Chronological
5 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor.[a] Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard.[b] Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 3 But take a few strands of hair[c] from those and tie them in the ends of your garment.[d] 4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire,[e] and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations[f] and the countries around her.[g] Indeed, they[h] have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant[i] than the nations around you,[j] you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even[k] carried out the regulations of the nations around you!
8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I—even I—am against you,[l] and I will execute judgment[m] among you while the nations watch.[n] 9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices.[o] 10 Therefore, fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem,[p] and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors[q] to the winds.[r]
11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare[s] you. 12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you.[t] A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you,[u] and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased.[v] Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy[w] when I have fully vented my rage against them.
14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 You will be[x] an object of scorn and taunting,[y] a prime example of destruction[z] among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury.[aa] I, the Lord, have spoken! 16 I will shoot against them deadly,[ab] destructive[ac] arrows of famine,[ad] which I will shoot to destroy you.[ae] I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply.[af] 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will take your children from you.[ag] Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you,[ah] and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Judgment on the Mountains of Israel
6 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[ai] the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel,[aj] hear the word of the Sovereign Lord![ak] This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing[al] a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.[am] 4 Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.[an] 5 I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols,[ao] and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.[ap] 7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord.[aq]
8 “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands.[ar] 9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize[as] how I was crushed by their unfaithful[at] heart that turned from me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves[au] because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices. 10 They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.[av]
11 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, “Ah!” because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.[aw] 12 The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these[ax] will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak[ay]—the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them[az] and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah,[ba] in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
The End Arrives
7 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “You, son of man—this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land![bb] 3 The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you. I will judge[bc] you according to your behavior;[bd] I will hold you accountable for[be] all your abominable practices. 4 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare[bf] you.[bg] For I will hold you responsible for your behavior,[bh] and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices.[bi] Then you will know that I am the Lord!
5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A disaster[bj]—a one-of-a-kind[bk] disaster—is coming! 6 An end comes[bl]—the end comes![bm] It has awakened against you![bn] Look, it is coming![bo] 7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day[bp] is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains.[bq] 8 Soon now I will pour out my rage[br] on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare[bs] you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable,[bt] and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you.[bu]
10 “Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed! 11 Violence[bv] has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left[bw]—not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence.[bx] 12 The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath[by] comes against their whole crowd. 13 The customer will no longer pay the seller[bz] while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd[ca] will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity,[cb] will fail to preserve his life.
14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd.[cc] 15 The sword is outside; pestilence and famine are inside the house. Whoever is in the open field will die by the sword, and famine and pestilence will consume everyone in the city. 16 Their survivors will escape to the mountains and become like doves of the valleys[cd] ; all of them will moan—each one for his iniquity. 17 All their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine.[ce] 18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved bald.[cf] 19 They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth.[cg] Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury.[ch] They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth[ci] was the obstacle leading to their iniquity.[cj] 20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride,[ck] and with it they made their abominable images—their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot, to the world’s wicked ones as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 22 I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place.[cl] Vandals will enter it and desecrate it.[cm] 23 (Make the chain,[cn] because the land is full of murder[co] and the city is full of violence.) 24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries[cp] will be desecrated. 25 Terror[cq] is coming! They will seek peace, but find none. 26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice[cr] I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
A Desecrated Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month,[cs] as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand[ct] of the Sovereign Lord seized me.[cu] 2 As I watched, I noticed[cv] a form that appeared to be a man.[cw] From his waist downward was something like fire,[cx] and from his waist upward something like a brightness,[cy] like an amber glow.[cz] 3 He stretched out the form[da] of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind[db] lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by divine visions, to the door of the inner gate that faces north where the statue[dc] that provokes to jealousy was located. 4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.
5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward[dd] the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the people[de] of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.
9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure[df] of creeping thing and beast—detestable images[dg]—and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around.[dh] 11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel[di] (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant vapors[dj] from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.
12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images?[dk] For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed[dl] women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.[dm] 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there[dn] at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar,[do] were about twenty-five[dp] men with their backs to the Lord’s temple,[dq] facing east—they were worshiping the sun[dr] toward the east!
17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose![ds] 18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare[dt] them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
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