled its streets with the slain.

⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Those in the city whom you have slain are the meat, and the city is the pot, but I shall remove you from it.^{[e] 8} You are in dread of the sword, and I fully intend to bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God.

⁹ I will drive you from the city and hand you over to foreigners, and inflict punishments upon you. ¹⁰ You will fall by the sword, and I will pass judgment upon you at the border of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord.

¹¹ This city shall not be a cooking pot for you, nor shall you be the meat inside it. I will judge you at the border of Israel. ¹² Then you will know that I am the Lord whose statutes you have not obeyed and whose judgments you have not followed. Rather you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.

^13 [f]While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, fell dead. I threw myself on the ground and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord God, do you intend to wipe out completely the remnant of Israel?”

¹⁴ Restoration of the People in Exile. Then the word of the Lord was addressed to me: ¹⁵ Son of man, it is about your brothers and your kinsmen and the entire house of Israel that the inhabitants of Israel have said, “They have strayed far from the Lord. This land has been given to us as our possession.”

¹⁶ Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Although I removed them far away among the nations and scattered them over the earth, I have nevertheless been a sanctuary to them for a time in the countries where they settled.

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

¹⁸ When they return there, they will purge it of all its vile and abominable practices. ¹⁹ I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh.

²⁰ Thus, they will live according to my statutes and observe and obey my ordinances. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ However, those whose hearts are determined to continue their vile and abominable practices I will force to answer for all they have done. Thus says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted their wings, with the wheels beside them and the glory of the God of Israel above them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. ²³ The glory of the Lord rose from the center of the city and halted on the mountain to the east of it. ²⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. After the vision I had seen faded, ²⁵ I told the exiles everything that the Lord had revealed to me.

Chapter 12

Acts Symbolic of the Exile.^{[g] 1} This word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes with which to see, but they do not see, and they have ears with which to hear, but they do not hear, for they are rebellious by their very nature.

³ Therefore, son of man, while they observe you, pack up your belongings and set off from your home into exile during the day. Perhaps this will cause them to understand that they are a rebellious people. ⁴ Bring out your belongings during the day as they are watching, and in the evening, again as they watch, go forth like one who has been driven into exile.

⁵ Then, as they continue to observe you, dig a hole in the wall and make your way through it. ⁶ In their presence, lift your pack onto your shoulder and set out into the darkness. Cover your face so that you may not see the land, for I have established you as a sign for the house of Israel.

⁷ I did exactly what I had been commanded. In the daytime I brought out my belongings that had been packed for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. While they looked on, I set out in the darkness, shouldering my burden.

⁸ On the following morning, this word of the Lord was addressed to me: ⁹ Son of man, did the house of Israel, that rebellious people, not even ask you what you were doing? ¹⁰ Say to them: Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and the entire house of Israel living within its territory. ¹¹ Tell them: I am a sign for you. As I have done, so will it be done to them. As captives they will go into exile. ¹² Their prince who is among them will shoulder his pack in the darkness and go out through a hole that he has dug in the wall. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land.

¹³ However, I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will take him to Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, where he will die without ever seeing it. ¹⁴ As for his retinue, his attendants, and all his troops, I will scatter them to the four winds and pursue them with the sword.

¹⁵ Then they will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout foreign countries. ¹⁶ However, I will allow a few of them to escape the sword, famine, and pestilence so that they may relate all of their abominable practices to the nations where they have been exiled. Thus they will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Son of man, tremble as you eat your bread, and shake with anxiety as you drink your water, ¹⁹ and you are to say to the people of that land: Thus says the Lord about those who live in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread in fearfulness and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything within it because of the violence of all those who live there. ²⁰ The inhabited cities will lie in ruins, and the land will be a desolate waste. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.

²¹ Fulfillment of Visions. This word of the Lord then came to me: ²² Son of man, there is a saying that has become fashionable in regard to the land of Israel: “The days drag by, and no visions are ever fulfilled.” ²³ Therefore, tell the people: Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and it will never again be spoken in the land of Israel.

Rather, say to them: The days are close at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴ There will no longer be any false visions or deceptive divinations within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I, the Lord, will speak, and what I say will come true without the slightest delay. In your lifetime, O rebellious house, whatever I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.

²⁶ This word of the Lord then came to me: ²⁷ Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that this man relates is meant to be fulfilled in the far distant future.” ²⁸ Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: The fulfillment of my words will not be delayed any longer. What I have said will be done now. This is the word of the Lord God.”