Online Bible in Modern English The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel

Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Ezekiel 1

Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim”. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of Yahweh Yahweh is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was there on him.

I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire. Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings. Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass. They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings thus: their wings were joined one to another; they didn’t turn when they went; each one went straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies. Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn’t turn when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t turn when they went. As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above. Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings. There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.

Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

Ezekiel 2

Ezekiel’s Call and Commission

He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you”. The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me. He said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I am sending you to them; and you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord The Hebrew word translated “Lord” is “Adonai” Yahweh’. They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

“You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don’t be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious.

“But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don’t be rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.” When I looked, behold, a hand was put forth to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein; He spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Ezekiel 3

He said to me, “Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. He said to me, “Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are obstinateLiterally, have a hard forehead and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh’; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.”

Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, “Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place”. I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

Ezekiel as Watchman for Israel

It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.”

The hand of Yahweh was there on me; and he said to me, “Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house. But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them: and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh’: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.”

Ezekiel 4

A Sign of the Coming Siege of Jerusalem

“You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem: and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

“Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it to you. You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it. Behold, I lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.

“Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it; according to the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, you shall eat of it. Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time you shall eat it. You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a gallon: from time to time you shall drink. You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man. Yahweh said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.

“Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.” Then he said to me, “Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon. Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay: that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.”

Ezekiel 5

Signs of Coming Judgment on Jerusalem

You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber’s razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair. A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts. Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are around her. She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you; therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.

“Therefore, as I live”, says the Lord Yahweh, “surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity. A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.

“Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them. Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;) when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread; and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”

Ezekiel 6

Prophecy Against Idolatry in Israel

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries. Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols. I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 7

Coming of the End

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end is come on the four corners of the land. Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes. Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike.

“Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither shall there be eminency among them. The time is come, the day draws near: don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

“They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude. The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing. I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.

“Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned. Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumor shall be on rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 8

Vision of Abominations in the Temple

It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me. Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north”. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations.”

He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door. He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here”. So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.’” He said also to me, “You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.”

Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these.”

He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”

Ezekiel 9

Vision of Idolaters' Execution

Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand”. Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.

The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side. Yahweh said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst.”

To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike: don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity; kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary.” Then they began at the old men that were before the house. He said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!” They went forth, and struck in the city.

It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

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 full of perversion: for they say, Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see. As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.” Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, “I have done as you have commanded me.”

Ezekiel 10

Vision of God’s Glory Departing the Temple

Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, “Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city”. He went in as I watched.

Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh’s glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn’t turn as they went. Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn’t turn from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

Ezekiel 11

Corrupt Rulers and Promise of Israel’s Restoration

Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city; who say, The time is not near to build houses: this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.”

The Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Speak, Thus says Yahweh: Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of its midst. You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh. I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the flesh in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.”

It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far away from Yahweh. This land has been given to us for a possession.’ Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come.

“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: 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’. They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there. I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; 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. But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city. The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.

Ezekiel 12

Signs of Israel’s Coming Exile

The word of Yahweh also came to me, saying, “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, you son of man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight; and you shall move from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. You shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for moving; and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile. Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your stuff out that way. In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you don’t see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.

I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.

In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me, saying, “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing’? Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are’. Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.

“The prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; and tell the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and despoiled of all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein. The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel’; but tell them, ‘The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel’. For I am Yahweh; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off. Therefore tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 13

Condemnation of False Prophets

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh. They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, Yahweh says; but Yahweh has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. Haven’t you seen a false vision, and haven’t you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, Yahweh says; but I have not spoken?

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,’ says the Lord Yahweh. ’My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’

“Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, ‘Peace; and there is no peace;’ and when one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash: tell those who plaster it with whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it. Behold, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?”

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it. So will I break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it with whitewash; and I will tell you, The wall is no more, neither those who plastered it; to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,’ says the Lord Yahweh.

“You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them, and say, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.”

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls whom you hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive: Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 14

Idolatrous Leaders and Certainty of Judgment

Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

“Therefore speak to them, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.’

“Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself: and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’

“If the prophet is deceived and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks to him; that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God”, says the Lord Yahweh.

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal; though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh.

“If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals; though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal; though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

“Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal; though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal! Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it. They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 15

Israel Symbolized as a Useless Vine

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 16

Parable of an Unfaithful Bride

Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations; and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite. As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren’t salted at all, nor swaddled at all. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.

“‘When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live. I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

“‘Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine. Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was. You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them; and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them. My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it was, says the Lord Yahweh. Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter, that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them? In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.

“‘It has happened after all your wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh), that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street. You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution. You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger. See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren’t satisfied. You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this.

“‘How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute; in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay. A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution. You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.

“‘Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them; therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords. They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more. So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.

“‘Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

“‘Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done. You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.

“‘I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them; that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate. For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around. You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh.’”

God’s Everlasting Covenant with Israel

“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant. I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 17

Parable of Eagles and the Vine

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree. It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

“‘There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. Say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots. Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.’”

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon: and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land; that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

“‘As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.

“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head. I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me. All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell. All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.’”

Ezekiel 18

Individual Responsibility for Sin

The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, “What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge?’

“As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.

“But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right, and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity, and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.

“If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things, and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor’s wife, has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.

“Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father’s sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like; who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

“As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity. Yet you say, Why doesn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

“But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live. ’Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live? But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal? When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?

“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.”

Ezekiel 19

Lamentation for the Princes of Israel

Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say,

This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Ezekiel 20

Rebellion, Judgment and Restoration

It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh,’ I will not be inquired of by you.

“‘Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers; and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God; in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. I said to them, Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

“‘But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

“‘But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

“‘I said to their children in the wilderness, “Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them; and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.”

“‘But the children rebelled against me; they didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth. Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.’

“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. Then I said to them, What does the high place where you go mean? So its name is called Bamah Hebrew Bamah means “High Place” to this day.

“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations? and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you; and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, ‘We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’

“As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you: and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh. I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things. As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers. There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South; and tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’”

Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’”

Ezekiel 21

Parable of Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; and tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.

“Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness you will sigh before their eyes. It shall be, when they tell you, Why do you sigh? that you shall say, Because of the news, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Say,

“‘A sword, a sword,
it is sharpened, and also furbished;
it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter;
it is furbished that it may be as lightning:

“‘shall we then make mirth? the rod of my son, it condemns every tree. It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer. Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh. For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more? says the Lord Yahweh.’

“You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms. I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter. Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set. I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”

The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, “Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city. You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts. It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand. You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

“You, son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning; while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day is come in the time of the iniquity of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you. I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy. You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be remembered no more: for I, Yahweh, have spoken it.’”

Ezekiel 22

Indictment of Bloody Jerusalem

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her! You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one and full of tumult.

“‘Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood. In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness. In you have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you. You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you. Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.’”

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation’. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst. Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

“I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 23

Two Adulterous Sisters

The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: and they played the prostitute in Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. The names of them were Oholah Hebrew Oholah means “My Tent” or “she who has a tent” the elder, and Oholibah Hebrew Oholibah means “My Tent is in her” her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

“Oholah played the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither has she left her prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their prostitution on her. Therefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.

“Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her sister. She doted on the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way. She increased her prostitution; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, dressed with girdles on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. As soon as she saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them. So she uncovered her prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the prostitute in the land of Egypt. She doted on their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth.

“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury; they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated; and they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare; and the nakedness of your prostitution shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your prostitution. These things shall be done to you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“You will drink of your sister’s cup,
which is deep and large;
you will be ridiculed and held in derision;
it contains much.
You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
with the cup of astonishment and desolation,
with the cup of your sister Samaria.
You shall even drink it and drain it out,
and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it,
and shall tear your breasts;
for I have spoken it,
says the Lord Yahweh.

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.”

Yahweh said moreover to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured. Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.

“Furthermore you have sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate yourself with ornaments, and sit on a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil. The voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said of her who was old in adulteries, Now will they play the prostitute with her, and she with them. They went in to her, as they go in to a prostitute: so went they in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed back and forth and robbed. The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness. They shall recompense your lewdness on you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 24

Sign of the Boiling Pot

Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, write the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this same day. Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,

“‘I, Yahweh, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

Also the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, behold, I will take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don’t cover your lips, and don’t eat men’s bread.” So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

The people said to me, “Won’t you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?” Then I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Speak to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword. You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another. Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’

“You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters, that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears? In that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so you will be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 25

PROPHECIES OF JUDGMENT AGAINST THE NATIONS (Chapters 25-32)

Prophecy Against Ammon

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them: and tell the children of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against the land of Israel; therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Prophecy Against Moab

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations; therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, to the children of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. and I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Prophecy Against Ammon

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them; therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword. I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Prophecy Against the Philistines

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity; therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.’”

Ezekiel 26

Prophecy Against Tyre

It happened in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste’: therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I am against you, Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring on Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and many people. He shall kill your daughters in the field with the sword; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground. They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters. I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard. I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I Yahweh have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh.

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre: shall not the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you,

“‘How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men,
the renowned city, who was strong in the sea,
she and her inhabitants,
who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!
Now shall the islands tremble
in the day of your fall;
yes, the islands that are in the sea
shall be dismayed at your departure.’

“For thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you; then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 27

A Lamentation for Tyre

The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, “You, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; and tell Tyre, you who dwell at the entry of the sea, who are the merchant of the peoples to many islands, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘The men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around, and valorous men were in your towers; they hanged their shields on your walls all around; they have perfected your beauty.

“‘Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for your merchandise. They of the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with horses and war horses and mules. The men of Dedan were your traffickers; many islands were the market of your hand: they brought you in exchange horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your handiworks: they traded for your wares with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies. Judah, and the land of Israel, they were your traffickers: they traded for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, and confections, and honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus was your merchant for the multitude of your handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool. Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for your wares: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among your merchandise. Dedan was your trafficker in precious cloths for riding. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they your merchants. The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers; they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were your traffickers. These were your traffickers in choice wares, in wrappings of blue and embroidered work, and in chests of rich clothing, bound with cords and made of cedar, among your merchandise. The ships of Tarshish were your caravans for your merchandise: and you were replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.

“‘Your rowers have brought you into great waters: the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is in the midst of you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.

Ezekiel 28

Prophecy Against the Prince / King of Tyre

The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying,

“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you did set your heart as the heart of God— behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you; by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures; by your great wisdom and by your traffic you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches.

“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you,
the terrible of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords
against the beauty of your wisdom,
and they shall defile your brightness.
They shall bring you down to the pit;
and you shall die the death of those who are slain,
in the heart of the seas.
Will you yet say before him who kills you,
I am God?
but you are man, and not God,
in the hand of him who wounds you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of strangers:
for I have spoken it,
says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘You seal up the sum,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and beryl.
Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you.
In the day that you were created they were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers:
and I set you so that you were
on the holy mountain of God;
you have walked up and down
in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were perfect in your ways
from the day that you were created,
until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your traffic
they filled the midst of you with violence,
and you have sinned:
therefore I have cast you as profane
out of the mountain of God;
and I have destroyed you, covering cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
you have corrupted your wisdom
by reason of your brightness:
I have cast you to the ground;
I have laid you before kings,
that they may see you.
By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your traffic,
you have profaned your sanctuaries;
therefore have I brought forth a fire
from the midst of you;
it has devoured you,
and I have turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all those who see you.
All those who know you among the peoples
shall be astonished at you:
you have become a terror,
and you shall nevermore have any being.’”

Prophecy Against Sidon

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against it, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘Behold, I am against you, Sidon;
and I will be glorified in the midst of you;
and they shall know that I am Yahweh,
when I shall have executed judgments in her,
and shall be sanctified in her.
For I will send pestilence into her,
and blood into her streets;
and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her,
with the sword on her on every side;
and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor a hurting thorn of any that are around them, that did despite to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob. They shall dwell securely therein; yes, they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell securely, when I have executed judgments on all those who do them despite all around them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh their God.’”

Ezekiel 29

Prophecy Against Egypt

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster that lies
in the midst of his rivers,
that has said, ‘My river is my own,
and I have made it for myself.’
I will put hooks in your jaws,
and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales;
and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
with all the fish of your rivers
which stick to your scales.
I’ll cast you forth into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your rivers.
You’ll fall on the open field.
You won’t be brought together, nor gathered.
I have given you for food
to the animals of the earth
and to the birds of the sky.
All the inhabitants of Egypt
will know that I am Yahweh,
because they have been a staff of reed
to the house of Israel.
When they took hold of you by your hand,
you broke, and tore all their shoulders;
and when they leaned on you,
you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs.

“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, “The river is mine, and I have made it;” therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered; and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’”

It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh.

“In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 30

A Lament over Egypt’s Coming Doom

The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy, and say, “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘Wail, Alas for the day!
For the day is near,
even the day of Yahweh is near;
it shall be a day of clouds,
a time of the nations.
A sword shall come on Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Ethiopia,
when the slain shall fall in Egypt;
and they shall take away her multitude,
and her foundations shall be broken down.

“‘Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus says Yahweh:

“‘They also who uphold Egypt shall fall;
and the pride of her power shall come down:
from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword,
says the Lord Yahweh.
They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate;
and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
They shall know that I am Yahweh,
when I have set a fire in Egypt,
and all her helpers are destroyed.

“‘In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
He and his people with him,
the terrible of the nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land;
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt,
and fill the land with the slain.
I will make the rivers dry,
and will sell the land into the hand of evil men;
and I will make the land desolate,
and all that is therein,
by the hand of strangers:
I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
I will also destroy the idols,
and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis;
and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt:
and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set a fire in Zoan,
and will execute judgments on No [Thebes].
I will pour my wrath on Sin [Pelusium],
the stronghold of Egypt;
and I will cut off the multitude of No [Thebes].
I will set a fire in Egypt:
Sin shall be in great anguish,
and No [Thebes] shall be broken up;
and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime.
The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword;
and these cities shall go into captivity.
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself,
when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt,
and the pride of her power shall cease in her:
as for her, a cloud shall cover her,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt;
and they shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 31

Prophecy Against Egypt and Assyria

It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude:

“‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches,
and with a forest-like shade,
and of high stature;
and its top was among the thick boughs.
The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow:
its rivers ran all around its plantation;
and it sent out its channels
to all the trees of the field.
Therefore its stature was exalted
above all the trees of the field;
and its boughs were multiplied,
and its branches became long by reason of many waters,
when it shot them forth.
All the birds of the sky
made their nests in its boughs;
and under its branches did all the animals of the field
bring forth their young;
and under its shadow
lived all great nations.
Thus was it beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches;
for its root was by many waters.
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it;
the fir trees were not like its boughs,
and the plane trees were not as its branches;
nor was any tree in the garden of God
like it in its beauty.
I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches,
so that all the trees of Eden,
that were in the garden of God, envied it.

“‘Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness. Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches; to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when he went down to Sheol Sheol is the place of the dead I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth. They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

“‘To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 32

A Lament for Pharaoh and Egypt

It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him,

“‘You were likened to a young lion of the nations:
yet you are as a monster in the seas;
and you did break forth with your rivers,
and troubled the waters with your feet,
and fouled their rivers.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘I will spread out my net on you
with a company of many peoples;
and they shall bring you up in my net.
I will leave you on the land,
I will cast you forth on the open field,
and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you,
and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.
I will lay your flesh on the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your height.
I will also water with your blood
the land in which you swim,
even to the mountains;
and the watercourses shall be full of you.
When I shall extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens,
and make its stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
All the bright lights of the sky
will I make dark over you,
and set darkness on your land,
says the Lord Yahweh.
I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples,
when I shall bring your destruction among the nations,
into the countries which you have not known.
Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you,
and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you,
when I shall brandish my sword before them;
and they shall tremble at every moment,
every man for his own life,
in the day of your fall.

“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘The sword of the king of Babylon
shall come on you.
By the swords of the mighty
will I cause your multitude to fall;
the terrible of the nations are they all:
and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt,
and all its multitude shall be destroyed.
I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters;
neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more,
nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.
Then will I make their waters clear,
and cause their rivers to run like oil,
says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste,
a land destitute of that of which it was full,
when I shall strike all those who dwell therein,
then shall they know that I am Yahweh.’
This is the lamentation with which they shall lament;
the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith;
over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith,
says the Lord Yahweh.”

It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

“Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.

“There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.

“There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.

“There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

“Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel as Israel’s Watchman

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.’

“So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

“You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘Thus you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?’ Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?’

“You, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.’ When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die. Again, when I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal:’ but as for them, their way is not equal. When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein. When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.”

News of Jerusalem’s Fall

It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been struck.” Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, ‘Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.’ Therefore tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land? You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife: and shall you possess the land?’

“You shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.’

“As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, ‘Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh.’ They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them. When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.”

Ezekiel 34

Prophecy Against the False Shepherds of Israel

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep. You haven’t strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them. They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.

“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.’”

God as Israel’s True Shepherd

“‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.

“‘As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats. Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.

“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

“‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.

“‘They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 35

Prophecy Against Edom

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and tell it, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

“‘Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,
and I will stretch out my hand against you,
and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.
I will lay your cities waste,
and you shall be desolate;
and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end; therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns. I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword. I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘Because you have said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it;” whereas Yahweh was there: therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you. You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.” You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 36

Prophecy of Israel’s Restoration

“You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient high places are ours in possession;’” therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people; therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around.

“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.’ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations: therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame.

“‘But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown; and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built; and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;” therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more, says the Lord Yahweh; neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh.’”

Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land.’ But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.

“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went. I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

“‘For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. They shall say, “This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.” Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it.’

“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I answered, “Lord Yahweh, you know.”

Again he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, ‘you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.’”

Reunification of Israel and Judah

The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions:’ then take another stick, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:’ and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’ tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.’

“The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

“‘My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.’”

Ezekiel 38

Prophecy Against Gog’s Future Invasion of Israel

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.

“‘Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them. You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device: and you shall say, “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.” Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Have you come to take the spoil? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?’”

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it? You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army; and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord Yahweh: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur. I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.’”

Ezekiel 39

Prophecy of the Destruction of Gog

“You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: and I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel; and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured. You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh. I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the islands; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

“‘My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken.

“‘Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years; so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog. Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh. They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. Those who pass through the land shall pass through; and when any sees a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.’

“You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Israel to be Restored

“I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward. The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them.

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 40

Vision of the New Temple  ^*Temple has yet to be built - Possibly describes the Millennial Temple (see Chapters 47 & 48)

In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, the hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me there. In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south. He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for, to the intent that I may show them to you, you are brought here: declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

Behold, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. Then came he to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad. Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed. He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed. Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.

The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side. He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits; and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door. He made also posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate. From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits. There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees.

Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement. The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement. Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth. The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its arches were after the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits. The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them. There was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.

He led me toward the south; and behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured its posts and its arches according to these measures. There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits. There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts. There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.

Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad. There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits broad. The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures; and its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad. The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

He brought me to the north gate: and he measured it according to these measures; its lodges, its posts, and its arches: and there were windows therein all around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits. The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

A room with its door was by the posts at the gates; there they washed the burnt offering. In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed the sacrifices. There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice. The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. He said to me, “This room, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house; and the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to him. He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.

Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

Ezekiel 41

He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tent. The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits. Then went he inward, and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits. He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said to me, “This is the most holy place.”

Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side. The side rooms were in three stories, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might have hold therein, and not have hold in the wall of the house. The side rooms were broader as they encompassed the house higher and higher; for the encompassing of the house went higher and higher around the house: therefore the breadth of the house continued upward; and so one went up from the lowest room to the highest by the middle room.

I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits. The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house. Between the rooms was a breadth of twenty cubits around the house on every side. The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits all around.

The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.

So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long; also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits.

He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court; the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered), to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure. It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces; so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. thus was it made through all the house all around: from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple.

As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple. The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, “This is the table that is before Yahweh.” The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other. There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside. There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds.

Ezekiel 42

The Temple’s Chambers

Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the room that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north. Before the length of one hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story. Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north. Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building. For they were in three stories, and they didn’t have pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the uppermost was straitened more than the lowest and the middle from the ground. The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits. For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and behold, before the temple were one hundred cubits. From under these rooms was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.

In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms. The way before them was like the appearance of the way of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.

Then he said to me, “The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, they are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to that which pertains to the people.”

Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it all around. He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around. He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around. He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

Ezekiel 43

Vision of God’s Glory Returning to Fill the Temple

Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east. Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory. It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. The glory of Yahweh came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house.

I heard one speaking to me out of the house; and a man stood by me. He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places; in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, and their doorpost beside my doorpost, and there was but the wall between me and them; and they have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their prostitution, and the dead bodies of their kings, far from me; and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.

“You, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them. This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.”

The Temple Altar

“These are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border around its edge a span; and this shall be the base of the altar. From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit. The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns. The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square in the four sides of it. The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad in the four sides of it; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and its bottom shall be a cubit around; and its steps shall look toward the east.”

He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin offering. You shall take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around: thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary.

“On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bull. When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. You shall bring them near to Yahweh, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to Yahweh. Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it. When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezekiel 44

The Prince’s Gate

Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut. Yahweh said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut. As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.”

Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh: and I fell on my face.

Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the house of Yahweh, and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary. You shall tell the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations. You have not performed the duty of my holy things; but you have set performers of my duty in my sanctuary for yourselves. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.

“‘But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, says the Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity. They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. Yet will I make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein.’”

The Levite Priests

“‘But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh: they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my instruction. It shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

They shall have linen tires on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their waists; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy rooms; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments. Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads. Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

“‘Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to my ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall make my Sabbaths holy.

“‘They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves. After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days. In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord Yahweh.

“‘They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or animal.’”

Ezekiel 45

God’s Holy Portion

“‘Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all its border all around. Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length by five hundred in breadth, square all around; and fifty cubits for its suburbs all around. Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy. It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to Yahweh; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, for twenty rooms.

“‘You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. Whatever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; dispossessing my people, says the Lord Yahweh. You shall have just balances, and a just ephah1 ephah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer1 homer is about 220 litres or 6 bushels, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: its measure shall be after the homer. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

“‘This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley; and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer;) and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel—for a meal offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh. All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel. It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meal offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary. The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple: so you shall make atonement for the house.

“‘In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meal offering, and according to the oil.’”

Ezekiel 46

Offerings at Appointed Times

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

“‘The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; and the meal offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish: and he shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

“‘When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by its way. But when the people of the land shall come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go forth straight before him. The prince, when they go in, shall go in with of them; and when they go out, he shall go out.

“‘In the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. When the prince shall prepare a freewill offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.

“‘You shall prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily: morning by morning you shall prepare it. You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance. Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.

“‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. But if he give of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons. Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not be scattered every man from his possession.’”

Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked toward the north: and behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward. He said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; that they not bring them forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people.”

Then he brought me forth into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. In the four corners of the court there were courts enclosed, forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure. There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around. Then he said to me, “These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.”

Ezekiel 47

Healing Water Flowing from the Temple

He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of the gate that looks toward the east; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side.

When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the waist. Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then he said to me, “These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea shall the waters go which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come there, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes. It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places of it, and its marshes, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. By the river on its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing.”

New Boundaries of the Land

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance.

“This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad; Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. The border from the sea, shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.

“The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side.

“The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea. This is the south side southward.

“The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.

“So you shall divide this land to you according to the tribes of Israel. It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. It shall happen, that in what tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel 48

Tribal Allotments of the Land

“Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east and west), Dan, one portion. By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion. By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one portion. By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion. By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion. By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion. By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.

“By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in its midst. The offering that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth.

“For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in its midst. It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites. Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to Yahweh.

“The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in its midst. These shall be its measures: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty. The remainder in the length, answerable to the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable to the holy offering; and its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city. Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering foursquare, with the possession of the city.

“The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in its midst. Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.

“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion. By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion. By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion. By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion. By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion. By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea. This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord Yahweh.”

Gates of the City

“These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure; and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one. At the east side four thousand and five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. At the south side four thousand and five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. At the west side four thousand and five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one. It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’”

[HOME] [Bible TOC] [Report an Issue]