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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,[a] and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spoke[b] to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim[c] 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[d] the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,[e] and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward[f] the threshold of the house,[g] and the house[h] 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[i] the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai[j] when he speaks.[k]
6 And then at his command[l] to the man clothed in linen, saying,[m] “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[n] the cherubim toward the fire that was among[o] the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave[p] 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[q] the cherubim the form of a human hand[r] under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,[s] and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.[t] 10 Their appearance[u] was the same for each of the four of them,[v] as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went[w] to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,[x] for the place to which the head[y] turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And their whole body,[z] 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.[aa] 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.[ab] 14 And each one had four faces;[ac] 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[ad] that I saw at the Kebar River.[ae] 16 And when the cherubim went,[af] the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,[ag] the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 When they stood,[ah] 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[ai] 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[aj] beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple[ak] of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[al]
20 This was[am] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the Kebar River,[an] and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces,[ao] and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands[ap] was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the Kebar River;[aq] thus was their appearance, and they each went straight ahead.[ar]
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[as] 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,[at] these are the men who devise mischief,[au] 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!”[av]
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,[aw] the thoughts of your spirit. 6 You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain ones.”’[ax] 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[ay] will bring you out from its midst. 8 The sword you have feared, and the sword I will bring against you!” declares[az] 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[ba] 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[bb] rules you did not follow, and whose[bc] regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you acted.”’[bd]
13 And it happened that as I was prophesying,[be] 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[bf] to me, saying,[bg] 15 “Son of man,[bh] 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,[bi] ‘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.’”[bj] 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[bk] in their inner parts. And I will remove their[bl] 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[bm] the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” declares[bn] the Lord Yahweh.’”
22 Then[bo] the cherubim lifted up their wings, and their[bp] wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[bq] 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,[br] in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen left me.[bs] 25 And I spoke to the exiles[bt] all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.
A Serious Warning Against Falling Away
6 Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 teaching about baptisms and laying on of hands, and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they[a] have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt. 7 For ground that drinks the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth vegetation usable to those people for whose sake[b] it is also cultivated, shares a blessing from God. 8 But if it[c] produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to a curse, whose end is for burning.
9 But even if we are speaking in this way, dear friends, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and belonging to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and the love which you demonstrated for his name by[d] having served the saints, and continuing to serve them. 11 And we desire each one of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, 12 in order that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and patience.
The Reliability of God’s Promise
13 For when[e] God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying,
15 And so, by[h] persevering, he obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. 17 In the same way God, because he[i] wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, 18 in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, 19 which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, and entering into the inside of the curtain, 20 where Jesus, the forerunner for us, entered, because he[j] became a high priest forever[k] according to the order of Melchizedek.
16 Then he called for a famine upon the land;
he broke every supply[a] of bread.
17 He sent a man on ahead of them;
Joseph was sold as a slave.
18 They clamped[b] his feet in fetters.[c]
His neck[d] went into irons.[e]
19 Until the time his word came about,
the word of Yahweh tested[f] him.
20 The king sent and he freed him;
the ruler of the peoples sent and let him loose.
21 He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to obligate[g] his officials as he saw fit[h]
and teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt,
and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Ham.
24 And he[i] made his people very fruitful.
He also made them[j] stronger than their[k] enemies.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
to deal deceitfully against his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
together with Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They set before them the words concerning his signs
and portents in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made it dark,
and they did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and it killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came flies
and gnats throughout all their territory.[l]
32 He gave hail for their rains
and the fire of lightning in their land.
33 And he struck their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke and there came locusts
and young locusts without number.
35 And they ate up all the vegetation in their land,
and they ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 And he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first of all their virility.
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,[a]
for you do not know what the day will bring.
2 May another praise you and not your own mouth,
a stranger and not your own lips.
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