Ezekiel, chapter 1
1:
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the
month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were
opened, and I saw visions of God.
2: On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the
exile of King Jehoi'achin),
3: the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of
Buzi, in the land of the Chalde'ans by the river Chebar; and the hand of
the Lord was upon him there.
4: As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and
a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire flashing forth
continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming bronze.
5: And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living
creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men,
6:
but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
7: Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were
like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze.
8: Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands.
And the four had their faces and their wings thus:
9: their wings touched one another; they went every one straight
forward, without turning as they went.
10: As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a
man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the
four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face
of an eagle at the back.
11:
Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above;
each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another,
while two covered their bodies.
12: And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go,
they went, without turning as they went.
13: In the midst of the living creatures there was something that
looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among
the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went
forth lightning.
14: And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of
lightning.
15:
Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon
the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.
16: As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction:
their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite; and the four had
the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a
wheel.
17: When they went, they went in any of their four directions
without turning as they went.
18: The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims
were full of eyes round about.
19: And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside
them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels
rose.
20:
Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose
along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the
wheels.
21: When those went, these went; and when those stood, these
stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with
them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22: Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness
of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads.
23: And under the firmament their wings were stretched out
straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering
its body.
24:
And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the
sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of
tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still, they let down
their wings.
25: And there came a voice from above the firmament over their
heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings.
26: And above the firmament over their heads there was the
likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the
likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form.
27: And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as
it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round
about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as
it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about
him.
28: Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the
day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such
was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I
saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel, chapter
2
1: And he said to me, "Son of man, stand upon your feet, and
I will speak with you."
2: And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me
upon my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.
3: And He said to me, "Son of man, I send you to the people
of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled against Me; they and
their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
4: The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them;
and you shall say to them, `Thus says the Lord God.'
5: And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a
rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among
them.
6: And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of
their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon
scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks,
for they are a rebellious house.
7: And you shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or
refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.
8: "But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not
rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I
give you."
9: And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to Me,
and, lo, a written scroll was in it;
10: and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front
and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and
mourning and woe.
Ezekiel, chapter
3
1: And He said to me, "Son of man, eat what is offered to
you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
2: So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3: And he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll that I
give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it; and it was
in my mouth as sweet as honey.
4: And he said to me, "Son of man, go, get you to the house
of Israel, and speak with My words to them.
5: For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard
language, but to the house of Israel --
6: not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language,
whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they
would listen to you.
7: But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they are
not willing to listen to Me; because all the house of Israel are of a
hard forehead and of a stubborn heart.
8: Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and
your forehead hard against their foreheads.
9: Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead; fear
them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious
house."
10: 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.
11: And go, get you to the exiles, to your people, and say to
them, `Thus says the Lord God'; whether they hear or refuse to
hear."
12: Then the Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord
arose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake;
13: it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they
touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that
sounded like a great earthquake.
14: The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in
bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong
upon me;
15: and I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who dwelt by the river
Chebar. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
16: And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to
me:
17: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of
Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them
warning from me.
18: If I say to the wicked, `You shall surely die,' and you give
him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in
order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but
his blood I will require at your hand.
19: But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his
wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
you will have saved your life.
20: Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and
commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die;
because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his
righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood
I will require at your hand.
21: Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he
does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you
will have saved your life."
22: And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said to
me, "Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with
you."
23: So I arose and went forth into the plain; and, lo, the glory
of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I had seen by the river
Chebar; and I fell on my face.
24: But the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and
He spoke with me and said to me, "Go, shut yourself within your
house.
25: And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you,
and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the
people;
26: and I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth,
so that you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them; for they are a
rebellious house.
27: But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you
shall say to them, `Thus says the Lord God'; he that will hear, let him
hear; and he that will refuse to hear, let him refuse; for they are a
rebellious house.
Ezekiel, chapter
4
1: "And you, O son of man, take a brick and lay it before
you, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem;
2: and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against
it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant
battering rams against it round about.
3: And take an iron plate, and place it as an iron wall between
you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state
of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house
of Israel.
4: "Then lie upon your left side, and I will lay the
punishment of the house of Israel upon you; for the number of the days
that you lie upon it, you shall bear their punishment.
5: For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred and ninety
days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment; so long
shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.
6: And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second
time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of
Judah; forty days I assign you, a day for each year.
7: And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem,
with your arm bared; and you shall prophesy against the city.
8: And, behold, I will put cords upon you, so that you cannot
turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of
your siege.
9: "And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils,
millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make bread of
them. During the number of days that you lie upon your side, three
hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.
10: And the food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels
a day; once a day you shall eat it.
11: And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a
hin; once a day you shall drink.
12: And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their
sight on human dung."
13: And the Lord said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat
their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them."
14: Then I said, "Ah Lord God! behold, I have never defiled
myself; from my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself
or was torn by beasts, nor has foul flesh come into my mouth."
15: Then he said to me, "See, I will let you have cow's dung
instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread."
16: Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will
break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight
and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in
dismay.
17: I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look
at one another in dismay, and waste away under their punishment.
Ezekiel, chapter
5
1: "And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword; use it as a
barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard; then take
balances for weighing, and divide the hair.
2: A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the
city, when the days of the siege are completed; and a third part you
shall take and strike with the sword round about the city; and a third
part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after
them.
3: And you shall take from these a small number, and bind them in
the skirts of your robe.
4: And of these again you shall take some, and cast them into the
fire, and burn them in the fire; from there a fire will come forth into
all the house of Israel.
5: Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in
the center of the nations, with countries round about her.
6: And she has wickedly rebelled against My ordinances more than
the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries round about
her, by rejecting My ordinances and not walking in My statutes.
7: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more
turbulent than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked
in My statutes or kept My ordinances, but have acted according to the
ordinances of the nations that are round about you;
8: therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am
against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the
sight of the nations.
9: And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I
have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
10: Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you,
and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you,
and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
11: Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you
have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all
your abominations, therefore I will cut you down; My eye will not spare,
and I will have no pity.
12: A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed
with famine in the midst of you; a third part shall fall by the sword
round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and
will unsheathe the sword after them.
13: "Thus shall My anger spend itself, and I will vent My
fury upon them and satisfy myself; and they shall know that I, the Lord,
have spoken in My jealousy, when I spend My fury upon them.
14: Moreover I will make you a desolation and an object of
reproach among the nations round about you and in the sight of all that
pass by.
15: You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror,
to the nations round about you, when I execute judgments on you in anger
and fury, and with furious chastisements -- I, the Lord, have spoken --
16: when I loose against you My deadly arrows of famine, arrows
for destruction, which I will loose to destroy you, and when I bring
more and more famine upon you, and break your staff of bread.
17: I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will
rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you;
and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken."
Ezekiel, chapter
6
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of
Israel, and prophesy against them,
3: and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord
God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the
ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you,
and I will destroy your high places.
4: Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars
shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
5: And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before
their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
6: Wherever you dwell your cities shall be waste and your high
places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols
broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped
out.
7: And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall
know that I am the Lord.
8: "Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among
the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered
through the countries,
9: then those of you who escape will remember Me among the
nations where they are carried captive, when I have broken their wanton
heart which has departed from Me, and blinded their eyes which turn
wantonly after their idols; and they will be loathsome in their own
sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their
abominations.
10: And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in
vain that I would do this evil to them."
11: Thus says the Lord God: "Clap your hands, and stamp your
foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house
of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by
pestilence.
12: He that is far off shall die of pestilence; and he that is
near shall fall by the sword; and he that is left and is preserved shall
die of famine. Thus I will spend My fury upon them.
13: And you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie
among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all
the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak,
wherever they offered pleasing odor to all their idols.
14: And I will stretch out My hand against them, and make the
land desolate and waste, throughout all their habitations, from the
wilderness to Riblah. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
7
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the
land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the
land.
3: Now the end is upon you, and I will let loose My anger upon
you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you
for all your abominations.
4: And My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I
will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your
midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5: "Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold,
it comes.
6: An end has come, the end has come; it has awakened against
you. Behold, it comes.
7: Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land; the time
has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting
upon the mountains.
8: Now I will soon pour out My wrath upon you, and spend My anger
against you, and judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you
for all your abominations.
9: And My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will punish
you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst.
Then you will know that I am the Lord, who smite.
10: "Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come,
injustice has blossomed, pride has budded.
11: Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness; none of them
shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there
be preeminence among them.
12: The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer
rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude.
13: For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while
they live. For wrath is upon all their multitude; it shall not turn
back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.
14: "They have blown the trumpet and made all ready; but
none goes to battle, for My wrath is upon all their multitude.
15: The sword is without, pestilence and famine are within; he
that is in the field dies by the sword; and him that is in the city
famine and pestilence devour.
16: And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains,
like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one over his
iniquity.
17: All hands are feeble, and all knees weak as water.
18: They gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror covers them;
shame is upon all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
19: They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is
like an unclean thing; their silver and gold are not able to deliver
them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they cannot satisfy their
hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of
their iniquity.
20: Their beautiful ornament they used for vainglory, and they
made their abominable images and their detestable things of it;
therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them.
21: And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for a prey,
and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.
22: I will turn My face from them, that they may profane My
precious place; robbers shall enter and profane it,
23: and make a desolation. "Because the land is full of
bloody crimes and the city is full of violence,
24: I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of
their houses; I will put an end to their proud might, and their holy
places shall be profaned.
25: When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be
none.
26: Disaster comes upon disaster, rumor follows rumor; they seek
a vision from the prophet, but the law perishes from the priest, and
counsel from the elders.
27: The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the
hands of the people of the land are palsied by terror. According to
their way I will do to them, and according to their own judgments I will
judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
8
1: In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the
month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me,
the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
2: Then I beheld, and, lo, a form that had the appearance of a
man; below what appeared to be his loins it was fire, and above his
loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming bronze.
3: 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 heaven, and brought
me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the
inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of
jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
4: And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the
vision that I saw in the plain.
5: Then he said to me, "Son of man, lift up your eyes now in
the direction of the north." So I lifted up my eyes toward the
north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this
image of jealousy.
6: And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are
doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing
here, to drive me far from My sanctuary? But you will see still greater
abominations."
7: And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked,
behold, there was a hole in the wall.
8: Then said he to me, "Son of man, dig in the wall";
and when I dug in the wall, lo, there was a door.
9: And he said to me, "Go in, and see the vile abominations
that they are committing here."
10: So I went in and saw; and there, portrayed upon the wall
round about, were all kinds of creeping things, and loathsome beasts,
and all the idols of the house of Israel.
11: And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house
of Israel, with Ja-azani'ah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each
had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went
up.
12: Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the
elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, every man in his
room of pictures? For they say, `The Lord does not see us, the Lord has
forsaken the land.'"
13: He said also to me, "You will see still greater
abominations which they commit."
14: Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the
house of the Lord; and behold, there sat women weeping for tammuz.
15: Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man?
You will see still greater abominations than these."
16: And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the
Lord; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the
porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the
temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun
toward the east.
17: Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man?
Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the
abominations which they commit here, that they should fill the land with
violence, and provoke Me further to anger? Lo, they put the branch to
their nose.
18: Therefore I will deal in wrath; My eye will not spare, nor
will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I
will not hear them."
Ezekiel, chapter
9
1: Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Draw
near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in
his hand."
2: And lo, six men came from the direction of the upper gate,
which faces north, every man with his weapon for slaughter in his hand,
and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his
side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3: Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the
cherubim on which it rested to the threshold of the house; and he called
to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side.
4: And the Lord said to him, "Go through the city, through
Jerusalem, and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and
groan over all the abominations that are committed in it."
5: And to the others he said in my hearing, "Pass through
the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare, and you shall
show no pity;
6: slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children
and women, but touch no one upon whom is the mark. And begin at My
sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the
house.
7: Then he said to them, "Defile the house, and fill the
courts with the slain. Go forth." So they went forth, and smote in
the city.
8: And while they were smiting, and I was left alone, I fell upon
my face, and cried, "Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all that
remains of Israel in the outpouring of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?"
9: Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of Israel and
Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of blood, and the city full
of injustice; for they say, `The Lord has forsaken the land, and the
Lord does not see.'
10: As for Me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I
will requite their deeds upon their heads."
11: And lo, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at
his side, brought back word, saying, "I have done as thou did
command me."
Ezekiel, chapter
10
1: Then I looked, and behold, on the firmament that was over the
heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a
sapphire, in form resembling a throne.
2: And he said to the man clothed in linen, "Go in among the
whirling wheels underneath the cherubim; fill your hands with burning
coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city."
And he went in before my eyes.
3: Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house,
when the man went in; and a cloud filled the inner court.
4: And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherubim to the
threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the
court was full of the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
5: And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as
the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6: And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, "Take
fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,"
he went in and stood beside a wheel.
7: And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the
cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it,
and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and
went out.
8: The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under
their wings.
9: And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the
cherubim, one beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was
like sparkling chrysolite.
10: And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness,
as if a wheel were within a wheel.
11: When they went, they went in any of their four directions
without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel
faced the others followed without turning as they went.
12: And their rims, and their spokes, and the wheels were full of
eyes round about -- the wheels that the four of them had.
13: As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the
whirling wheels.
14: And 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 the
face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15: And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures
that I saw by the river Chebar.
16: And 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 did not turn from beside them.
17: When they stood still, these stood still, and when they
mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living
creatures was in them.
18: Then the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of
the house, and stood over the cherubim.
19: And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from
the earth in my sight as they went forth, with the wheels beside them;
and they stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the Lord;
and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20: These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God
of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
21: Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath
their wings the semblance of human hands.
22: And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the very
faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. They went every
one straight forward.
Ezekiel, chapter
11
1: The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of
the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the door of the
gateway there were twenty-five men; and I saw among them Ja-azani'ah the
son of Azzur, and Pelati'ah the son of Benai'ah, princes of the people.
2: And he said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who
devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city;
3: who say, `The time is not near to build houses; this city is
the caldron, and we are the flesh.'
4: Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man."
5: And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me,
"Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel; for I
know the things that come into your mind.
6: You have multiplied your slain in this city, and have filled
its streets with the slain.
7: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have
laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the
caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of the midst of it.
8: You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon
you, says the Lord God.
9: And I will bring you forth out of the midst of it, and give
you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you.
10: You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border
of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
11: This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the
flesh in the midst of it; I will judge you at the border of Israel;
12: and you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not
walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, but have acted
according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about
you."
13: And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelati'ah
the son of Benai'ah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with
a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord God! wilt Thou make a full end of
the remnant of Israel?"
14: And the word of the Lord came to me:
15: "Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, your
fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom
the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, `They have gone far from the
Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.'
16: Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them
far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the
countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the
countries where they have gone.'
17: Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord God: 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.'
18: And when they come there, they will remove from it all its
detestable things and all its abominations.
19: And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within
them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a
heart of flesh,
20: that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and
obey them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
21: But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable
things and their abominations, I will requite their deeds upon their own
heads, says the Lord God."
22: Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels
beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
23: And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city,
and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
24: And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by
the Spirit of God into Chalde'a, to the exiles. Then the vision that I
had seen went up from me.
25: And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had showed
me.
Ezekiel, chapter
12
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious
house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but
hear not;
3: for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man,
prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in
their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place
in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a
rebellious house.
4: You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as
baggage for exile; and you shall go forth yourself at evening in their
sight, as men do who must go into exile.
5: Dig through the wall in their sight, and go out through it.
6: In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder,
and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you may
not see the land; for I have made you a sign for the house of
Israel."
7: And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day,
as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my
own hands; I went forth in the dark, carrying my outfit upon my shoulder
in their sight.
8: In the morning the word of the Lord came to me:
9: "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious
house, said to you, `What are you doing?'
10: Say to them, `Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns
the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.'
11: Say, `I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be
done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.'
12: And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon
his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth; he shall dig through the
wall and go out through it; he shall cover his face, that he may not see
the land with his eyes.
13: And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in
My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chalde'ans,
yet he shall not see it; and he shall die there.
14: And I will scatter toward every wind all who are round about
him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will unsheathe the sword
after them.
15: And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them
among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
16: But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from
famine and pestilence, that they may confess all their abominations
among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the Lord."
17: Moreover the word of the Lord came to me:
18: "Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink
water with trembling and with fearfulness;
19: and say of the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God
concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They
shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink water in dismay,
because their land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of
the violence of all those who dwell in it.
20: And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land
shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
21: And the word of the Lord came to me:
22: "Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about
the land of Israel, saying, `The days grow long, and every vision comes
to naught'?
23: Tell them therefore, `Thus says the Lord God: I will put an
end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in
Israel.' But say to them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of
every vision.
24: For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering
divination within the house of Israel.
25: But I the Lord will speak the word which I will speak, and it
will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O
rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, says the Lord
God."
26: Again the word of the Lord came to me:
27: "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say,
`The vision that he sees is for many days hence, and he prophesies of
times far off.'
28: Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of My
words will be delayed any longer, but the word which I speak will be
performed, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
13
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel,
prophesy and say to those who prophesy out of their own minds: `Hear the
word of the Lord!'
3: Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow
their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4: Your prophets have been like foxes among ruins, O Israel.
5: You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for
the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the
Lord.
6: They have spoken falsehood and divined a lie; they say, `Says
the Lord,' when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect Him to
fulfil their word.
7: Have you not seen a delusive vision, and uttered a lying
divination, whenever you have said, `Says the Lord,' although I have not
spoken?"
8: Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Because you have
uttered delusions and seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,
says the Lord God.
9: My hand will be against the prophets who see delusive visions
and who give lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of My
people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor
shall they enter the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the
Lord God.
10: Because, yea, because they have misled My people, saying,
`Peace,' when there is no peace; and because, when the people build a
wall, these prophets daub it with whitewash;
11: say to those who daub it with whitewash that it shall fall!
There will be a deluge of rain, great hailstones will fall, and a stormy
wind break out;
12: and when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, `Where
is the daubing with which you daubed it?'
13: Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind
break out in My wrath; and there shall be a deluge of rain in My anger,
and great hailstones in wrath to destroy it.
14: And I will break down the wall that you have daubed with
whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will
be laid bare; when it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it; and
you shall know that I am the Lord.
15: Thus will I spend My wrath upon the wall, and upon those who
have daubed it with whitewash; and I will say to you, The wall is no
more, nor those who daubed it,
16: the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem
and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, says the Lord
God.
17: "And you, son of man, set your face against the
daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds; prophesy
against them
18: and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew
magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of
every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging
to My people, and keep other souls alive for your profit?
19: You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley
and for pieces of bread, putting to death persons who should not die and
keeping alive persons who should not live, by your lies to My people,
who listen to lies.
20: "Wherefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against
your magic bands with which you hunt the souls, and I will tear them
from your arms; and I will let the souls that you hunt go free like
birds.
21: Your veils also I will tear off, and deliver My people out of
your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey; and you shall
know that I am the Lord.
22: Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although
I have not disheartened him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he
should not turn from his wicked way to save his life;
23: therefore you shall no more see delusive visions nor practice
divination; I will deliver My people out of your hand. Then you will
know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
14
1: Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me; and sat
before me.
2: And the word of the Lord came to me:
3: "Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their
hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their
faces; should I let myself be inquired of at all by them?
4: Therefore speak to them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord
God: Any man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart
and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet
comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him myself because of the
multitude of his idols,
5: that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who
are all estranged from Me through their idols.
6: "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord
God: Repent and turn away from your idols; and turn away your faces from
all your abominations.
7: For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from Me, taking his idols into
his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his
face, and yet comes to a prophet to inquire for himself of Me, I the
Lord will answer him myself;
8: and I will set My face against that man, I will make him a
sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of My people; and you
shall know that I am the Lord.
9: And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, the Lord,
have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him,
and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.
10: And they shall bear their punishment -- the punishment of the
prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike --
11: that the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, nor
defile themselves any more with all their transgressions, but that they
may be My people and I may be their God, says the Lord God."
12: And the word of the Lord came to me:
13: "Son of man, when a land sins against Me by acting
faithlessly, and I stretch out My hand against it, and break its staff
of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast,
14: even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it,
they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, says the
Lord God.
15: If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they
ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through
because of the beasts;
16: even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord
God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be
delivered, but the land would be desolate.
17: Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Let a sword go
through the land; and I cut off from it man and beast;
18: though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord
God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would
be delivered.
19: Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My
wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast;
20: even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the
Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would
deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
21: "For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send
upon Jerusalem My four sore acts of judgment, sword, famine, evil
beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
22: Yet, if there should be left in it any survivors to lead out
sons and daughters, when they come forth to you, and you see their ways
and their doings, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought
upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.
23: They will console you, when you see their ways and their
doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I
have done in it, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
15
1: And the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any
wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3: Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do men take a peg from
it to hang any vessel on?
4: Lo, it is given to the fire for fuel; when the fire has
consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful
for anything?
5: Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing; how much
less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be
used for anything!
6: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine
among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,
so will I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7: And I will set My face against them; though they escape from
the fire, the fire shall yet consume them; and you will know that I am
the Lord, when I set My face against them.
8: And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted
faithlessly, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
16
1: Again the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,
3: and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and
your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an
Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.
4: And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel
string was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor
rubbed with salt, nor swathed with bands.
5: No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of
compassion for you; but you were cast out on the open field, for you
were abhorred, on the day that you were born.
6: "And when I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your
blood, I said to you in your blood, `Live,
7: and grow up like a plant of the field.' And you grew up and
became tall and arrived at full maidenhood; your breasts were formed,
and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8: "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, behold,
you were at the age for love; and I spread My skirt over you, and
covered your nakedness: yea, I plighted My troth to you and entered into
a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.
9: Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from
you, and anointed you with oil.
10: I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with
leather, I swathed you in fine linen and covered you with silk.
11: And I decked you with ornaments, and put bracelets on your
arms, and a chain on your neck.
12: And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and
a beautiful crown upon your head.
13: Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your raiment
was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered cloth; you ate fine flour
and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful, and came to regal
estate.
14: And your renown went forth among the nations because of your
beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor which I had bestowed
upon you, says the Lord God.
15: "But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot
because of your renown, and lavished your harlotries on any passer-by.
16: You took some of your garments, and made for yourself gaily
decked shrines, and on them played the harlot; the like has never been,
nor ever shall be.
17: You also took your fair jewels of My gold and of My silver,
which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with
them played the harlot;
18: and you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set
My oil and My incense before them.
19: Also My bread which I gave you -- I fed you with fine flour
and oil and honey -- you set before them for a pleasing odor, says the
Lord God.
20: And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne
to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your
harlotries so small a matter
21: that you slaughtered My children and delivered them up as an
offering by fire to them?
22: And in all your abominations and your harlotries you did not
remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, weltering
in your blood.
23: "And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! says
the Lord God),
24: you built yourself a vaulted chamber, and made yourself a
lofty place in every square;
25: at the head of every street you built your lofty place and
prostituted your beauty, offering yourself to any passer-by, and
multiplying your harlotry.
26: You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful
neighbors, multiplying your harlotry, to provoke Me to anger.
27: Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, and
diminished your allotted portion, and delivered you to the greed of your
enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd
behavior.
28: You played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because you
were insatiable; yea, you played the harlot with them, and still you
were not satisfied.
29: You multiplied your harlotry also with the trading land of
Chalde'a; and even with this you were not satisfied.
30: "How lovesick is your heart, says the Lord God, seeing
you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot;
31: building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street,
and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a
harlot, because you scorned hire.
32: Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her
husband!
33: Men give gifts to all harlots; but you gave your gifts to all
your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side for your
harlotries.
34: So you were different from other women in your harlotries:
none solicited you to play the harlot; and you gave hire, while no hire
was given to you; therefore you were different.
35: "Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:
36: Thus says the Lord God, Because your shame was laid bare and
your nakedness uncovered in your harlotries with your lovers, and
because of all your idols, and because of the blood of your children
that you gave to them,
37: therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers, with whom
you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you loathed; I will
gather them against you from every side, and will uncover your nakedness
to them, that they may see all your nakedness.
38: And I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed
blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
39: And I will give you into the hand of your lovers, and they
shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places;
they shall strip you of your clothes and take your fair jewels, and
leave you naked and bare.
40: They shall bring up a host against you, and they shall stone
you and cut you to pieces with their swords.
41: And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon
you in the sight of many women; I will make you stop playing the harlot,
and you shall also give hire no more.
42: So will I satisfy My fury on you, and My jealousy shall
depart from you; I will be calm, and will no more be angry.
43: Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but
have enraged Me with all these things; therefore, behold, I will requite
your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God. "Have you not
committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?
44: Behold, every one who uses proverbs will use this proverb
about you, `Like mother, like daughter.'
45: You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed 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.
46: And your elder sister is Sama'ria, who lived with her
daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who lived to the
south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.
47: Yet you were not content to walk in their ways, or do
according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more
corrupt than they in all your ways.
48: As I live, says the Lord God, your sister Sodom and her
daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.
49: Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her
daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not
aid the poor and needy.
50: They were haughty, and did abominable things before Me;
therefore I removed them, when I saw it.
51: Sama'ria has not committed half your sins; you have committed
more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous
by all the abominations which you have committed.
52: Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have made judgment
favorable to your sisters; because of your sins in which you acted more
abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be
ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your
sisters appear righteous.
53: "I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of
Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Sama'ria and her daughters,
and I will restore your own fortunes in the midst of them,
54: that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that
you have done, becoming a consolation to them.
55: As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to
their former estate, and Sama'ria and her daughters shall return to
their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your
former estate.
56: Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day
of your pride,
57: before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become
like her an object of reproach for the daughters of Edom and all her
neighbors, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those round about
who despise you.
58: You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations,
says the Lord.
59: "Yea, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as
you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,
60: yet I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your
youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.
61: Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take
your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as
daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.
62: I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know
that I am the Lord,
63: that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your
mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have
done, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
17
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to
the house of Israel;
3: say, Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings
and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and
took the top of the cedar;
4: he broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to
a land of trade, and set it in a city of merchants.
5: Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile
soil; he placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig,
6: and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its
branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it
became a vine, and brought forth branches and put forth foliage.
7: "But there was another great eagle with great wings and
much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot
forth its branches toward him that he might water it. From the bed where
it was planted
8: he transplanted it to good soil by abundant waters, that it
might bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble vine.
9: Say, Thus says the Lord God: Will it thrive? Will he not pull
up its roots and cut off its branches, so that all its fresh sprouting
leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it
from its roots.
10: Behold, when it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not
utterly wither when the east wind strikes it -- wither away on the bed
where it grew?"
11: Then the word of the Lord came to me:
12: "Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what
these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to
Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to
Babylon.
13: And he took one of the seed royal and made a covenant with
him, putting him under oath. (The chief men of the land he had taken
away,
14: that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and
that by keeping his covenant it might stand.)
15: But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to
Egypt,
that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can a
man escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet
escape?
16: As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the
king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose
covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die.
17: Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help
him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off
many lives.
18: Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because
he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
19: Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely My oath
which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will requite upon
his head.
20: I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him
there for the treason he has committed against Me.
21: And all the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and
the survivors shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that
I, the Lord, have spoken."
22: Thus says the Lord God: "I
Myself will take a sprig from
the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it out; I will break off from
the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I Myself will plant it
upon a high and lofty mountain;
23: on the Mountain Height of Israel will I plant it, that it may
bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under
it will dwell all kinds of beasts; in the shade of its branches birds of
every sort will nest.
24: And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord
bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green
tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will
do it."
Ezekiel, chapter
18
1: The word of the Lord came to me again:
2: "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning
the land of Israel, `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge'?
3: As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be
used by you in Israel.
4: Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as
the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins shall die.
5: "If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right
--
6: if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to
the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or
approach a woman in her time of impurity,
7: does not oppress any one, but restores to the debtor his
pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the
naked with a garment,
8: does not lend at interest or take any increase, withholds his
hand from iniquity, executes true justice between man and man,
9: walks in My statutes, and is careful to observe My ordinances
-- he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God.
10: "If he begets a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood,
11: who does none of these duties, but eats upon the mountains,
defiles his neighbor's wife,
12: oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not
restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination,
13: lends at interest, and takes increase; shall he then live? He
shall not live. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely
die; his blood shall be upon himself.
14: "But if this man begets a son who sees all the sins
which his father has done, and fears, and does not do likewise,
15: who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to
the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife,
16: does not wrong any one, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, among his people, behold, he shall die
for his iniquity. but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment,
17: withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or
increase, observes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he shall not
die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live.
18: As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his
brother, and did what is not good
19: "Yet you say, `Why should not the son suffer for the
iniquity of the father?' When the son has done what is lawful and right,
and has been careful to observe all My statutes, he shall surely live.
20: The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for
the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of
the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and
the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21: "But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which
he has committed and keeps all My statutes and does what is lawful and
right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
22: None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be
remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall
live.
23: Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord
God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
24: But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness
and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked
man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done
shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin
he has committed, he shall die.
25: "Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear
now, O house of Israel: Is My way not just? Is it not your ways that are
not just?
26: When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and
commits iniquity, he shall die for it; for the iniquity which he has
committed he shall die.
27: Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he
has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life.
28: Because he considered and turned away from all the
transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live, he shall
not die.
29: Yet the house of Israel says, `The way of the Lord is not
just.' O house of Israel, are My ways not just? Is it not your ways that
are not just?
30: "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every
one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all
your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.
31: Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have
committed against Me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!
Why will you die, O house of Israel?
32: For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord
God; so turn, and live."
Ezekiel, chapter
19
1: And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2: and say: What a lioness was your mother among lions! She
couched in the midst of young lions, rearing her whelps.
3: And she brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
4: The nations sounded an alarm against him; he was taken in
their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5: When she saw that she was baffled, that her hope was lost, she
took another of her whelps and made him a young lion.
6: He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he
learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
7: And he ravaged their strongholds, and laid waste their cities;
and the land was appalled and all who were in it at the sound of his
roaring.
8: Then the nations set against him snares on every side; they
spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
9: With hooks they put him in a cage, and brought him to the king
of Babylon; they brought him into custody, that his voice should no more
be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10: Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard transplanted by the
water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.
11: Its strongest stem became a ruler's scepter; it towered aloft
among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its
branches.
12: But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried it up; its fruit was stripped off, its strong stem
was withered; the fire consumed it.
13: Now it is transplanted in the wilderness, in a dry and
thirsty land.
14: And fire has gone out from its stem, has consumed its
branches and fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no
scepter for a ruler. This is a lamentation, and has become a
lamentation.
Ezekiel, chapter
20
1: In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of
the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord,
and sat before me.
2: And the word of the Lord came to me:
3: "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to
them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of Me that you come? As I
live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
4: Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then let
them know the abominations of their fathers,
5: and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I
chose Israel, I swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, making myself
known to them in the land of Egypt, I swore to them, saying, I am the
Lord your God.
6: On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the
land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land
flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.
7: And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes
feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols
of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
8: But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; they
did not every man cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on,
nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. "Then I thought I would
pour out My wrath upon them and spend My anger against them in the midst
of the land of Egypt.
9: But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be
profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt, in whose
sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of
Egypt.
10: So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into
the wilderness.
11: I gave them My statutes and showed them My ordinances, by
whose observance man shall live.
12: Moreover I gave them My sabbaths, as a sign between Me and
them, that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them.
13: But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the
wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes but rejected My ordinances,
by whose observance man shall live; and My sabbaths they greatly
profaned. "Then I thought I would pour out My wrath upon them in
the wilderness, to make a full end of them.
14: But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be
profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them
out.
15: Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not
bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with
milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,
16: because they rejected My ordinances and did not walk in My
statutes, and profaned My sabbaths; for their heart went after their
idols.
17: Nevertheless My eye spared them, and I did not destroy them
or make a full end of them in the wilderness.
18: "And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not
walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor
defile yourselves with their idols.
19: I the Lord am your God; walk in My statutes, and be careful
to observe My ordinances,
20: and hallow My sabbaths that they may be a sign between Me and
you, that you may know that I the Lord am your God.
21: But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My
statutes, and were not careful to observe My ordinances, by whose
observance man shall live; they profaned My sabbaths. "Then I
thought I would pour out My wrath upon them and spend My anger against
them in the wilderness.
22: But I withheld My hand, and acted for the sake of My name,
that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose
sight I had brought them out.
23: Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would
scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries,
24: because they had not executed My ordinances, but had rejected
My statutes and profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their
fathers' idols.
25: Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and
ordinances by which they could not have life;
26: and I defiled them through their very gifts in making them
offer by fire all their first-born, that I might horrify them; I did it
that they might know that I am the Lord.
27: "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and
say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this again your fathers
blasphemed Me, by dealing treacherously with Me.
28: For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to
give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there
they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their
offering; there they sent up their soothing odors, and there they poured
out their drink offerings.
29: (I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? So
its name is called Bamah to this day.)
30: Wherefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God:
Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go
astray after their detestable things?
31: When you offer your gifts and sacrifice your sons by fire,
you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be
inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I
will not be inquired of by you.
32: "What is in your mind shall never happen -- the thought,
`Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and
worship wood and stone.'
33: "As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over
you.
34: I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of
the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
35: and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and
there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
36: As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the
wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,
says the Lord God.
37: I will make you pass under the rod, and I will let you go in
by number.
38: I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who
transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they
sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know
that I am the Lord.
39: "As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God:
Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not
listen to Me; but My holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts
and your idols.
40: "For on My holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel,
says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall
serve Me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require
your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred
offerings.
41: As a pleasing odor I will accept you, when I bring you out
from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have
been scattered; and I will manifest My holiness among you in the sight
of the nations.
42: And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into
the land of Israel, the country which I swore to give to your fathers.
43: And there you shall remember your ways and all the doings
with which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves
for all the evils that you have committed.
44: And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you
for My name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to
your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God."
45: And the word of the Lord came to me:
46: "Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach
against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb;
47: say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord:
Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it
shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree; the blazing
flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be
scorched by it.
48: All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall
not be quenched."
49: Then I said, "Ah Lord God! they are saying of me, `Is he
not a maker of allegories?'"
Ezekiel, chapter
21
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach
against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel
3: and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I
am against you, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will
cut off from you both righteous and wicked.
4: Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked,
therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from
south to north;
5: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn My sword
out of its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.
6: Sigh therefore, son of man; sigh with breaking heart and
bitter grief before their eyes.
7: And when they say to you, `Why do you sigh?' you shall say,
`Because of the tidings. When it comes, every heart will melt and all
hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak
as water. Behold, it comes and it will be fulfilled,'" says the
Lord God.
8: And the word of the Lord came to me:
9: "Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, Say: A
sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished,
10: sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Or
do we make mirth? You have despised the rod, My son, with everything of
wood.
11: So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be handled;
it is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.
12: Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against My people; it is
against all the princes of Israel; they are delivered over to the sword
with My people. Smite therefore upon your thigh.
13: For it will not be a testing -- what could it do if you
despise the rod?" says the Lord God.
14: "Prophesy therefore, son of man; clap your hands and let
the sword come down twice, yea thrice, the sword for those to be slain;
it is the sword for the great slaughter, which encompasses them,
15: that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates.
I have given the glittering sword; ah! it is made like lightning, it is
polished for slaughter.
16: Cut sharply to right and left where your edge is directed.
17: I also will clap My hands, and I will satisfy My fury; I the
Lord have spoken."
18: The word of the Lord came to me again:
19: "Son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of
Babylon to come; both of them shall come forth from the same land. And
make a signpost, make it at the head of the way to a city;
20: mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites
and to Judah and to Jerusalem the fortified.
21: For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at
the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he
consults the teraphim, he looks at the liver.
22: Into his right hand comes the lot for Jerusalem, to open the
mouth with a cry, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering
rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
23: But to them it will seem like a false divination; they have
sworn solemn oaths; but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they
may be captured.
24: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made
your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered,
so that in all your doings your sins appear -- because you have come to
remembrance, you shall be taken in them.
25: And you, O unhallowed wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day
has come, the time of your final punishment,
26: thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban, and take off the
crown; things shall not remain as they are; exalt that which is low, and
abase that which is high.
27: A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it; there shall not be even a
trace of it until he comes whose right it is; and to him I will give it.
28: "And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the
Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; say, A
sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter, it is polished to glitter and
to flash like lightning --
29: while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies
for you -- to be laid on the necks of the unhallowed wicked, whose day
has come, the time of their final punishment.
30: Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created,
in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
31: And I will pour out My indignation upon you; I will blow upon
you with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver you into the hands of
brutal men, skilful to destroy.
32: You shall be fuel for the fire; your blood shall be in the
midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered; for I the Lord have
spoken."
Ezekiel, chapter
22
1: Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2: "And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the
bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominable deeds.
3: You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood
in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols to
defile herself!
4: You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and
defiled by the idols which you have made; and you have brought your day
near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made
you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
5: Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock
you, you infamous one, full of tumult.
6: "Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one
according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.
7: Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the
sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow
are wronged in you.
8: You have despised My holy things, and profaned My sabbaths.
9: There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and men in you
who eat upon the mountains; men commit lewdness in your midst.
10: In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they
humble women who are unclean in their impurity.
11: One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another
lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you defiles his sister,
his father's daughter.
12: In you men take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and
increase and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; and you have
forgotten Me, says the Lord God.
13: "Behold, therefore, I strike My hands together at the
dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been in
the midst of you.
14: Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the
days that I shall deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do
it.
15: I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through
the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
16: And I shall be profaned through you in the sight of the
nations; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
17: And the word of the Lord came to me:
18: "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me;
all of them, silver and bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace,
have become dross.
19: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become
dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20: As men gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin
into a furnace, to blow the fire upon it in order to melt it; so I will
gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will put you in and melt
you.
21: I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of My
wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.
22: As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in
the midst of it; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out My
wrath upon you."
23: And the word of the Lord came to me:
24: "Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not
cleansed, or rained upon in the day of indignation.
25: Her princes in the midst of her are like a roaring lion
tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken
treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of
her.
26: 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 taught the difference between the unclean and
the clean, and they have disregarded My sabbaths, so that I am profaned
among them.
27: Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the
prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
28: And her prophets have daubed for them with whitewash, seeing
false visions and divining lies for them, saying, `Thus says the Lord
God,' when the Lord has not spoken.
29: The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed
robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from
the sojourner without redress.
30: And I sought for a man among them who should build up the
wall and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not
destroy it; but I found none.
31: Therefore I have poured out My indignation upon them; I have
consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way have I requited upon
their heads, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
23
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one
mother;
3: they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in
their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms
handled.
4: Oho'lah was the name of the elder and Ohol'ibah the name of
her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for
their names, Oho'lah is Sama'ria, and Ohol'ibah is Jerusalem.
5: "Oho'lah played the harlot while she was mine; and she
doted on her lovers the Assyrians,
6: warriors clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of
them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
7: She bestowed her harlotries upon them, the choicest men of
Assyria all of them; and she defiled herself with all the idols of every
one on whom she doted.
8: She did not give up her harlotry which she had practiced since
her days in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled
her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her.
9: Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into
the hands of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
10: These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her
daughters; and her they slew with the sword; and she became a byword
among women, when judgment had been executed upon her.
11: "Her sister Ohol'ibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt
than she in her doting and in her harlotry, which was worse than that of
her sister.
12: She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and commanders,
warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them
desirable young men.
13: And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way.
14: But she carried her harlotry further; she saw men portrayed
upon the wall, the images of the Chalde'ans portrayed in vermilion,
15: girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on
their heads, all of them looking like officers, a picture of Babylonians
whose native land was Chalde'a.
16: When she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers to
them in Chalde'a.
17: And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and
they defiled her with their lust; and after she was polluted by them,
she turned from them in disgust.
18: When she carried on her harlotry so openly and flaunted her
nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned from her
sister.
19: Yet she increased her harlotry, remembering the days of her
youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt
20: and doted upon her paramours there, whose members were like
those of asses, and whose issue was like that of horses.
21: Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the
Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts."
22: Therefore, O Ohol'ibah, thus says the Lord God: "Behold,
I will rouse against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust,
and I will bring them against you from every side:
23: the Babylonians and all the Chalde'ans, Pekod and Sho'a and
Ko'a, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors
and commanders all of them, officers and warriors, all of them riding on
horses.
24: And they shall come against you from the north with chariots
and wagons and a host of peoples; they shall set themselves against you
on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet, and I will commit the
judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.
25: And I will direct My indignation against you, that they may
deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and
your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and
your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire.
26: They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your
fine jewels.
27: Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your harlotry
brought from the land of Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes
to the Egyptians or remember them any more.
28: For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into
the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you
turned in disgust;
29: and they shall deal with you in hatred, and take away all the
fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of
your harlotry shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your harlotry
30: have brought this upon you, because you played the harlot
with the nations, and polluted yourself with their idols.
31: You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give
her cup into your hand.
32: Thus says the Lord God: "You shall drink your sister's
cup which is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in
derision, for it contains much;
33: you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of
horror and desolation, is the cup of your sister Sama'ria;
34: you shall drink it and drain it out, and pluck out your hair,
and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, says the Lord God.
35: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten
Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore bear the consequences of your
lewdness and harlotry."
36: The Lord said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oho'lah
and Ohol'ibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds.
37: For they have committed adultery, and blood is upon their
hands; with their idols they have committed adultery; and they have even
offered up to them for food the sons whom they had borne to Me.
38: Moreover this they have done to Me: they have defiled My
sanctuary on the same day and profaned My sabbaths.
39: For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to
their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it.
And lo, this is what they did in My house.
40: They even sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger
was sent, and lo, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your
eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments;
41: you sat upon a stately couch, with a table spread before it
on which you had placed My incense and My oil.
42: The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men
of the common sort drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they
put bracelets upon the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns upon
their heads.
43: "Then I said, Do not men now commit adultery when they
practice harlotry with her?
44: For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a harlot. Thus
they went in to Oho'lah and to Ohol'ibah to commit lewdness.
45: But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the
sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women that shed
blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is upon their
hands."
46: For thus says the Lord God: "Bring up a host against
them, and make them an object of terror and a spoil.
47: And the host shall stone them and dispatch them with their
swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up
their houses.
48: Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all
women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done.
49: And your lewdness shall be requited upon you, and you shall
bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry; and you shall know that I am
the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
24
1: In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the
month, the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very
day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
3: And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them,
Thus says the Lord God: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also;
4: put in it the pieces of flesh, all the good pieces, the thigh
and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.
5: Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it;
boil its pieces, seethe also its bones in it.
6: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody
city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and whose rust has not gone out of
it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.
7: For the blood she has shed is still in the midst of her; she
put it on the bare rock, she did not pour it upon the ground to cover it
with dust.
8: To rouse My wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare
rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered.
9: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! I
also will make the pile great.
10: Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil well the flesh, and
empty out the broth, and let the bones be burned up.
11: Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and
its copper may burn, that its filthiness may be melted in it, its rust
consumed.
12: In vain I have wearied myself; its thick rust does not go out
of it by fire.
13: Its rust is your filthy lewdness. Because I would have
cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your filthiness, you shall
not be cleansed any more till I have satisfied My fury upon you.
14: I the Lord have spoken; it shall come to pass, I will do it;
I will not go back, I will not spare, I will not repent; according to
your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord God."
15: Also the word of the Lord came to me:
16: "Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of
your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep nor
shall your tears run down.
17: Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on
your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips,
nor eat the bread of mourners."
18: So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my
wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.
19: And the people said to me, "Will you not tell us what
these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?"
20: Then I said to them, "The word of the Lord came to me:
21: `Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold,
I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of
your eyes, and the desire of your soul; and your sons and your daughters
whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
22: And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your
lips, nor eat the bread of mourners.
23: Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your
feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your
iniquities and groan to one another.
24: Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he
has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the
Lord God.'
25: "And you, son of man, on the day when I take from them
their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and
their heart's desire, and also their sons and daughters,
26: on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the
news.
27: On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and
you shall speak and be no longer dumb. So you will be a sign to them;
and they will know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
25
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites, and
prophesy against them.
3: Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says
the Lord God, Because you said, `Aha!' over My sanctuary when it was
profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and
over the house of Judah when it went into exile;
4: therefore I am handing you over to the people of the East for
a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make
their dwellings in your midst; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall
drink your milk.
5: I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the cities of the
Ammonites a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
6: For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your
hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within you
against the land of Israel,
7: therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you,
and will hand you over as spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off
from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will
destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
8: "Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab said, Behold, the
house of Judah is like all the other nations,
9: therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities on
its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jesh'imoth, Ba'al-me'on,
and Kiriatha'im.
10: I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the
East as a possession, that it may be remembered no more among the
nations,
11: and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know
that I am the Lord.
12: "Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully
against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking
vengeance upon them,
13: therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out My hand
against Edom, and cut off from it man and beast; and I will make it
desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.
14: And I will lay My vengeance upon 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
God.
15: "Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted
revengefully and took vengeance with malice of heart to destroy in
never-ending enmity;
16: therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out
My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cher'ethites,
and destroy the rest of the seacoast.
17: I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful
chastisements. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay My
vengeance upon them."
Ezekiel, chapter
26
1: In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word
of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem,
`Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I
shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,'
3: therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O
Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up
its waves.
4: They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her
towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock.
5: She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading
of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord God; and she shall become a
spoil to the nations;
6: and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7: "For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring upon
Tyre from the north Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, king of kings, with
horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.
8: He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he
will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you,
and raise a roof of shields against you.
9: He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your
walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
10: His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you;
your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and
chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been
breached.
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11:
With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will
slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to
the ground.
12: They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your
merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant
houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of
the waters.
13:
And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres
shall be heard no more.
14: I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the
spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the Lord have
spoken, says the Lord God.
15: "Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Will not the coastlands
shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when slaughter
is made in the midst of you?
16: Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their
thrones, and remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered
garments; they will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit upon
the ground and tremble every moment, and be appalled at you.
17: And they will raise a lamentation over you, and say to you, `How you have vanished from the seas, O city renowned, that was mighty
on the sea, you and your inhabitants, who imposed your terror on all the
mainland!
18: Now the isles tremble on the day of your fall; yea, the isles
that are in the sea are dismayed at your passing.'
19: "For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a city laid
waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep
over you, and the great waters cover you,
20: then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the
Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the nether
world, among primeval ruins, with those who go down to the Pit, so that
you will not be inhabited or have a place in the land of the living.
21: I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more;
though you be sought for, you will never be found again, says the Lord
God."
Ezekiel, chapter
27
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre,
3: and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea,
merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:
"O Tyre, you have said, `I am perfect in beauty.'
4: Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders made
perfect your beauty.
5: They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a
cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6: Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of
pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory.
7: Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as
your ensign; blue and purple from the coasts of Eli'shah was your
awning.
8: The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; skilled
men of Zemer were in you, they were your pilots.
9: The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, caulking
your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you, to
barter for your wares.
10: "Persia and Lud and Put were in your army as your men of
war; they hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor.
11: The men of Arvad and Helech were upon your walls round about,
and men of Gamad were in your towers; they hung their shields upon your
walls round about; they made perfect your beauty.
12: "Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great
wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for
your wares.
13: Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged the
persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
14: Beth-togar'mah exchanged for your wares horses, war horses,
and mules.
15: The men of Rhodes traded with you; many coastlands were your
own special markets, they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.
16: Edom trafficked with you because of your abundant goods; they
exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen,
coral, and agate.
17: Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged
for your merchandise wheat, olives and early figs, honey, oil, and balm.
18: Damascus trafficked with you for your abundant goods, because
of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon, and white wool,
19: and wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought
iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise.
20: Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.
21: Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers
in lambs, rams, and goats; in these they trafficked with you.
22: The traders of Sheba and Ra'amah traded with you; they
exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices, and all
precious stones, and gold.
23: Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.
24: These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue
and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored stuff, bound with cords
and made secure; in these they traded with you.
25: The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise.
"So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.
26: Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east
wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
27: Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and
your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your
men of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst,
sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your ruin.
28: At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countryside
shakes,
29: and down from their ships come all that handle the oar. The
mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the shore
30: and wail aloud over you, and cry bitterly. They cast dust on
their heads and wallow in ashes;
31: they make themselves bald for you, and gird themselves with
sackcloth, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter
mourning.
32: In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you, and lament
over you: `Who was ever destroyed like Tyre in the midst of the sea?
33: When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many
peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the
kings of the earth.
34: Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your crew have sunk with you.
35: All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you;
and their kings are horribly afraid, their faces are convulsed.
36: The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to
a dreadful end and shall be no more for ever.'"
Ezekiel, chapter
28
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the
Lord God: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said, `I am a
God, I sit in the seat of the Gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you
are but a man, and no God, though you consider yourself as wise as a God
--
3: you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from
you;
4: by your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth
for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5: by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your wealth,
and your heart has become proud in your wealth --
6: therefore thus says the Lord God: "Because you consider
yourself as wise as a god,
7: therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the most
terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the
beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.
8: They shall thrust you down into the Pit, and you shall die the
death of the slain in the heart of the seas.
9: Will you still say, `I am a god,' in the presence of those who
slay you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those
who wound you?
10: You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of
foreigners; for I have spoken, says the Lord God."
11: Moreover the word of the Lord came to me:
12: "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre,
and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: "You were the signet of
perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13: You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was
your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and
onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your
settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were
prepared.
14: With an anointed guardian cherub I placed you; you were on
the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
15: You were blameless in your ways from the day you were
created, till iniquity was found in you.
16: In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence,
and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of
God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones
of fire.
17: Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted
your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I
exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.
18: By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness
of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought forth fire
from the midst of you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes upon
the earth in the sight of all who saw you.
19: All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you
have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more for ever."
20: The word of the Lord came to me:
21: "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy
against her
22: and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against
you, O Sidon, and I will manifest My glory in the midst of you. And they
shall know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her, and
manifest My holiness in her;
23: for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her
streets; and the slain shall fall in the midst of her, by the sword that
is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
24: "And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a
brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who
have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord
God.
25: "Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of
Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest My
holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in
their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
26: And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build
houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute
judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt.
Then they will know that I am the Lord their God."
Ezekiel, chapter
29
1: In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of
the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and prophesy against him and against all Egypt;
3: speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am
against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the
midst of his streams, that says, `My Nile is my own; I made it.'
4: I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your
streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of
your streams, with all the fish of your streams which stick to your
scales.
5: And I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the
fish of your streams; you shall fall upon the open field, and not be
gathered and buried. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the
air I have given you as food.
6: "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am
the Lord. Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;
7: when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all
their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all
their loins to shake;
8: therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword
upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast;
9: and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then
they will know that I am the Lord. "Because you said, `The Nile is
mine, and I made it,'
10: therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your
streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and
desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia.
11: No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast
shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years.
12: And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst
of desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years
among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations, and disperse them among the countries.
13: "For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I
will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were
scattered;
14: and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back
to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall
be a lowly kingdom.
15: It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again
exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they
will never again rule over the nations.
16: And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of
Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then
they will know that I am the Lord God."
17: In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first
day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18: "Son of man, Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon made his
army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every
shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from
Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it.
19: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the
land of Egypt to Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off
its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for
his army.
20: I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for
which he labored, because they worked for Me, says the Lord God.
21: "On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the
house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will
know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
30
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
"Wail, `Alas for the day!'
3: For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a
day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
4: A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in
Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down.
5: Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the
people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6: "Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and her proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall
fall within her by the sword, says the Lord God.
7: And she shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries
and her cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8: Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire
to Egypt, and all her helpers are broken.
9: "On that day swift messengers shall go forth from Me to
terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on
the day of Egypt's doom; for, lo, it comes!
10: "Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to the wealth
of Egypt, by the hand of Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon.
11: He and his people with him, the most 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.
12: And I will dry up the Nile, and will sell the land into the
hand of evil men; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything
in it, by the hand of foreigners; I, the Lord, have spoken.
13: "Thus says the Lord God: I will destroy the idols, and
put an end to the images, in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince
in the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14: I will make Pathros a desolation, and will set fire to Zo'an,
and will execute acts of judgment upon Thebes.
15: And I will pour My wrath upon Pelusium, the stronghold of
Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16: And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great
agony; Thebes shall be breached, and its walls broken down.
17: The young men of On and of Pibe'seth shall fall by the sword;
and the women shall go into captivity.
18: At Tehaph'nehes the day shall be dark, when I break there the
dominion of Egypt, and her proud might shall come to an end; she shall
be covered by a cloud, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19: Thus I will execute acts of judgment upon Egypt. Then they
will know that I am the Lord."
20: In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day
of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
21: "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of
Egypt; and lo, it has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a
bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword.
22: Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and
the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand.
23: I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse
them throughout the lands.
24: And 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
will groan before him like a man mortally wounded.
25: I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the
arms of Pharaoh shall fall; and they shall know that I am the Lord. When
I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, he shall stretch it
out against the land of Egypt;
26: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and
disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am
the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
31
1: In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of
the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his
multitude: "Whom are you like in your greatness?
3: Behold, I will liken you to a cedar in Lebanon, with fair
branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the
clouds.
4: The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall, making
its rivers flow round the place of its planting, sending forth its
streams to all the trees of the forest.
5: So it towered high above all the trees of the forest; its
boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its
shoots.
6: All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under
its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; and
under its shadow dwelt all great nations.
7: It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its
branches; for its roots went down to abundant waters.
8: The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the
fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared
with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
9: I made it beautiful in the mass of its branches, and all the
trees of Eden envied it, that were in the garden of God.
10: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered
high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its
height,
11: I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations;
he shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it
out.
12: Foreigners, the most terrible of the nations, will cut it
down and leave it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches
will fall, and its boughs will lie broken in all the watercourses of the
land; and all the peoples of the earth will go from its shadow and leave
it.
13: Upon its ruin will dwell all the birds of the air, and upon
its branches will be all the beasts of the field.
14: All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to
lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that
drink water may reach up to them in height; for they are all given over
to death, to the nether world among mortal men, with those who go down
to the Pit.
15: "Thus says the Lords God: When it goes down to Sheol I
will make the deep mourn for it, and restrain its rivers, and many
waters shall be stopped; I will clothe Lebanon in gloom for it, and all
the trees of the field shall faint because of it.
16: I will make the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when
I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the
trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water,
will be comforted in the nether world.
17: They also shall go down to Sheol with it, to those who are
slain by the sword; yea, those who dwelt under its shadow among the
nations shall perish.
18: Whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the
trees of Eden? You shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the
nether world; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are
slain by the sword. "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says
the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
32
1: In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of
the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion among the
nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your
rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
3: Thus says the Lord God: I will throw My net over you with a
host of many peoples; and I will haul you up in My dragnet.
4: And I will cast you on the ground, on the open field I will
fling you, and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you, and
I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5: I will strew your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the
valleys with your carcass.
6: I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing
blood; and the watercourses will be full of you.
7: When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens, and make their
stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not
give its light.
8: All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and
put darkness upon your land, says the Lord God.
9: "I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I carry
you captive among the nations, into the countries which you have not
known.
10: I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings
shall shudder because of you, when I brandish My sword before them; they
shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of
your downfall.
11: For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon
shall come upon you.
12: I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty
ones, all of them most terrible among the nations. "They shall
bring to naught the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish.
13: I will destroy all its beasts from beside many waters; and no
foot of man shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of beasts
trouble them.
14: Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their rivers
to run like oil, says the Lord God.
15: When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is
stripped of all that fills it, when I smite all who dwell in it, then
they will know that I am the Lord.
16: This is a lamentation which shall be chanted; the daughters
of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude,
shall they chant it, says the Lord God."
17: In the twelfth year, in the first month, on the fifteenth day
of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18: "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and send
them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, to the nether
world, to those who have gone down to the Pit:
19: `Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the
uncircumcised.'
20: They shall fall amid those who are slain by the sword, and
with her shall lie all her multitudes.
21: The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers,
out of the midst of Sheol: `They have come down, they lie still, the
uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22: "Assyria is there, and all her company, their graves
round about her, all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
23: whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit, and
her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the
sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24: "Elam is there, and all her multitude about her grave;
all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into
the nether world, who spread terror in the land of the living, and they
bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
25: They have made her a bed among the slain with all her
multitude, their graves round about her, all of them uncircumcised,
slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the
living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit;
they are placed among the slain.
26: "Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude,
their graves round about them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the
sword; for they spread terror in the land of the living.
27: And they do not lie with the fallen mighty men of old who
went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid
under their heads, and whose shields are upon their bones; for the
terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living.
28: So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with
those who are slain by the sword.
29: "Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for
all their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword; they lie
with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.
30: "The princes of the north are there, all of them, and
all the Sido'nians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all
the terror which they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with
those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go
down to the Pit.
31: "When Pharaoh sees them, he will comfort himself for all
his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the
Lord God.
32: For he spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he
shall be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the
sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
33
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I
bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from
among them, and make him their watchman;
3: and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the
trumpet and warns the people;
4: then if any one who hears the sound of the trumpet does not
take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be
upon his own head.
5: He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not take warning;
his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would
have saved his life.
6: But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow
the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes, and
takes any one of them; that man is taken away in his iniquity, but his
blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
7: "So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house
of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them
warning from Me.
8: If I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die,
and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at
your hand.
9: But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does
not turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have
saved your life.
10: "And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus
have you said: `Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we
waste away because of them; how then can we live?'
11: Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and
live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O
house of Israel?
12: And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of
the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses; and as for the
wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his
wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by his
righteousness when he sins.
13: Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet
if he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his
righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in the iniquity that he has
committed he shall die.
14: Again, though I say to the wicked, `You shall surely die,'
yet if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15: if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has
taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, committing no
iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
16: None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered
against him; he has done what is lawful and right, he shall surely live.
17: "Yet your people say, `The way of the Lord is not just';
when it is their own way that is not just.
18: When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits
iniquity, he shall die for it.
19: And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does what
is lawful and right, he shall live by it.
20: Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of
Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways."
21: In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the
fifth day of the month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me
and said, "The city has fallen."
22: Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before
the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came
to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer dumb.
23: The word of the Lord came to me:
24: "Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in
the land of Israel keep saying, `Abraham was only one man, yet he got
possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to
possess.'
25: Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh
with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood;
shall you then possess the land?
26: You resort to the sword, you commit abominations and each of
you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?
27: Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely
those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that
is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured; and those
who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.
28: And I will make the land a desolation and a waste; and her
proud might shall come to an end; and the mountains of Israel shall be
so desolate that none will pass through.
29: Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the
land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which
they have committed.
30: "As for you, son of man, your people who talk together
about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one
another, each to his brother, `Come, and hear what the word is that
comes forth from the Lord.'
31: And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you
as My people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for
with their lips they show much love, but their heart is set on their
gain.
32: And, lo, you are to them like one who sings love songs with a
beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you
say, but they will not do it.
33: When this comes -- and come it will! -- then they will know
that a prophet has been among them."
Ezekiel, chapter
34
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord
God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should
not shepherds feed the sheep?
3: You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you
slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.
4: The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not
healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not
brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness
you have ruled them.
5: So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and
they became food for all the wild beasts.
6: My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains
and on every high hill; My sheep were scattered over all the face of the
earth, with none to search or seek for them.
7: "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
8: As I live, says the Lord God, because My sheep have become a
prey, and My sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there
was no shepherd; and because My shepherds have not searched for My
sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed My sheep;
9: therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
10: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds;
and I will require My sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their
feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will
rescue My sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
11: "For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will
search for My sheep, and will seek them out.
12: As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have
been scattered abroad, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue
them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds
and thick darkness.
13: And 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 fountains, and in all the
inhabited places of the country.
14: I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain
heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in
good grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains
of Israel.
15: I myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I will make
them lie down, says the Lord God.
16: I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and
I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat
and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.
17: "As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I
judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats.
18: Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that
you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to
drink of clear water, that you must foul the rest with your feet?
19: And must My sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet,
and drink what you have fouled with your feet?
20: "Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I
myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21: Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all
the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad,
22: I will save My flock, they shall no longer be a prey; and I
will judge between sheep and sheep.
23: And I will set up over them one shepherd, My servant David,
and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
24: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David
shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
25: "I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish
wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26: And I will make them and the places round about My hill a
blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall
be showers of blessing.
27: And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the
earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land;
and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their
yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
28: They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the
beasts of the land devour them; they shall dwell securely, and none
shall make them afraid.
29: And I will provide for them prosperous plantations so that
they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer
suffer the reproach of the nations.
30: And they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them,
and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God.
31: And you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, and I am your
God, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
35
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face against Mount Se'ir, and
prophesy against it,
3: and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against
you, Mount Se'ir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will
make you a desolation and a waste.
4: I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a
desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.
5: Because you cherished perpetual enmity, and gave over the
people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their
calamity, at the time of their final punishment;
6: therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will prepare you
for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you are guilty of blood,
therefore blood shall pursue you.
7: I will make Mount Se'ir a waste and a desolation; and I will
cut off from it all who come and go.
8: And I will fill your mountains with the slain; on your hills
and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword
shall fall.
9: I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall
not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10: "Because you said, `These two nations and these two
countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them,' --
although the Lord was there --
11: therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will deal with you
according to the anger and envy which you showed because of your hatred
against them; and I will make myself known among you, when I judge you.
12: And you shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all the reviling which you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying,
`They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour.'
13: And you magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, and
multiplied your words against Me; I heard it.
14: Thus says the Lord God: For the rejoicing of the whole earth
I will make you desolate.
15: As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel,
because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate,
Mount Se'ir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the
Lord.
Ezekiel, chapter
36
1: "And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of
Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
2: Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, `Aha!'
and, `The ancient heights have become our possession,'
3: therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Because,
yea, because they made you desolate, and crushed you from all sides, so
that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you
became the talk and evil gossip of the people;
4: therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord
God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines
and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have
become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations round about;
5: therefore thus says the Lord God: I speak in My hot jealousy
against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who gave My land
to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt,
that they might possess it and plunder it.
6: Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to
the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord
God: Behold, I speak in My jealous wrath, because you have suffered the
reproach of the nations;
7: therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations
that are round about you shall themselves suffer reproach.
8: "But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your
branches, and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they will soon
come home.
9: For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you
shall be tilled and sown;
10: and I will multiply men upon you, the whole house of Israel,
all of it; the cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt;
11: and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall
increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in
your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then
you will know that I am the Lord.
12: Yea, I will let men walk upon you, even My people Israel; and
they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you
shall no longer bereave them of children.
13: Thus says the Lord God: Because men say to you, `You devour
men, and you bereave your nation of children,'
14: therefore you shall no longer devour men and no longer
bereave your nation of children, says the Lord God;
15: and I will not let you hear any more the reproach of the
nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no
longer cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord God."
16: The word of the Lord came to me:
17: "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own
land, they defiled it by their ways and their doings; their conduct
before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
18: So I poured out My wrath upon them for the blood which they
had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.
19: I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed
through the countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds
I judged them.
20: But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they
profaned My holy name, in that men said of them, `These are the people
of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.'
21: But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel
caused to be profaned among the nations to which they came.
22: "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the
Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to
act, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the
nations to which you came.
23: And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name, which has
been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them;
and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when
through you I vindicate My holiness before their eyes.
24: For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all
the countries, and bring you into your own land.
25: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean
from all your uncleanliness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
26: A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put
within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and
give you a heart of flesh.
27: And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
My statutes and be careful to observe My ordinances.
28: You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and
you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
29: And I will deliver you from all your uncleanliness; and I
will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
30: I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the
field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine
among the nations.
31: Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that
were not good; and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and
your abominable deeds.
32: It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord God;
let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O
house of Israel.
33: "Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you
from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and
the waste places shall be rebuilt.
34: And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of
being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.
35: And they will say, `This land that was desolate has become
like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities
are now inhabited and fortified.'
36: Then the nations that are left round about you shall know
that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted that
which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.
37: "Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house
of Israel ask Me to do for them: to increase their men like a flock.
38: Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem
during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with
flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel, chapter
37
1: The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the
Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was
full of bones.
2: And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very
many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
3: And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones
live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knows."
4: Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to
them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
5: Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause
breath to enter you, and you shall live.
6: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall
live; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
7: So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there
was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone
to its bone.
8: And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come
upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them.
9: Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may
live."
10: So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great
host.
11: 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.'
12: Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O My
people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel.
13: And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your
graves, and raise you from your graves, O My people.
14: And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and
I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord,
have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord."
15: The word of the Lord came to me:
16: "Son of man, take a stick and write on it, `For Judah,
and the children of Israel associated with him'; then take another stick
and write upon it, `For Joseph (the stick of E'phraim) and all the house
of Israel associated with him';
17: and join them together into one stick, that they may become
one in your hand.
18: And when your people say to you, `Will you not show us what
you mean by these?'
19: say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to
take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of E'phraim) and the
tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will join with it the stick
of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in My hand.
20: When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before
their eyes,
21: then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take
the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and
will gather them from all sides, and bring them to their own land;
22: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the
mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; and they
shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.
23: They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols
and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I
will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and
will cleanse them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
24: "My servant David shall be king over them; and they
shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow My ordinances and be
careful to observe My statutes.
25: They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I
gave to My servant Jacob; they and their children and their children's
children shall dwell there for ever; and David My servant shall be their
prince for ever.
26: I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an
everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them,
and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27: My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.
28: Then the nations will know that I the Lord sanctify Israel,
when My sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore."
Ezekiel, chapter
38
1: The word of the Lord came to me:
2: "Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of
Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
3: and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O
Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal;
4: and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I
will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of
them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with buckler
and shield, wielding swords;
5: Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield
and helmet;
6: Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togar'mah from the uttermost
parts of the north with all his hordes -- many peoples are with you.
7: "Be ready and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are
assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8: After many days you will be mustered; in the latter years you
will go against the land that is restored from war, the land where
people were gathered from many nations upon the mountains of Israel,
which had been a continual waste; its people were brought out from the
nations and now dwell securely, all of them.
9: You will advance, coming on like a storm, you will be like a
cloud covering the land you and all your hordes, and many peoples with
you.
10: "Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will come
into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme
11: and say, `I will go up against the land of unwalled villages;
I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them
dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates';
12: to seize spoil and carry off plunder; to assail the waste
places which are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from
the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell at the center
of the earth.
13: Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its
villages will say to you, `Have you come to seize spoil? Have you
assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and
gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?'
14: "Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus
says the Lord God: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling
securely, you will bestir yourself
15: and 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 host, a mighty army;
16: you will come up against My people Israel, like a cloud
covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against My land,
that the nations may know Me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate My
holiness before their eyes.
17: "Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in
former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days
prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?
18: But on that day, when Gog shall come against the land of
Israel, says the Lord God, My wrath will be roused.
19: For in My jealousy and in My blazing wrath I declare, On that
day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20: the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts
of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all
the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at My presence,
and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and
every wall shall tumble to the ground.
21: I will summon every kind of terror against Gog, says the Lord
God; every man's sword will be against his brother.
22: With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with
him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples that
are with him, torrential rains and hailstones, fire and brimstone.
23: So I will show My greatness and My holiness and make myself
known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the
Lord.
Ezekiel, chapter
39
1: "And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus
says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal;
2: and I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you
up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the
mountains of Israel;
3: then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make
your arrows drop out of your right hand.
4: You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your
hordes and the peoples that are with you; I will give you to birds of
prey of every sort and to the wild beasts to be devoured.
5: You shall fall in the open field; for I have spoken, says the
Lord God.
6: I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in
the coastlands; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7: "And My holy name I will make known in the midst of My
people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned any more; and
the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
8: Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, says the
Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.
9: "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go
forth and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers,
bows and arrows, handspikes and spears, and they will make fires of them
for seven years;
10: so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or
cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the
weapons; they will despoil those who despoiled them, and plunder those
who plundered them, says the Lord God.
11: "On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in
Israel, the Valley of the Travelers east of the sea; it will block the
travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried; it will
be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.
12: For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in
order to cleanse the land.
13: All the people of the land will bury them; and it will
redound to their honor on the day that I show My glory, says the Lord
God.
14: They will set apart men to pass through the land continually
and bury those remaining upon the face of the land, so as to cleanse it;
at the end of seven months they will make their search.
15: And when these pass through the land and any one sees a man's
bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it
in the Valley of Hamon-gog.
16: (A city Hamo'nah is there also.) Thus shall they cleanse the
land.
17: "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak
to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, `Assemble and
come, gather from all sides to the sacrificial feast which I am
preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast upon the mountains of
Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.
18: 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.
19: And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood
till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast which I am preparing for
you.
20: And you shall be filled at My table with horses and riders,
with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,' says the Lord God.
21: "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the
nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I
have laid on them.
22: The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God,
from that day forward.
23: And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into
captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with
Me that I hid My face from them and gave them into the hand of their
adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.
24: I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their
transgressions, and hid My face from them.
25: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore
the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel;
and I will be jealous for My holy name.
26: They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they
have practiced against Me, when they dwell securely in their land with
none to make them afraid,
27: when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered
them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated My
holiness in the sight of many nations.
28: Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God because I
sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into
their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations
any more;
29: and I will not hide My face any more from them, when I pour
out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God."
Ezekiel, chapter
40
1: In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the
year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the
city was conquered, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me,
2: and brought me in the visions of God into the land of Israel,
and set me down upon a very high mountain, on which was a structure like
a city opposite me.
3: When he brought me there, behold, there was a man, whose
appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring reed in
his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
4: And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes,
and hear with your ears, and set your mind upon all that I shall show
you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you;
declare all that you see to the house of Israel."
5: And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the
temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was
six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length; so he
measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6: Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps,
and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep;
7: and the side rooms, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the
space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate
by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed.
8: Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits;
9: and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was
at the inner end.
10: And there were three side rooms on either side of the east
gate; the three were of the same size; and the jambs on either side were
of the same size.
11: Then he measured the breadth of the opening of the gateway,
ten cubits; and the breadth of the gateway, thirteen cubits.
12: There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on
either side; and the side rooms were six cubits on either side.
13: Then he measured the gate from the back of the one side room
to the back of the other, a breadth of five and twenty cubits, from door
to door.
14: He measured also the vestibule, twenty cubits; and round
about the vestibule of the gateway was the court.
15: From the front of the gate at the entrance to the end of the
inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.
16: And the gateway had windows round about, narrowing inwards
into their jambs in the side rooms, and likewise the vestibule had
windows round about inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.
17: Then he brought me into the outer court; and behold, there
were chambers and a pavement, round about the court; thirty chambers
fronted on the pavement.
18: And the pavement ran along the side of the gates,
corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.
19: Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the
lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits. Then
he went before me to the north,
20: and behold, there was a gate which faced toward the north,
belonging to the outer court. He measured its length and its breadth.
21: Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its
vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate; its length
was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
22: And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of
the same size as those of the gate which faced toward the east; and
seven steps led up to it; and its vestibule was on the inside.
23: And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a
gate to the inner court; and he measured from gate to gate, a hundred
cubits.
24: And he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate
on the south; and he measured its jambs and its vestibule; they had the
same size as the others.
25: And there were windows round about in it and in its
vestibule, like the windows of the others; its length was fifty cubits,
and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
26: And there were seven steps leading up to it, and its
vestibule was on the inside; and it had palm trees on its jambs, one on
either side.
27: And there was a gate on the south of the inner court; and he
measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.
28: Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate, and
he measured the south gate; it was of the same size as the others;
29: Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same
size as the others; and there were windows round about in it and in its
vestibule; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five
cubits.
30: And there were vestibules round about, twenty-five cubits
long and five cubits broad.
31: Its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on
its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.
32: Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and
he measured the gate; it was of the same size as the others.
33: Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same
size as the others; and there were windows round about in it and in its
vestibule; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five
cubits.
34: Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on
its jambs, one on either side; and its stairway had eight steps.
35: Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it
had the same size as the others.
36: Its side rooms, its jambs, and its vestibule were of the same
size as the others; and it had windows round about; its length was fifty
cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.
37: Its vestibule faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on
its jambs, one on either side; and its stairway had eight steps.
38: There was a chamber with its door in the vestibule of the
gate, where the burnt offering was to be washed.
39: And in the vestibule of the gate were two tables on either
side, on which the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt
offering were to be slaughtered.
40: And on the outside of the vestibule at the entrance of the
north gate were two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule of
the gate were two tables.
41: Four tables were on the inside, and four tables on the
outside of the side of the gate, eight tables, on which the sacrifices
were to be slaughtered.
42: And there were also four tables of hewn stone for the burnt
offering, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one
cubit high, on which the instruments were to be laid with which the
burnt offerings and the sacrifices were slaughtered.
43: And hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened round about
within. And on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
44: Then he brought me from without into the inner court, and
behold, there were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of
the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south gate
facing north.
45: And he said to me, This chamber which faces south is for the
priests who have charge of the temple,
46: and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who have
charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the
sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him.
47: And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a
hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was in front of the
temple.
48: Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and
measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side; and the
breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits; and the sidewalls of the gate
were three cubits on either side.
49: The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the
breadth twelve cubits; and ten steps led up to it; and there were
pillars beside the jambs on either side.
Ezekiel, chapter
41
1: Then he brought me to the nave, and measured the jambs; on
each side six cubits was the breadth of the jambs.
2: And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the
sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side; and he
measured the length of the nave forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty
cubits.
3: Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the
entrance, two cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, six cubits; and
the sidewalls of the entrance, seven cubits.
4: And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its
breadth, twenty cubits, beyond the nave. And he said to me, This is the
most holy place.
5: Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick; and
the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, round about the temple.
6: And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another,
thirty in each story. There were offsets all around the wall of the
temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should
not be supported by the wall of the temple.
7: And the side chambers became broader as they rose from story
to story, corresponding to the enlargement of the offset from story to
story round about the temple; on the side of the temple a stairway led
upward, and thus one went up from the lowest story to the top story
through the middle story.
8: I saw also that the temple had a raised platform round about;
the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long
cubits.
9: The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five
cubits; and the part of the platform which was left free was five
cubits. Between the platform of the temple and the
10: chambers of the court was a breadth of twenty cubits round
about the temple on every side.
11: And the doors of the side chambers opened on the part of the
platform that was left free, one door toward the north, and another door
toward the south; and the breadth of the part that was left free was
five cubits round about.
12: The building that was facing the temple yard on the west side
was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits
thick round about, and its length ninety cubits.
13: Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the
yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long;
14: also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the
yard, a hundred cubits.
15: Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard
which was at the west and its walls on either side, a hundred cubits.
The nave of the temple and the inner room and the outer vestibule
16: were paneled and round about all three had windows with
recessed frames. Over against the threshold the temple was paneled with
wood round about, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were
covered),
17: to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on
the outside. And on all the walls round about in the inner room and the
nave were carved likenesses
18: of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and
cherub. Every cherub had two faces:
19: 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. They
were carved on the whole temple round about;
20: from the floor to above the door cherubim and palm trees were
carved on the wall.
21: The doorposts of the nave were squared; and in front of the
holy place was something resembling
22: an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two
cubits broad; its corners, its base, and its walls were of wood. He said
to me, "This is the table which is before the Lord."
23: The nave and the holy place had each a double door.
24: The doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each
door.
25: And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm
trees, such as were carved on the walls; and there was a canopy of wood
in front of the vestibule outside.
26: And there were recessed windows and palm trees on either
side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule.
Ezekiel, chapter
42
1: Then he led me out into the inner court, toward the north, and
he brought me to the chambers which were opposite the temple yard and
opposite the building on the north.
2: The length of the building which was on the north side was a
hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits.
3: Adjoining the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court,
and facing the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery
against gallery in three stories.
4: And before the chambers was a passage inward, ten cubits wide
and a hundred cubits long, and their doors were on the north.
5: Now the upper chambers were narrower, for the galleries took
more away from them than from the lower and middle chambers in the
building.
6: For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like
the pillars of the outer court; hence the upper chambers were set back
from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones.
7: And there was a wall outside parallel to the chambers, toward
the outer court, opposite the chambers, fifty cubits long.
8: For the chambers on the outer court were fifty cubits long,
while those opposite the temple were a hundred cubits long.
9: Below these chambers was an entrance on the east side, as one
enters them from the outer court,
10: where the outside wall begins. On the south also, opposite
the yard and opposite the building, there were chambers
11: with a passage in front of them; they were similar to the
chambers on the north, of the same length and breadth, with the same
exits and arrangements and doors.
12: And below the south chambers was an entrance on the east
side, where one enters the passage, and opposite them was a dividing
wall.
13: Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south
chambers opposite the yard are the holy chambers, where the priests who
approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings; there they shall
put the most holy offerings -- the cereal offering, the sin offering,
and the guilt offering, for the place is holy.
14: When the priests enter the holy place, they shall not go out
of it into the outer court without laying there the garments in which
they minister, for these are holy; they shall put on other garments
before they go near to that which is for the people."
15: Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple
area, he led me out by the gate which faced east, and measured the
temple area round about.
16: He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five
hundred cubits by the measuring reed.
17: Then he turned and measured the north side, five hundred
cubits by the measuring reed.
18: Then he turned and measured the south side, five hundred
cubits by the measuring reed.
19: Then he turned to the west side and measured, five hundred
cubits by the measuring reed.
20: He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it,
five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits broad, to make a
separation between the holy and the common.
Ezekiel, chapter
43
1: Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east.
2: And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east;
and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the
earth shone with his glory.
3: And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when
he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the
river Chebar; and I fell upon My face.
4: As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing
east,
5: the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court;
and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6: While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to
me out of the temple;
7: and 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 people of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no
more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their
harlotry, and by the dead bodies of their kings,
8: by setting their threshold by My threshold and their doorposts
beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them. They have
defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed, so
I have consumed them in My anger.
9: Now let them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies of
their kings far from Me, and I will dwell in their midst for ever.
10: "And you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel
the temple and its appearance and plan, that they may be ashamed of
their iniquities.
11: And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, portray
the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole
form; and make known to them all its ordinances and all its laws; and
write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform all
its laws and all its ordinances.
12: This is the law of the temple: the whole territory round
about upon the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Behold, this is
the law of the temple.
13: "These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits (the
cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit
high, and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And
this shall be the height of the altar:
14: from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits,
with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger
ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit;
15: and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth
projecting upward, four horns, one cubit high.
16: The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by
twelve broad.
17: The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by
fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base
one cubit round about. The steps of the altar shall face east."
18: And he said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord God:
These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected
for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it,
19: you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of
Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me, says the Lord God, a bull
for a sin offering.
20: And you shall take some of its blood, and put it on the four
horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the
rim round about; thus you shall cleanse the altar and make atonement for
it.
21: You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it
shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside
the sacred area.
22: And on the second day you shall offer a he-goat without
blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be cleansed, as it was
cleansed with the bull.
23: When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull
without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.
24: You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall
sprinkle salt upon them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the
Lord.
25: For seven days you shall provide daily a goat for a sin
offering; also a bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall
be provided.
26: Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify
it, and so consecrate it.
27: And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth
day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings
and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, says the Lord
God."
Ezekiel, chapter
44
1: Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary,
which faces east; and it was shut.
2: And he said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall
not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of
Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut.
3: Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he
shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the
same way."
4: Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of
the temple; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the
temple of the Lord; and I fell upon my face.
5: And the Lord said to me, "Son of man, mark well, see with
your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning
all the ordinances of the temple of the Lord and all its laws; and mark
well those who may be admitted to the temple and all those who are to be
excluded from the sanctuary.
6: And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus
says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let there be an end to all your
abominations,
7: in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to
be in My sanctuary, profaning it, when you offer to Me My food, the fat
and the blood. You have broken My covenant, in addition to all your
abominations.
8: And you have not kept charge of My holy things; but you have
set foreigners to keep My charge in My sanctuary.
9: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: No foreigner,
uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among
the people of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
10: But the Levites who went far from Me, going astray from Me
after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.
11: They shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at
the gates of the temple, and serving in the temple; they shall slay the
burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend
on the people, to serve them.
12: Because they ministered to them before their idols and became
a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have
sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their
punishment.
13: They shall not come near to Me, to serve Me as priest, nor
come near any of My sacred things and the things that are most sacred;
but they shall bear their shame, because of the abominations which they
have committed.
14: Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do
all its service and all that is to be done in it.
15: "But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept
the charge of My sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from
Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall attend on Me
to offer Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God;
16: they shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall approach My
table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17: When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear
linen garments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they
minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.
18: They shall have linen turbans upon their heads, and linen
breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything
that causes sweat.
19: And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they
shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering, and lay
them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, lest
they communicate holiness to the people with their garments.
20: They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow
long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
21: No priest shall drink wine, when he enters the inner court.
22: They shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, but only a
virgin of the stock of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow
of a priest.
23: They shall teach My people the difference between the holy
and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and
the clean.
24: In a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall
judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My
statutes in all My appointed feasts, and they shall keep My sabbaths
holy.
25: They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead
person; however, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother
or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.
26: After he is defiled, he shall count for himself seven days,
and then he shall be clean.
27: And on the day that he goes into the holy place, into the
inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his sin
offering, says the Lord God.
28: "They shall have no inheritance; I am their inheritance:
and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
29: They shall eat the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the
guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30: And the first of all the first fruits of all kinds, and every
offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the
priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your coarse
meal, that a blessing may rest on your house.
31: The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast,
that has died of itself or is torn.
Ezekiel, chapter
45
1: "When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set
apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five
thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy
throughout its whole extent.
2: Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits
shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around
it.
3: And in the holy district you shall measure off a section
twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall
be the sanctuary, the most holy place.
4: It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the
priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister
to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for
the sanctuary.
5: Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten
thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the
temple, as their possession for cities to live in.
6: "Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you
shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits
broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the
whole house of Israel.
7: "And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of
the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy
district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east,
corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending
from the western to the eastern boundary of the land.
8: It is to be his property in Israel. And My princes shall no
more oppress My people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the
land according to their tribes.
9: "Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put
away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness;
cease your evictions of My people, says the Lord God.
10: "You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just
bath.
11: The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath
containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the
homer shall be the standard measure.
12: The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be five
shekels, and ten shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be
fifty shekels.
13: "This is the offering which you shall make: one sixth of
an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each
homer of barley,
14: and as the fixed portion of oil, one tenth of a bath from
each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths);
15: and one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the
families of Israel. This is the offering for cereal offerings, burnt
offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the
Lord God.
16: All the people of the land shall give this offering to the
prince in Israel.
17: It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings,
cereal offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and
the sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall
provide the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace
offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
18: "Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the
first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and
cleanse the sanctuary.
19: The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering
and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge
of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court.
20: You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for any
one who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make
atonement for the temple.
21: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month,
you shall celebrate the feast of the Passover, and for seven days
unleavened bread shall be eaten.
22: On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the
people of the land a young bull for a sin offering.
23: And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a
burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without
blemish, on each of the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin
offering.
24: And he shall provide as a cereal offering an ephah for each
bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah.
25: In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and
for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for
sin offerings, burnt offerings, and cereal offerings, and for the oil.
Ezekiel, chapter
46
1: "Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that
faces east shall be shut on 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.
2: The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from
without, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests
shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall
worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate
shall not be shut until evening.
3: The people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that
gate before the Lord on the sabbaths and on the new moons.
4: The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the
sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without
blemish;
5: and the cereal offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and
the cereal offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able,
together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
6: On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without
blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish;
7: as a cereal offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull
and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able,
together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
8: When the prince enters, he shall go in by the vestibule of the
gate, and he shall go out by the same way.
9: "When the people of the land come before the Lord at the
appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go
out by the south gate; and he who enters by the south gate shall go out
by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he
entered, but each shall go out straight ahead.
10: When they go in, the prince shall go in with them; and when
they go out, he shall go out.
11: "At the feasts and the appointed seasons the cereal
offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah,
and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin
of oil to an ephah.
12: When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt
offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate
facing east shall be opened for him; and he shall offer his burnt
offering or his peace offerings as he does on the sabbath day. Then he
shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.
13: "He shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for
a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning he shall provide
it.
14: And he shall provide a cereal offering with it morning by
morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten
the flour, as a cereal offering to the Lord; this is the ordinance for
the continual burnt offering.
15: Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be
provided, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.
16: "Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to
any of his sons out of his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons, it
is their property by inheritance.
17: But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his
servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall revert
to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance.
18: The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the
people, thrusting them out of their property; he shall give his sons
their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of My people
shall be dispossessed of his property."
19: Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the
side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests;
and there I saw a place at the extreme western end of them.
20: And he said to me, "This is the place where the priests
shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall
bake the cereal offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer
court and so communicate holiness to the people."
21: Then he brought me forth to the outer court, and led me to
the four corners of the court; and in each corner of the court there was
a court --
22: in the four corners of the court were small courts, forty
cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size.
23: On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of
masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows round about.
24: Then he said to me, "These are the kitchens where those
who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the
people."
Ezekiel, chapter
47
1: Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold,
water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east
(for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below
the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
2: Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me
round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and
the water was coming out on the south side.
3: Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a
thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was
ankle-deep.
4: Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water;
and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through
the water; and it was up to the loins.
5: Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could
not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim
in, a river that could not be passed through.
6: And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?"
Then he led me back along the bank of the river.
7: As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many
trees on the one side and on the other.
8: And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern
region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant
waters of the sea, the water will become fresh.
9: And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms
will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there,
that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live
where the river goes.
10: Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from En-ge'di to
En-eg'laim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will
be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11: But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to
be left for salt.
12: And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow
all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their
fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the
water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food,
and their leaves for healing."
13: Thus says the Lord God: "These are the boundaries by
which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes
of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14: And you shall divide it equally; I swore to give it to your
fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15: "This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north
side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath,
and on to Zedad,
16: Bero'thah, Sib'raim (which lies on the border between
Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border
of Hauran.
17: So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-e'non, which
is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the
north. This shall be the north side.
18: "On the east side, the boundary shall run from
Hazar-e'non between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead
and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This
shall be the east side.
19: "On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as
the waters of Meribath-ka'desh, thence along the Brook of Egypt to the
Great Sea. This shall be the south side.
20: "On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary
to a point opposite the entrance of Hamath. This shall be the west side.
21: "So you shall divide this land among you according to
the tribes of Israel.
22: You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for
the aliens who reside among you and have begotten children among you.
They shall be to you as native-born sons of Israel; with you they shall
be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
23: In whatever tribe the alien resides, there you shall assign
him his inheritance, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel, chapter
48
1: "These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the
northern border, from the sea by way of Hethlon to the entrance of
Hamath, as far as Hazar-e'non (which is on the northern border of
Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the
west, Dan, one portion.
2: Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the
west, Asher, one portion.
3: Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the
west, Naph'tali, one portion.
4: Adjoining the territory of Naph'tali, from the east side to
the west, Manas'seh, one portion.
5: Adjoining the territory of Manas'seh, from the east side to
the west, E'phraim, one portion.
6: Adjoining the territory of E'phraim, from the east side to the
west, Reuben, one portion.
7: Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the
west, Judah, one portion.
8: "Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to
the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five
thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal
portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the
midst of it.
9: The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be
twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth.
10: These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the
priests shall have an allotment measuring twenty-five thousand cubits on
the northern side, ten thousand cubits in breadth on the western side,
ten thousand in breadth on the eastern side, and twenty-five thousand in
length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst
of it.
11: This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok,
who kept My charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went
astray, as the Levites did.
12: And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the
holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of
the Levites.
13: And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall
have an allotment twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand
in breadth. The whole length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits and
the breadth twenty thousand.
14: They shall not sell or exchange any of it; they shall not
alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15: "The remainder, five thousand cubits in breadth and
twenty-five thousand in length, shall be for ordinary use for the city,
for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the
city;
16: and these shall be its dimensions: the north side four
thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four thousand five hundred,
the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four
thousand and five hundred.
17: And the city shall have open land: on the north two hundred
and fifty cubits, on the south two hundred and fifty, on the east two
hundred and fifty, and on the west two hundred and fifty.
18: The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall
be ten thousand cubits to the east, and ten thousand to the west, and it
shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the
workers of the city.
19: And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel,
shall till it.
20: The whole portion which you shall set apart shall be
twenty-five thousand cubits square, that is, the holy portion together
with the property of the city.
21: "What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of
the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the
twenty-five thousand cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and
westward from the twenty-five thousand cubits to the west border,
parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy
portion with the sanctuary of the temple in its midst,
22: and the property of the Levites and the property of the city,
shall be in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion
of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory
of Benjamin.
23: "As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to
the west, Benjamin, one portion.
24: Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to
the west, Simeon, one portion.
25: Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the
west, Is'sachar, one portion.
26: Adjoining the territory of Is'sachar, from the east side to
the west, Zeb'ulun, one portion.
27: Adjoining the territory of Zeb'ulun, from the east side to
the west, Gad, one portion.
28: And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary
shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-ka'desh, thence along the
Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea.
29: This is the land which you shall allot as an inheritance
among the tribes of Israel, and these are their several portions, says
the Lord God.
30: "These shall be the exits of the city: On the north
side, which is to be four thousand five hundred cubits by measure,
31: three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the
gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of
Israel.
32: On the east side, which is to be four thousand five hundred
cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the
gate of Dan.
33: On the south side, which is to be four thousand five hundred
cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of
Is'sachar, and the gate of Zeb'ulun.
34: On the west side, which is to be four thousand five hundred
cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of
Naph'tali.
35: The circumference of the city shall be eighteen thousand
cubits. And the name of the city henceforth shall be, The Lord is
there."
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