Ezekiel | New American Standerd Bible Version

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Ezekiel 1

1: Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2: (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's exile,
3: the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the LORD came upon him.)
4: As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.
5: Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form,
6: Each of them had four faces and four wings.
7: Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze.
8: Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,
9: their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
10: As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.
11: Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.
12: And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
13: In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.
14: And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.
15: Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them.
16: The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another.
17: Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved.
18: As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about.
19: Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.
20: Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction . And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
21: Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
22: Now over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads.
23: Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.
24: I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.
25: And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.
26: Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.
27: Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.
28: As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. 2

Ezekiel 2

1: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!''
2: As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.
3: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
4: ""I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD.'
5: ""As for them, whether they listen or notfor they are a rebellious housethey will know that a prophet has been among them.
6: ""And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.
7: ""But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.
8: ""Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.''
9: Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it.
10: When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe. 3

Ezekiel 3

1: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.''
2: So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.
3: He said to me, ""Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.'' Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
4: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.
5: ""For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel,
6: nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you;
7: yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.
8: ""Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.
9: ""Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.''
10: Moreover, He said to me, ""Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely.
11: "" Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, "Thus says the Lord GOD.'''
12: Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, ""Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place.''
13: And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound.
14: So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.
15: Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.
16: At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17: ""Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
18: ""When I say to the wicked, "You will surely die', and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
19: ""Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
20: ""Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
21: ""However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.''
22: The hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, ""Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.''
23: So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.
24: The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, ""Go, shut yourself up in your house.
25: ""As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them.
26: ""Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.
27: ""But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house. 4

Ezekiel 4

1: ""Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem.
2: ""Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around.
3: ""Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.
4: ""As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it.
5: ""For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6: ""When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.
7: ""Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it.
8: ""Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
9: ""But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days.
10: ""Your food which you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time.
11: ""The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time.
12: ""You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung.''
13: Then the LORD said, ""Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations where I will banish them.''
14: But I said, "" Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.''
15: Then He said to me, ""See, I will give you cow's dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.''
16: Moreover, He said to me, ""Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,
17: because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and waste away in their iniquity. 5

Ezekiel 5

1: ""As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber's razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.
2: ""One third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.
3: ""Take also a few in number from them and bind them in the edges of your robes.
4: ""Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5: ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.
6: "But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.'
7: ""Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,'
8: therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
9: "And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again.
10: "Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.
11: "So as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, "surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare.
12: "One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.
13: "Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.
14: "Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15: "So it will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken.
16: "When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread.
17: "Moreover, I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.''' 6

Ezekiel 6

1: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them
3: and say, "Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: ""Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
4: ""So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols.
5: ""I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars.
6: ""In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out.
7: ""The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
8: ""However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries.
9: ""Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.
10: ""Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.'''
11: ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, "" Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague!
12: ""He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them.
13: ""Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oakthe places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols.
14: ""So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the LORD.''''' 7

Ezekiel 7

1: Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, "An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land.
3: "Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you.
4: "For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the LORD!'
5: ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming!
6: "An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come!
7: "Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is neartumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains.
8: "Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations.
9: "My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.
10: "Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed.
11: "Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them.
12: "The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude.
13: "Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.
14: "They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude.
15: "The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city.
16: "Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity.
17: "All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water.
18: "They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads.
19: "They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.
20: "They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.
21: "I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it.
22: "I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.
23: " Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.
24: "Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned.
25: "When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none.
26: " Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders.
27: "The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.''' 8

Ezekiel 8

1: It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there.
2: Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal.
3: He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.
4: And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.
5: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.'' So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance.
6: And He said to me, ""Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.''
7: Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
8: He said to me, ""Son of man, now dig through the wall.'' So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance.
9: And He said to me, ""Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.''
10: So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.
11: Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
12: Then He said to me, ""Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, " The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'''
13: And He said to me, ""Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.''
14: Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15: He said to me, ""Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.''
16: Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house. And behold, at the entrance to 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; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.
17: He said to me, ""Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.
18: ""Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.'' 9

Ezekiel 9

1: Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, ""Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.''
2: Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3: Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.
4: The LORD said to him, ""Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.''
5: But to the others He said in my hearing, ""Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.
6: "" Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.'' So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
7: And He said to them, "" Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!'' Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city.
8: As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, "" Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?''
9: Then He said to me, ""The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!'
10: ""But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads.''
11: Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, ""I have done just as You have commanded me.'' 10

Ezekiel 10

1: Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.
2: And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, ""Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.'' And he entered in my sight.
3: Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4: Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
5: Moreover, 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: It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, ""Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,'' he entered and stood beside a wheel.
7: Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
8: The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings.
9: Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone.
10: As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel.
11: When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.
12: Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.
13: The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.
14: And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15: Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar.
16: Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them.
17: When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.
18: Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.
19: When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
20: These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.
21: Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.
22: As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead. 11

Ezekiel 11

1: Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD'S house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.
2: He said to me, ""Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give evil advice in this city,
3: who say, " Is not the time near to build houses? This city is the pot and we are the flesh.'
4: ""Therefore, prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!''
5: Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, ""Say, "Thus says the LORD, ""So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.
6: ""You have multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with them.''
7: "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ""Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but I will bring you out of it.
8: ""You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,'' the Lord GOD declares.
9: ""And I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you.
10: ""You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD.
11: ""This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel.
12: ""Thus you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.'''''
13: Now it came about as I prophesied, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, "" Alas, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?''
14: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
15: ""Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "Go far from the LORD; this land has been given us as a possession.'
16: ""Therefore say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.'''
17: ""Therefore say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.'''
18: ""When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.
19: ""And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
20: that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.
21: "" But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,'' declares the Lord GOD.
22: Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
23: The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.
24: And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me.
25: Then I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me. 12

Ezekiel 12

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2: ""Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.
3: ""Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand though they are a rebellious house.
4: ""Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out at evening in their sight, as those going into exile.
5: ""Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and go out through it.
6: ""Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.''
7: I did so, as I had been commanded. By day I brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.
8: In the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
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 burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.'''
11: ""Say, "I am a sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.'
12: ""The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land with his eyes.
13: ""I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there.
14: ""I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them.
15: ""So they will know that I am the LORD when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries.
16: ""But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell 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 saying,
18: ""Son of man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
19: ""Then say to the people of the land, "Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, ""They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it.
20: ""The inhabited cities will be laid waste and the land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the LORD.'''''
21: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
22: ""Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, "The days are long and every vision fails'?
23: ""Therefore say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.'' But tell them, "" The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision.
24: ""For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.
25: ""For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,'' declares the Lord GOD.'''
26: Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
27: ""Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, "The vision that he sees is for many years from now, 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. Whatever word I speak will be performed,''''' declares the Lord GOD. 13

Ezekiel 13

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, " Listen to the word of the LORD!
3: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.
4: ""O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.
5: ""You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD.
6: ""They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, "The LORD declares,' when the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.
7: "" Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, "The LORD declares,' but it is not I who have spoken?'''''
8: Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,'' declares the Lord GOD.
9: ""So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD.
10: ""It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, " Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;
11: so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out.
12: ""Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, "Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?'''
13: Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath.
14: ""So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD.
15: ""Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, "The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone,
16: along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,' declares the Lord GOD.
17: ""Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them
18: and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to hunt down lives! Will you hunt down the lives of My people, but preserve the lives of others for yourselves?
19: "" For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death some who should not die and to keep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.'''''
20: Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives there as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.
21: ""I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the LORD.
22: ""Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life,
23: therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.'' 14

Ezekiel 14

1: Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.
2: And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
3: ""Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?
4: ""Therefore speak to them and tell them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols,
5: in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.'''
6: ""Therefore say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
7: ""For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the LORD will be brought to answer him in My own person.
8: ""I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.
9: ""But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the LORD, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
10: ""They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be,
11: in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,''' declares the Lord GOD.''
12: Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
13: ""Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast,
14: even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,'' declares the Lord GOD.
15: ""If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,
16: though these three men were in its midst, as I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.
17: ""Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, "Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,'
18: even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19: ""Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it,
20: even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.''
21: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!
22: ""Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.
23: ""Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,'' declares the Lord GOD. 15

Ezekiel 15

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2: ""Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3: ""Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?
4: "" If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for anything?
5: ""Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!
6: ""Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
7: and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them.
8: "Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,''' declares the Lord GOD. 16

Ezekiel 16

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
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 from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
4: ""As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.
5: ""No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
6: ""When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, "Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, "Live!'
7: ""I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.
8: ""Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,'' declares the Lord GOD.
9: ""Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.
10: ""I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.
11: ""I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck.
12: ""I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
13: ""Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.
14: ""Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,'' declares the Lord GOD.
15: ""But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.
16: ""You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen.
17: ""You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them.
18: ""Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.
19: ""Also My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil and honey with which I fed you, you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,'' declares the Lord GOD.
20: ""Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter?
21: ""You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.
22: ""Besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.
23: ""Then it came about after all your wickedness ("Woe, woe to you!' declares the Lord GOD),
24: that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square.
25: ""You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry.
26: ""You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry to make Me angry.
27: ""Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your rations. And I delivered you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd conduct.
28: ""Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied.
29: ""You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied.'''''
30: ""How languishing is your heart,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot.
31: ""When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot.
32: ""You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!
33: "" Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you from every direction for your harlotries.
34: ""Thus you are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different.''
35: Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD.
36: Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols,
37: therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness.
38: ""Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
39: ""I will also give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare.
40: ""They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.
41: ""They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I will stop you from playing the harlot, and you will also no longer pay your lovers.
42: ""So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more.
43: ""Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations.
44: ""Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you, saying, " Like mother, like daughter.'
45: ""You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46: ""Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.
47: ""Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they.
48: ""As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""Sodom, your sister 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 arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
50: ""Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.
51: ""Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. Thus you have made your sisters appear righteous by all your abominations which you have committed.
52: ""Also bear your disgrace in that you have made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear righteous.
53: ""Nevertheless, I will restore their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them your own captivity,
54: in order that you may bear your humiliation and feel ashamed for all that you have done when you become a consolation to them.
55: ""Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state.
56: ""As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride,
57: before your wickedness was uncovered, so now you have become the reproach of the daughters of Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistinesthose surrounding you who despise you.
58: ""You have borne the penalty of your lewdness and abominations,'' the LORD declares.
59: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will also do with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
60: ""Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
61: ""Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
62: ""Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,
63: so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,'' the Lord GOD declares. 17

Ezekiel 17

1: Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3: saying, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""A great eagle with great wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
4: ""He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders.
5: ""He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow.
6: ""Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.
7: ""But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it.
8: ""It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.'''
9: ""Say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withersso that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again.
10: ""Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes itwither on the beds where it grew?'''''
11: Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
12: ""Say now to the rebellious house, "Do you not know what these things mean?' Say, "Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and princes and brought them to him in Babylon.
13: "He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land,
14: that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue.
15: "But he rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?
16: "As I live,' declares the Lord GOD, "Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die.
17: " Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives.
18: "Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, 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 inflict on his head.
20: ""I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me.
21: ""All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.''
22: Thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
23: ""On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches.
24: ""All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it.'' 18

Ezekiel 18

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2: "" What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, " The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children's teeth are set on edge'?
3: ""As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.
4: ""Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
5: ""But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,
6: and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period
7: if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,
8: if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man,
9: if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully he is righteous and will surely live,'' declares the Lord GOD.
10: ""Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother
11: (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor's wife,
12: oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination,
13: he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
14: ""Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father's sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise.
15: ""He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife,
16: or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,
17: he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father's iniquity, he will surely live.
18: ""As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.
19: ""Yet you say, " Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity?' When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live.
20: ""The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
21: ""But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
22: "" All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.
23: "" Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,'' declares the Lord GOD, "" rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?
24: ""But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.
25: ""Yet you say, " The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?
26: ""When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die.
27: ""Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.
28: ""Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
29: ""But the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
30: ""Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,'' declares the Lord GOD. "" Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.
31: "" Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?
32: ""For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,'' declares the Lord GOD. ""Therefore, repent and live.'' 19

Ezekiel 19

1: ""As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel
2: and say, " What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She reared her cubs.
3: "When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.
4: "Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.
5: "When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs And made him a young lion.
6: "And he walked about among the lions; He became a young lion, He learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.
7: "He destroyed their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.
8: "Then nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit.
9: " They put him in a cage with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel.
10: "Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and full of branches Because of abundant waters.
11: "And it had strong branches fit for scepters of rulers, And its height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12: "But it was plucked up in fury; It was cast down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was torn off So that it withered; The fire consumed it.
13: "And now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.
14: "And fire has gone out from its branch; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is not in it a strong branch, A scepter to rule.''' This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation. 20

Ezekiel 20

1: Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth 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 saying,
3: ""Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, "" I will not be inquired of by you.'''
4: ""Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make them know the abominations of their fathers;
5: and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God,
6: on that day I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
7: ""I said to them, " Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.'
8: ""But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish 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 lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
10: ""So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11: ""I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live.
12: ""Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
13: ""But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.
14: ""But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out.
15: ""Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands,
16: because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their idols.
17: ""Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not cause their annihilation in the wilderness.
18: ""I said to their children in the wilderness, " Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
19: " I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them.
20: " Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'
21: ""But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.
22: ""But I withdrew 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: ""Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands,
24: because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.
25: ""I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live;
26: and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order 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, ""Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me.
28: ""When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings.
29: ""Then I said to them, "What is the high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah to this day.'''
30: ""Therefore, say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things?
31: "" When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""I will not be inquired of by you.
32: ""What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: "We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.'
33: ""As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you.
34: ""I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with 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,'' declares the Lord GOD.
37: ""I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
38: and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.
39: ""As for you, O house of Israel,'' thus says the Lord GOD, "" Go, serve everyone his idols; but later you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols.
40: ""For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things.
41: "" As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.
42: ""And you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers.
43: ""There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done.
44: ""Then you will know that I am the LORD when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,'' declares the Lord GOD.'''
45: Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
46: ""Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev,
47: and say to the forest of the Negev, "Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from south to north will be burned by it.
48: ""All flesh will 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 just speaking parables?''' 21

Ezekiel 21

1: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;
3: and say to the land of Israel, "Thus says the LORD, ""Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4: ""Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.
5: ""Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.'''
6: ""As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.
7: ""And when they say to you, "Why do you groan?' you shall say, "Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,' declares the Lord GOD.''
8: Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
9: ""Son of man, prophesy and say, "Thus says the LORD.' Say, " A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished!
10: "Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!' Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree?
11: ""It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
12: "" Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh.
13: ""For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will be no more?'' declares the Lord GOD.
14: ""You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them,
15: that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter.
16: "" Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.
17: ""I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken.''
18: The word of the LORD came to me saying,
19: ""As for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.
20: ""You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
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 household idols, he looks at the liver.
22: ""Into his right hand came the divination, "Jerusalem,' to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall.
23: ""And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.
24: ""Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appearbecause you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand.
25: "And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end,'
26: thus says the Lord GOD, "Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high.
27: " A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.'
28: ""And you, son of man, prophesy and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach,' and say: "A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning
29: while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for youto place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end.
30: " Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
31: "I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction.
32: "You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.''' 22

Ezekiel 22

1: Then 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 cause her to know all her abominations.
3: ""You shall say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement!
4: ""You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands.
5: ""Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.
6: ""Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood.
7: ""They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you.
8: ""You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths.
9: ""Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness.
10: ""In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity.
11: ""One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
12: ""In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,'' declares the Lord GOD.
13: ""Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you.
14: ""Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act.
15: ""I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you.
16: ""You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the LORD.'''''
17: And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18: ""Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver.
19: ""Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
20: "As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you.
21: "I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it.
22: "As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.'''
23: And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
24: ""Son of man, say to her, "You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.'
25: ""There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured 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 profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27: ""Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.
28: ""Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, 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 oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.
30: ""I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
31: ""Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,'' declares the Lord GOD. 23

Ezekiel 23

1: The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
2: ""Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother;
3: and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled.
4: ""Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
5: ""Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors,
6: who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
7: ""She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself.
8: ""She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.
9: ""Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
10: ""They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they slew her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her.
11: ""Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister.
12: ""She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
13: ""I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way.
14: ""So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,
15: girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.
16: "" When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
17: ""The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them.
18: ""She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister.
19: ""Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20: ""She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21: ""Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.
22: ""Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side:
23: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.
24: "They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs.
25: "I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire.
26: "They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.
27: "Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.'
28: ""For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated.
29: "They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries.
30: "These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols.
31: "You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.'
32: ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "You will drink your sister's cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much.
33: "You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
34: "You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,' declares the Lord GOD.
35: ""Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.'''
36: Moreover, the LORD said to me, ""Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.
37: ""For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food.
38: ""Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths.
39: ""For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house.
40: ""Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they camefor whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments;
41: and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
42: ""The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.
43: ""Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, " Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus?'
44: "" But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.
45: ""But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
46: ""For thus says the Lord GOD, "Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder.
47: "The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire.
48: "Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done.
49: "Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.''' 24

Ezekiel 24

1: And the word of the LORD came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying,
2: ""Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
3: ""Speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Put on the pot, put it on and also pour water in it;
4: Put in it the pieces, Every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; Fill it with choice bones.
5: ""Take the choicest of the flock, And also pile wood under the pot. Make it boil vigorously. Also seethe its bones in it.''
6: "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ""Woe to the bloody city, To the pot in which there is rust And whose rust has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, Without making a choice.
7: ""For her blood is in her midst; She placed it on the bare rock; She did not pour it on the ground To cover it with dust.
8: ""That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare rock, 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 wood, kindle the fire, Boil the flesh well And mix in the spices, And let the bones be burned.
11: ""Then set it empty on its coals So that it may be hot And its bronze may glow And its filthiness may be melted in it, Its rust consumed.
12: ""She has wearied Me with toil, Yet her great rust has not gone from her; Let her rust be in the fire!
13: ""In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I would have cleansed you, Yet you are not clean, You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again Until I have spent My wrath on you.
14: ""I, the LORD, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not relent, and I will not pity and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,'' declares the Lord GOD.'''
15: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
16: ""Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come.
17: ""Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.''
18: So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.
19: The people said to me, ""Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?''
20: Then I said to them, ""The word of the LORD came to me saying,
21: "Speak to the house of Israel, ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.
22: "You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men.
23: "Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities and you will groan to one another.
24: "Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.'''
25: "As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart's delight, their sons and their daughters,
26: that on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears?
27: "On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and be mute no longer. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.''' 25

Ezekiel 25

1: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, set your face toward the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them,
3: and say to the sons of Ammon, "Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because you said, " Aha!' against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,
4: therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.
5: ""I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus 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 scorn of your soul against the land of Israel,
7: therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.''
8: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because Moab and Seir say, "Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,'
9: therefore, behold, I am going to deprive the flank of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim,
10: and I will give it for a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the sons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations.
11: ""Thus I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am the LORD.''
12: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has incurred grievous guilt, and avenged themselves upon them,''
13: therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
14: "" I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom according to My anger and according to My wrath; thus they will know My vengeance,'' declares the Lord GOD.
15: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to destroy with everlasting enmity,''
16: therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, even cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.
17: ""I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them.''''' 26

Ezekiel 26

1: Now in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, "Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,'
3: therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves.
4: "They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock.
5: "She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,' declares the Lord GOD, "and she will become spoil for the nations.
6: "Also her daughters who are on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the LORD.'''
7: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry and a great army.
8: ""He will slay your daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make siege walls against you, cast up a ramp against you and raise up a large shield against you.
9: ""The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
10: ""Because of the multitude of his horses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of cavalry and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.
11: ""With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will slay your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will come down to the ground.
12: ""Also they will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise, break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your debris into the water.
13: ""So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more.
14: ""I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more, for I the LORD have spoken,'' declares the Lord GOD.
15: Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre, ""Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded groan, when the slaughter occurs in your midst?
16: ""Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment and be appalled at you.
17: ""They will take up a lamentation over you and say to you, " How you have perished, O inhabited one, From the seas, O renowned city, Which was mighty on the sea, She and her inhabitants, Who imposed her terror On all her inhabitants!
18: "Now the coastlands will tremble On the day of your fall; Yes, the coastlands which are by the sea Will be terrified at your passing.'''
19: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""When I make you a desolate city, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and the great waters cover you,
20: then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory in the land of the living.
21: ""I will bring terrors on you and you will be no more; though you will be sought, you will never be found again,'' declares the Lord GOD. 27

Ezekiel 27

1: Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""And you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre;
3: and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to 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 have perfected your beauty.
5: ""They have made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; They have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
6: ""Of oaks from Bashan they have made your oars; With ivory they have inlaid your deck of boxwood from the coastlands of Cyprus.
7: ""Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt So that it became your distinguishing mark; Your awning was blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah.
8: ""The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; Your wise men, O Tyre, were aboard; they were your pilots.
9: ""The elders of Gebal and her wise men were with you repairing your seams; All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you in order to deal in your merchandise.
10: "" Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung shield and helmet in you; they set forth your splendor.
11: ""The sons of Arvad and your army were on your walls, all around, and the Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.
12: ""Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares.
13: "" Javan, Tubal and Meshech, they were your traders; with the lives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise.
14: ""Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses and war horses and mules for your wares.
15: ""The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your market; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment.
16: "" Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies.
17: ""Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil and balm they paid for your merchandise.
18: "" Damascus was your customer because of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool.
19: ""Vedan and Javan paid for your wares from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia and sweet cane were among your merchandise.
20: "" Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.
21: "" Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams and goats; for these they were your customers.
22: ""The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of spices, and with all kinds of precious stones and gold.
23: ""Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you.
24: ""They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.
25: ""The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise. And you were filled and were very glorious In the heart of the seas.
26: ""Your rowers have brought you Into great waters; The east wind has broken you In the heart of the seas.
27: ""Your wealth, your wares, your merchandise, Your sailors and your pilots, Your repairers of seams, your dealers in merchandise And all your men of war who are in you, With all your company that is in your midst, Will fall into the heart of the seas On the day of your overthrow.
28: ""At the sound of the cry of your pilots The pasture lands will shake.
29: ""All who handle the oar, The sailors and all the pilots of the sea Will come down from their ships; They will stand on the land,
30: And they will make their voice heard over you And will cry bitterly. They will cast dust on their heads, They will wallow in ashes.
31: ""Also they will make themselves bald for you And gird themselves with sackcloth; And they will weep for you in bitterness of soul With bitter mourning.
32: ""Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you And lament over you: "Who is like Tyre, Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea?
33: "When your wares went out from the seas, You satisfied many peoples; With the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise You enriched the kings of earth.
34: " Now that you are broken by the seas In the depths of the waters, Your merchandise and all your company Have fallen in the midst of you.
35: "All the inhabitants of the coastlands Are appalled at you, And their kings are horribly afraid; They are troubled in countenance.
36: "The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever.'''''' 28

Ezekiel 28

1: The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
2: ""Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, " I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God
3: Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you.
4: ""By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
5: ""By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches
6: Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God,
7: Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor.
8: "They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.
9: "Will you still say, ""I am a god,'' In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?
10: "You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!'''''
11: Again the word of the LORD came to me saying,
12: ""Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13: ""You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
14: ""You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
15: ""You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.
16: ""By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.
17: ""Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
18: ""By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you.
19: ""All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever.'''''
20: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
21: ""Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, prophesy against her
22: and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, And I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her, And I will manifest My holiness in her.
23: ""For I will send pestilence to her And blood to her streets, And the wounded will fall in her midst By the sword upon her on every side; Then they will know that I am the LORD.
24: ""And there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling brier or a painful thorn from any round about them who scorned them; 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 will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
26: ""They will live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgments upon all who scorn them round about them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.''''' 29

Ezekiel 29

1: In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
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 monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, That has said, "My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.'
4: ""I will put hooks in your jaws And make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, And all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales.
5: ""I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
6: ""Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, Because they have been only a staff made of reed to the house of Israel.
7: ""When they took hold of you with the hand, You broke and tore all their hands; And when they leaned on you, You broke and made all their loins quake.''
8: "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will bring upon you a sword and I will cut off from you man and beast.
9: ""The land of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, "The Nile is mine, and I have made it,'
10: therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene and even to the border of Ethiopia.
11: ""A man's foot will not pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.
12: ""So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.''
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: ""I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and make them return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they will be a lowly kingdom.
15: ""It will be the lowest of the kingdoms, and it will never again lift itself up above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations.
16: ""And it will never again be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned to Egypt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.'''''
17: Now in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
18: ""Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army.
20: ""I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me,'' declares the Lord GOD.
21: ""On that day I will make a horn sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'' 30

Ezekiel 30

1: The word of the LORD came again to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, prophesy and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" Wail, "Alas for the day!'
3: ""For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations.
4: ""A sword will come upon Egypt, And anguish will be in Ethiopia; When the slain fall in Egypt, They take away her wealth, And her foundations are torn down.
5: "" Ethiopia, Put, Lud all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword.''
6: "Thus says the LORD, ""Indeed, those who support Egypt will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword,'' Declares the Lord GOD.
7: ""They will be desolate In the midst of the desolated lands; And her cities will be In the midst of the devastated cities.
8: ""And they will know that I am the LORD, When I set a fire in Egypt And all her helpers are broken.
9: ""On that day messengers will go forth from Me in ships to frighten secure Ethiopia; and anguish will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!''
10: "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" I will also make the hordes of Egypt cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11: ""He and his people with him, The most ruthless of the nations, Will be brought in to destroy the land; And they will draw their swords against Egypt And fill the land with the slain.
12: ""Moreover, I will make the Nile canals dry And sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken.''
13: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""I will also destroy the idols And make the images cease from Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14: ""I will make Pathros desolate, Set a fire in Zoan And execute judgments on Thebes.
15: ""I will pour out My wrath on Sin, The stronghold of Egypt; I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.
16: ""I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be breached And Memphis will have distresses daily.
17: ""The young men of On and of Pi-beseth Will fall by the sword, And the women will go into captivity.
18: ""In Tehaphnehes the day will be dark When I break there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity.
19: ""Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, And they will know that I am the LORD.'''''
20: In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
21: ""Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, that it may be strong to hold 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 and the broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand.
23: "I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.
24: "For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man.
25: "Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.
26: "When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the LORD.''' 31

Ezekiel 31

1: In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes, "Whom are you like in your greatness?
3: "Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high, And its top was among the clouds.
4: "The waters made it grow, the deep made it high. With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place, And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5: "Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field And its boughs became many and its branches long Because of many waters as it spread them out.
6: "All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs, And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth, And all great nations lived under its shade.
7: "So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; For its roots extended to many waters.
8: "The cedars in God's garden could not match it; The cypresses could not compare with its boughs, And the plane trees could not match its branches. No tree in God's garden could compare with it in its beauty.
9: "I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.
10: "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness,
11: therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away.
12: "" Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it.
13: ""On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches
14: so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.''
15: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused lamentations; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.
16: ""I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath.
17: ""They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword; and those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.
18: ""To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!''' declares the Lord GOD.'' 32

Ezekiel 32

1: In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, "You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, Yet you are like the monster in the seas; And you burst forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And fouled their rivers.'''
3: Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Now I will spread My net over you With a company of many peoples, And they shall lift you up in My net.
4: ""I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open field. And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5: ""I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse.
6: ""I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you.
7: ""And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light.
8: ""All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land,'' Declares the Lord GOD.
9: ""I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.
10: ""I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.''
11: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you.
12: ""By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are tyrants of the nations, And they will devastate the pride of Egypt, And all its hordes will be destroyed.
13: ""I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters; And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.
14: ""Then I will make their waters settle And will cause their rivers to run like oil,'' Declares the Lord GOD.
15: ""When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, And the land is destitute of that which filled it, When I smite all those who live in it, Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
16: ""This is a lamentation and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it,'' declares the Lord GOD.
17: In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
18: ""Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;
19: "Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.'
20: ""They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is given over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away.
21: ""The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, "They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
22: "" Assyria is there and all her company; her graves are round about her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,
23: whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24: "" Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit.
25: ""They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.
26: "" Meshech, Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living.
27: "" Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living.
28: ""But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.
29: ""There also is Edom, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30: ""There also are the chiefs of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
31: ""These Pharaoh will see, and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army,'' declares the Lord GOD.
32: ""Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,'' declares the Lord GOD. 33

Ezekiel 33

1: And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2: ""Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, "If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,
3: and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people,
4: then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
5: "He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life.
6: "But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.'
7: ""Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.
8: ""When I say to the wicked, "O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.
9: ""But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
10: ""Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, "Thus you have spoken, saying, ""Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?'''
11: ""Say to them, " As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'
12: ""And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, "The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'
13: ""When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.
14: ""But when I say to the wicked, "You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,
15: if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16: "" None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.
17: ""Yet your fellow citizens say, "The way of the Lord is not right,' when it is their own way that is not right.
18: ""When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it.
19: ""But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.
20: ""Yet you say, " The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.''
21: Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, "" The city has been taken.''
22: Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.
23: Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
24: ""Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, " Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.'
25: ""Therefore say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?
26: ""You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?'''
27: ""Thus you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence.
28: ""I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through.
29: ""Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.'''
30: ""But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, " Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.'
31: ""They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.
32: ""Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.
33: ""So when it comes to pass as surely it willthen they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.'' 34

Ezekiel 34

1: Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
3: ""You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.
4: ""Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.
5: ""They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.
6: ""My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.'''''
7: Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
8: ""As I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;
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 demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.'''''
11: For thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
12: "" As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.
13: ""I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
14: ""I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15: ""I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,'' declares the Lord GOD.
16: ""I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.
17: ""As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.
18: "Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?
19: "As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!'''
20: Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, ""Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21: ""Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,
22: therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
23: ""Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
24: ""And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.
25: ""I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26: ""I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.
27: ""Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
28: ""They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29: ""I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore.
30: ""Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,'' declares the Lord GOD.
31: ""As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,'' declares the Lord GOD. 35

Ezekiel 35

1: Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it
3: and say to it, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, And I will stretch out My hand against you And make you a desolation and a waste.
4: ""I will lay waste your cities And you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
5: ""Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end,
6: therefore as I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.
7: ""I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns.
8: ""I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall.
9: ""I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
10: ""Because you have said, "These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,' although the LORD was there,
11: therefore as I live,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
12: ""Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard all your revilings which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, "They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.'
13: ""And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.''
14: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation.
15: ""As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.''' 36

Ezekiel 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 has spoken against you, "Aha!' and, "The everlasting heights have become our possession,'
3: therefore prophesy and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering 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 to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about,
5: therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.''
6: "Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.'
7: ""Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults.
8: "But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come.
9: "For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.
10: "I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt.
11: "I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.
12: "Yes, I will cause menMy people Israelto walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.'
13: ""Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because they say to you, ""You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,''
14: therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,' declares the Lord GOD.
15: ""I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,'' declares the Lord GOD.'''
16: Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
17: ""Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
18: ""Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.
19: ""Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them.
20: ""When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, "These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.'
21: ""But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
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 My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
23: ""I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.
24: ""For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
25: ""Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26: ""Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27: ""I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
28: ""You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
29: ""Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you.
30: ""I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again 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 in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.
32: ""I am not doing this for your sake,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""let it 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 will be rebuilt.
34: ""The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by.
35: ""They will say, "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.'
36: ""Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.''
37: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock.
38: ""Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD.''''' 37

Ezekiel 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 middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2: He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
3: He said to me, ""Son of man, can these bones live?'' And I answered, ""O Lord GOD, You know.''
4: Again He said to me, "" Prophesy over 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 that you may come to life.
6: "I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will 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 I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin 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 on these slain, that they come to life.'''''
10: So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
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 has perished. We are completely cut off.'
12: ""Therefore prophesy and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13: ""Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people.
14: ""I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,'' declares the LORD.'''
15: The word of the LORD came again to me saying,
16: ""And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, "For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.'
17: ""Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
18: ""When the sons of your people speak to you saying, "Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?'
19: say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.'''
20: ""The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21: ""Say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
22: and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
23: ""They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
24: ""My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.
25: ""They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.
26: ""I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.
27: ""My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
28: ""And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.''''' 38

Ezekiel 38

1: And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2: ""Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
3: and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.
4: ""I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;
5: Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6: Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troopsmany peoples with you.
7: "" Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8: "" After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
9: ""You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.''
10: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan,
11: and you will say, "I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
12: to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'
13: "" Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, "Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?''''
14: ""Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?
15: "" You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army;
16: and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.''
17: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?
18: ""It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""that My fury will mount up in My anger.
19: ""In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
20: "" The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.
21: ""I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,'' declares the Lord GOD. "" Every man's sword will be against his brother.
22: ""With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.
23: ""I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.''' 39

Ezekiel 39

1: ""And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal;
2: and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.
3: ""I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand.
4: ""You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field.
5: ""You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,'' declares the Lord GOD.
6: ""And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD.
7: ""My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8: ""Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,'' declares the Lord GOD. ""That is the day of which I have spoken.
9: ""Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.
10: ""They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,'' declares the Lord GOD.
11: ""On that day I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog.
12: ""For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.
13: ""Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself,'' declares the Lord GOD.
14: ""They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.
15: ""As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a man's bone, then he will set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
16: ""And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they will cleanse the land.'''
17: ""As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, "Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, ""Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18: ""You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19: ""So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20: ""You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,'' declares the Lord GOD.
21: ""And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.
22: ""And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.
23: ""The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.
24: "" According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.'''''
25: Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ""Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.
26: ""They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid.
27: ""When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations.
28: ""Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.
29: ""I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,'' declares the Lord GOD. 40

Ezekiel 40

1: In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the LORD was upon me and He brought me there.
2: In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city.
3: So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
4: The man said to me, "" Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.''
5: And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man's hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.
6: Then he went to the gate which faced east, went up its steps and measured the threshold of the gate, one rod in width; and the other threshold was one rod in width.
7: The guardroom was one rod long and one rod wide; and there were five cubits between the guardrooms. And the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was one rod.
8: Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward, one rod.
9: He measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its side pillars, two cubits. And the porch of the gate was faced inward.
10: The guardrooms of the gate toward the east numbered three on each side; the three of them had the same measurement. The side pillars also had the same measurement on each side.
11: And he measured the width of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.
12: There was a barrier wall one cubit wide in front of the guardrooms on each side; and the guardrooms were six cubits square on each side.
13: He measured the gate from the roof of the one guardroom to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits from one door to the door opposite.
14: He made the side pillars sixty cubits high; the gate extended round about to the side pillar of the courtyard.
15: From the front of the entrance gate to the front of the inner porch of the gate was fifty cubits.
16: There were shuttered windows looking toward the guardrooms, and toward their side pillars within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And there were windows all around inside; and on each side pillar were palm tree ornaments.
17: Then he brought me into the outer court, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement made for the court all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement.
18: The pavement (that is, the lower pavement) was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates.
19: Then he measured the width from the front of the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court, a hundred cubits on the east and on the north.
20: As for the gate of the outer court which faced the north, he measured its length and its width.
21: It had three guardrooms on each side; and its side pillars and its porches had the same measurement as the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits.
22: Its windows and its porches and its palm tree ornaments had the same measurements as the gate which faced toward the east; and it was reached by seven steps, and its porch was in front of them.
23: The inner court had a gate opposite the gate on the north as well as the gate on the east; and he measured a hundred cubits from gate to gate.
24: Then he led me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate toward the south; and he measured its side pillars and its porches according to those same measurements.
25: The gate and its porches had windows all around like those other windows; the length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits.
26: There were seven steps going up to it, and its porches were in front of them; and it had palm tree ornaments on its side pillars, one on each side.
27: The inner court had a gate toward the south; 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 according to those same measurements.
29: Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches were according to those same measurements. And the gate and its porches had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
30: There were porches all around, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.
31: Its porches were toward the outer court; and palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars, and its stairway had eight steps.
32: He brought me into the inner court toward the east. And he measured the gate according to those same measurements.
33: Its guardrooms also, its side pillars and its porches were according to those same measurements. And the gate and its porches had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.
34: Its porches were toward the outer court; and palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars, on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.
35: Then he brought me to the north gate; and he measured it according to those same measurements,
36: with its guardrooms, its side pillars and its porches. And the gate had windows all around; the length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits.
37: Its side pillars were toward the outer court; and palm tree ornaments were on its side pillars on each side, and its stairway had eight steps.
38: A chamber with its doorway was by the side pillars at the gates; there they rinse the burnt offering.
39: In the porch of the gate were two tables on each side, on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering.
40: On the outer side, as one went up to the gateway toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables.
41: Four tables were on each side next to the gate; or, eight tables on which they slaughter sacrifices.
42: For the burnt offering there were four tables of hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and one cubit high, on which they lay the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
43: The double hooks, one handbreadth in length, were installed in the house all around; and on the tables was the flesh of the offering.
44: From the outside to the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner court, one of which was at the side of the north gate, with its front toward the south, and one at the side of the south gate facing toward the north.
45: He said to me, ""This is the chamber which faces toward the south, intended for the priests who keep charge of the temple;
46: but the chamber which faces toward the north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from the sons of Levi come near to the LORD to minister to Him.''
47: He measured the court, a perfect square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide; and the altar was in front of the temple.
48: Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured each side pillar of the porch, five cubits on each side; and the width of the gate was three cubits on each side.
49: The length of the porch was twenty cubits and the width eleven cubits; and at the stairway by which it was ascended were columns belonging to the side pillars, one on each side. 41

Ezekiel 41

1: Then he brought me to the nave and measured the side pillars; six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar.
2: The width of the entrance was ten cubits and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side. And he measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.
3: Then he went inside and measured each side pillar of the doorway, two cubits, and the doorway, six cubits high; and the width of the doorway, seven cubits.
4: He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the nave; and he said to me, ""This is the most holy place.''
5: Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits; and the width of the side chambers, four cubits, all around about the house on every side.
6: The side chambers were in three stories, one above another, and thirty in each story; and the side chambers extended to the wall which stood on their inward side all around, that they might be fastened, and not be fastened into the wall of the temple itself.
7: The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story. Because the structure surrounding the temple went upward by stages on all sides of the temple, therefore the width of the temple increased as it went higher; and thus one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of the second story.
8: I saw also that the house had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full rod of six long cubits in height.
9: The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. But the free space between the side chambers belonging to the temple
10: and the outer chambers was twenty cubits in width all around the temple on every side.
11: The doorways of the side chambers toward the free space consisted of one doorway toward the north and another doorway toward the south; and the width of the free space was five cubits all around.
12: The building that was in front of the separate area at the side toward the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length was ninety cubits.
13: Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; the separate area with the building and its walls were also a hundred cubits long.
14: Also the width of the front of the temple and that of the separate areas along the east side totaled a hundred cubits.
15: He measured the length of the building along the front of the separate area behind it, with a gallery on each side, a hundred cubits; he also measured the inner nave and the porches of the court.
16: The thresholds, the latticed windows and the galleries round about their three stories, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, and from the ground to the windows (but the windows were covered),
17: over the entrance, and to the inner house, and on the outside, and on all the wall all around inside and outside, by measurement.
18: It was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces,
19: a man's face toward the palm tree on one side and a young lion's face toward the palm tree on the other side; they were carved on all the house all around.
20: From the ground to above the entrance cherubim and palm trees were carved, as well as on the wall of the nave.
21: The doorposts of the nave were square; as for the front of the sanctuary, the appearance of one doorpost was like that of the other.
22: The altar was of wood, three cubits high and its length two cubits; its corners, its base and its sides were of wood. And he said to me, ""This is the table that is before the LORD.''
23: The nave and the sanctuary each had a double door.
24: Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other.
25: Also there were carved on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the front of the porch outside.
26: There were latticed windows and palm trees on one side and on the other, on the sides of the porch; thus were the side chambers of the house and the thresholds. 42

Ezekiel 42

1: Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north; and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north.
2: Along the length, which was a hundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits.
3: Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery corresponding to gallery in three stories.
4: Before the chambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north.
5: Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building.
6: For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones.
7: As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits.
8: For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was a hundred cubits.
9: Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.
10: In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, there were chambers.
11: The way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings.
12: Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.
13: Then he said to me, ""The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy chambers where the priests who are near to the LORD shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy.
14: ""When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.''
15: Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faced toward the east and measured it all around.
16: He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds by the measuring reed.
17: He measured on the north side five hundred reeds by the measuring reed.
18: On the south side he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
19: He turned to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
20: He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the profane. 43

Ezekiel 43

1: Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east;
2: and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.
3: And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
4: And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east.
5: And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6: Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me.
7: 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 among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die,
8: by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And 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 harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever.
10: ""As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan.
11: ""If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the house, its structure, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes , and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its whole design and all its statutes and do them.
12: ""This is the law of the house: its entire area on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
13: ""And these are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): the base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge round about one span; and this shall be the height of the base of the altar.
14: ""From the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width one cubit.
15: ""The altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns.
16: ""Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides.
17: ""The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit and its base shall be a cubit round about; and its steps shall face the east.''
18: And He said to me, "" Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, "These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.
19: "You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,' declares the Lord GOD, "a young bull for a sin offering.
20: "You shall take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border round about; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.
21: "You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
22: "On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull.
23: "When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock.
24: "You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.
25: " For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared.
26: "For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.
27: "When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,' declares the Lord GOD.'' 44

Ezekiel 44

1: Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut.
2: The LORD said to me, ""This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.
3: ""As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the porch 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 house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell on my face.
5: The LORD said to me, ""Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the LORD and concerning all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary.
6: ""You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,
7: when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant voidthis in addition to all your abominations.
8: ""And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.''
9: "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
10: ""But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, shall bear the punishment for their iniquity.
11: ""Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to 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 against them,'' declares the Lord GOD, ""that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity.
13: ""And they shall not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.
14: ""Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.
15: ""But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,'' declares the Lord GOD.
16: ""They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge.
17: ""It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house.
18: ""Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.
19: ""When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
20: ""Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.
21: "" Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court.
22: ""And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman but shall take virgins from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
23: ""Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24: ""In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths.
25: "" They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.
26: ""After he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him.
27: ""On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,'' declares the Lord GOD.
28: ""And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in IsraelI am their possession.
29: ""They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30: ""The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
31: ""The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces. 45

Ezekiel 45

1: ""And when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of 25,000 cubits, and the width shall be 20,000. It shall be holy within all its boundary round about.
2: ""Out of this there shall be for the holy place a square round about five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its open space round about.
3: ""From this area you shall measure a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place.
4: ""It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the LORD, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.
5: ""An area 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities to dwell in.
6: ""You shall give the city possession of an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
7: ""The prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.
8: ""This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.''
9: "Thus says the Lord GOD, "" Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,'' declares the Lord GOD.
10: ""You shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath.
11: ""The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer.
12: ""The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your maneh.
13: ""This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley;
14: and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer);
15: and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israelfor a grain offering, for a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,'' declares the Lord GOD.
16: "" All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.
17: ""It shall be the prince's part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons and on the sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.''
18: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary.
19: ""The priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
20: ""Thus you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who goes astray or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.
21: ""In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of 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 bull for a sin offering.
23: ""During the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
24: ""He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram and a hin of oil with an ephah.
25: ""In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like this, seven days for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering and the oil.'' 46

Ezekiel 46

1: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon.
2: ""The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
3: ""The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons.
4: ""The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;
5: and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
6: ""On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish.
7: ""And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
8: ""When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way.
9: ""But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out.
10: ""When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
11: ""At the festivals and the appointed feasts the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
12: ""When the prince provides a freewill offering, 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 provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.
13: ""And you shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.
14: ""Also you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour, a grain offering to the LORD continually by a perpetual ordinance.
15: ""Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.''
16: "Thus says the Lord GOD, ""If the prince gives a gift out of his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.
17: ""But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons'; it shall belong to them.
18: ""The prince shall not take from the people's inheritance, thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own possession so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.'''''
19: Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, there was a place at the extreme rear toward the west.
20: 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 grain offering, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.''
21: Then he brought me out into the outer court and led me across to the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a small court.
22: In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.
23: There was a row of masonry round about in them, around the four of them, and boiling places were made under the rows round about.
24: Then he said to me, ""These are the boiling places where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.'' 47

Ezekiel 47

1: Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar.
2: He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.
3: When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.
4: Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.
5: Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.
6: He said to me, ""Son of man, have you seen this?'' Then he brought me back to the bank of the river.
7: Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8: Then he said to me, ""These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh.
9: ""It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10: ""And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many.
11: ""But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
12: "" By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.''
13: Thus says the Lord GOD, ""This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions.
14: ""You shall divide it for an inheritance, each one equally with the other; for I swore to give it to your forefathers, and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance.
15: ""This shall be the boundary of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;
16: Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.
17: ""The boundary shall extend from the sea to Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north toward the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18: ""The east side, from between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the eastern sea you shall measure. This is the east side.
19: ""The south side toward the south shall extend from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This is the south side toward the south.
20: ""The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the south border to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This is the west side.
21: ""So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel.
22: ""You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23: ""And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,'' declares the Lord GOD. 48

Ezekiel 48

1: ""Now these are the names of the tribes: from the northern extremity, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath, running from east to west, Dan, one portion.
2: ""Beside the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion.
3: ""Beside the border of Asher, from the east side to the west side, Naphtali, one portion.
4: ""Beside the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion.
5: ""Beside the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion.
6: ""Beside the border of Ephraim, from the east side to the west side, Reuben, one portion.
7: ""Beside the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.
8: ""And beside the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the allotment which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in width, and in length like one of the portions, from the east side to the west side; and the sanctuary shall be in the middle of it.
9: ""The allotment that you shall set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width.
10: ""The holy allotment shall be for these, namely for the priests, toward the north 25,000 cubits in length, toward the west 10,000 in width, toward the east 10,000 in width, and toward the south 25,000 in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in its midst.
11: ""It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the sons of Israel went astray as the Levites went astray.
12: ""It shall be an allotment to them from the allotment of the land, a most holy place, by the border of the Levites.
13: ""Alongside the border of the priests the Levites shall have 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the width 10,000.
14: ""Moreover, they shall not sell or exchange any of it, or alienate this choice portion of land; for it is holy to the LORD.
15: ""The remainder, 5,000 cubits in width and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open spaces; and the city shall be in its midst.
16: ""These shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500 cubits, the east side 4,500 cubits, and the west side 4,500 cubits.
17: ""The city shall have open spaces: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250 cubits, on the east 250 cubits, and on the west 250 cubits.
18: ""The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment shall be 10,000 cubits toward the east and 10,000 toward the west; and it shall be alongside the holy allotment. And its produce shall be food for the workers of the city.
19: ""The workers of the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.
20: ""The whole allotment shall be 25,000 by 25,000 cubits; you shall set apart the holy allotment, a square, with the property of the city.
21: ""The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy allotment and of the property of the city; in front of the 25,000 cubits of the allotment toward the east border and westward in front of the 25,000 toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.
22: ""Exclusive of the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the middle of that which belongs to the prince, everything between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince.
23: ""As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.
24: ""Beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.
25: ""Beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.
26: ""Beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion.
27: ""Beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion.
28: ""And beside the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the Great Sea.
29: ""This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, and these are their several portions,'' declares the Lord GOD.
30: ""These are the exits of the city: on the north side, 4,500 cubits by measurement,
31: shall be the gates of the city, named for the tribes of Israel, three gates toward the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.
32: ""On the east side, 4,500 cubits, shall be three gates: the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.
33: ""On the south side, 4,500 cubits by measurement, shall be three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.
34: ""On the west side, 4,500 cubits, shall be three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.
35: ""The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, " The LORD is there.'''

|| Pope Shenouda || Father Matta || Bishop Mattaous || Fr. Tadros Malaty || Bishop Moussa || Bishop Alexander || Habib Gerguis || Bishop Angealos || Metropolitan Bishoy ||

|| Prayer of the First Hour || Third Hour || Sixth Hour || Ninth Hour || Vespers (Eleventh Hour) || Compline (Twelfth Hour) || The First Watch of the midnight prayers || The Second Watch of the midnight prayers || The Third Watch of the midnight prayers || The Prayer of the Veil || Various Prayers from the Agbia || Synaxarium