Date of Vision of Living Creatures and Glory of the Throne of Yahweh

1 And it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, and I was in the midst of[fn] the exiles[fn] by the Kebar River.[fn] The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of the king Jehoiachin— 3 the word of Yahweh came[fn] clearly[fn] to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans at the Kebar River,[fn] and the hand of Yahweh was on him there.

4 And I looked,[fn] and look! A storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire flashing back and forth, and brightness around and within it,[fn] and from its midst[fn] it was like the outward appearance of amber stone from the midst[fn] of the fire. 5 And from its midst[fn] was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: a human form,[fn] 6 and each had four faces,[fn] and each of them had four wings.[fn] 7 And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and they were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze. 8 And under their wings were human hands[fn] on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows: 9 their wings were touching one another;[fn] each of them went straight forward,[fn] without turning right or left.[fn] 10 The likeness of their faces was the face of a human in front, and the face of a lion on the right of each of them,[fn] and the face of an ox on the left of each of them,[fn] and the face of an eagle for each of them.[fn] 11 So were their faces; their wings were spread out upward;[fn] each had two touching one another and two covering their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward;[fn] wherever the spirit went[fn] they went, and they did not turn as they went.[fn] 13 As for[fn] the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It[fn] was moving to and fro between the living creatures, and the fire was very bright[fn] and lightning was going out from the fire. 14 And the living creatures were speeding to and fro[fn] like the appearance of lightning.

15 And I saw the living creatures, and look! A wheel was on the earth[fn] beside each of the living creatures that had four faces.[fn] 16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the appearance of beryl,[fn] and they all looked alike,[fn] and their appearance and their construction was like a wheel within a wheel.[fn] 17 When they moved, they went toward their four sides; they did not veer at all as they went.[fn] 18 And their rims were high and awesome,[fn] and all four of[fn] their rims were full of eyes all around. 19 And at the going of the living creatures, the wheels next to them also went, and when the creatures were lifted from the ground[fn] the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever[fn] the spirit went they would go there, and the wheels rose, for the spirit of the living creatures[fn] was in the wheels. 21 At their[fn] going, they[fn] go, and at their standing, they stood, and at their being lifted up from on the earth,[fn] the wheels rose,[fn] for the spirit of the living creatures[fn] was in the wheels.

22 Now[fn] the likeness above the heads of the living creatures was an expanse like the outward appearance of awesome[fn] ice[fn] spread out above their heads upward.[fn] 23 And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight one toward the other;[fn] each had two wings covering them, and each had two wings covering their bodies. 24 And I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the voice of Shaddai,[fn] and when they moved[fn] there was a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stood still[fn] they lowered their wings. 25 And there was[fn] a sound from above the expanse that was above their heads, and when they stood[fn] they lowered their wings. 26 And from above the expanse that was above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, looking like a sapphire,[fn] and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness similar to[fn] the appearance of a human on it, but above it.[fn] 27 And I saw something like the outward appearance of amber, something like the appearance of fire, with a covering around it, from the likeness of his loins and upward.[fn] And from the likeness of his loins and downward[fn] I saw something like the appearance of fire, and it was radiant all around.[fn] 28 Like the appearance[fn] of a bow that is in the cloud on a rainy day,[fn] such was the radiance[fn] around it; thus was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

The Call of Ezekiel to Speak God’s Words

2 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] stand on your feet, so that I can speak with you.” 2 And the Spirit[fn] came into me as he was speaking to me, and it set me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] I am sending you to the Israelites,[fn] to nations[fn] who are rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors,[fn] they transgressed against me until this very day.[fn] 4 And the children[fn] are impudent[fn] and stubborn,[fn] and so I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ 5 And they, whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst. 6 And you, son of man,[fn] you must not be afraid of them, and you must not be afraid of their words, because[fn] briers and thorns are with you, and you are sitting among scorpions. You must not be afraid of their words, and you must not be dismayed because of their looks,[fn] for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you must speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 And you, son of man,[fn] hear what I am speaking to you: you must not be rebellious like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you.” 9 And I looked,[fn] and look! There was a hand stretched out to me, and look! In it was a scroll with writing.[fn] 10 And he rolled it out[fn] before me,[fn] and it was written on the front and back, and there were written on it laments and mourning and wailing.[fn]

3 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] what you find, eat! Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 And I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat, 3 and he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] you must give your stomach this to eat, and you must fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving to you.” And I ate, and it became like sweet honey[fn] in my mouth. 4 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] come! Go to the house of Israel, and you must speak to them with my words. 5 For you are sent to the house of Israel, not to a people of obscure speech[fn] and of a difficult language,[fn] 6 and not to many nations of obscure speech[fn] and a difficult language[fn] whose words[fn] you do not understand, for if I had sent you to them they would have listened to you. 7 And the house of Israel, they are not willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, for all of the house of Israel is hard of forehead, and they are hard of heart. 8 But look, I have made[fn] your face hard against[fn] their faces and your forehead hard against[fn] their forehead. 9 Like a diamond harder than flint[fn] I have made your forehead; you must not fear them, and you must not be dismayed on account of them,[fn] for they are a rebellious house.[fn] 10 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] all of my words that I shall speak to you, receive into[fn] your heart and hear with your ears. 11 And come, go to the exiles,[fn] to the children[fn] of your people, and you must speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ whether they listen or whether they fail to listen.” 12 And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake when the glory of Yahweh rose from its place. 13 And it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching lightly[fn] one against the other,[fn] and the sound of the wheels beside them and the sound of a great earthquake. 14 And the Spirit lifted me and took me, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15 And I went to the exiles[fn] at Tel Abib, who were dwelling near the Kebar River,[fn] and I sat where they were dwelling. I sat there seven days in the midst of them, stunned. 16 And then it happened[fn] at the end of seven days, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying, 17 “Son of man,[fn] I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. 18 When I say[fn] to the wicked, ‘Surely you will die,’ and you do not warn him and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live,[fn] that wicked person will die because of his guilt, and from your hand I will seek his blood. 19 And you, if you do warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.[fn] 20 And when the righteous turns from his righteousness[fn] and does injustice, and I place[fn] a stumbling block before him,[fn] he will die, for you did not warn him. Because of his sin he will die, and his righteousness[fn] that he did will not be remembered, and his blood I shall seek from your hand. 21 And if you warn him, the righteous, not to sin, and the righteous does not sin, surely he will live, for he heeded a warning. And you will have saved your life.”[fn]

22 And the hand of Yahweh was on me there, and he said to me, “Rise up, go out to the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 And I rose up, and I went to the valley, and, look, there the glory of Yahweh was standing, like the glory that I saw near the Kebar River,[fn] and I fell on my face. 24 And the Spirit[fn] came into me, and it made me stand on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Come, shut yourself inside your house,[fn] 25 and you, son of man,[fn] look, they will place[fn] cords on you, and they will tie you up with them. Then you will not go out into the midst of them. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silenced, and you will not be a reproving man for them, for they are a rebellious house.[fn] 27 And when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The one hearing him, let him hear, and the one failing to hear, let him fail,” ’ for they are a rebellious house.[fn]

Siege of Jerusalem Illustrated on a Brick

4 “Now,[fn] son of man,[fn] take for yourself a brick, and you must put it before you,[fn] and you must portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 And you must build against it siege works, and you must build against it a bulwark, and you must heap against it a siege ramp, and you must set up against it camps and put against it a battering ram all around. 3 And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it as a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be under siege,[fn] and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel. 4 And you, lie down on your left side, and you must put[fn] the guilt of the house of Israel on it. You will carry their guilt the number of days that you will lie on it. 5 And I will give to you the years of their guilt according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, and you must bear the guilt[fn] of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these, then you must lie a second time on your right side; and you must bear the guilt[fn] of the house of Judah forty days, a day for each year, a day for each year I give it to you. 7 And toward the siege of Jerusalem you must set your face and your bared arm; then you must prophesy against it. 8 Now[fn] look! I will put on you cords, and you may not turn yourself from one side to your other side until you complete the days of your siege.

Ezekiel’s Strange Defiled Meal

9 “And you, take for yourself[fn] wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet[fn] and spelt, and you must put them in one vessel, and you must make them for yourself[fn] into a food during the number of days that you are lying on your side; three hundred and ninety days you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you will eat[fn] will be according to weight; twenty shekels for each day at fixed times[fn] you shall eat it. 11 And an amount of water[fn] you shall drink, a sixth of a hin; at fixed times[fn] you shall drink it. 12 And as a bread-cake of barley you shall eat it, and with human excrement[fn] you shall bake it before their eyes.” 13 And Yahweh said, “Thus shall the Israelites[fn] eat their unclean food among the nations where I will scatter them.”[fn] 14 And I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look! I have not been defiling myself, and a dead body and mangled carcass I have not eaten from my childhood until now, and unclean meat[fn] has not come into my mouth!” 15 And he said to me, “See I will give you cattle manure[fn] in the place of the feces of a human, and you may prepare your food on it.” 16 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] look, I am going to break the supply[fn] of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight, anxiously,[fn] and rationed water,[fn] and they will drink with horror, 17 so that they will lack food and water, and they will be appalled with one another,[fn] and they will waste away because of their guilt.[fn]

5 “And you, son of man,[fn] take for yourself[fn] a sword, sharp as a barber’s razor.[fn] Take it for yourself, and you must cause it to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.[fn] 2 A third you must burn with fire in the midst[fn] of the city at the completion[fn] of the days of the siege, and you must take a third, and you must strike it with the sword around it, and a third you must scatter to the wind, and I will draw a sword behind them. 3 And you must take from these a few in number, and you must tuck them in your hem. 4 And from them again you shall take some, and you must throw them in the middle of the fire, and you must burn them with fire; from it a fire will go out to all of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations where I have put her, and countries are around her. 6 But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they rejected my regulations, and as for my statutes, they did not walk in them. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your commotion more than the nations that are around you—you did not walk in my statutes, and you did not do my regulations, and according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you did not do. 8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look! I, even I,[fn] am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you before the eyes of the nations, 9 and I will do with you that which I have not done, and which I will not do again, because of all of your detestable things. 10 Therefore[fn] parents[fn] will eat children[fn] in the midst of you, and children[fn] will eat their parents,[fn] and I will execute judgment in you, and I will scatter your entire remnant to every wind. 11 Therefore as surely as I live,[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, Surely[fn] because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, now indeed I[fn] will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion. 12 A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw the sword behind them. 13 And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion when I fully vent my rage against them.[fn] 14 And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of every one who passes by.[fn] 15 And it will be[fn] an object of taunting[fn] and an object of mockery, a warning and a horror to the nations that are around you whenever I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in furious punishments! I, Yahweh, have spoken! 16 When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send in order to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break the supply of food[fn] for you. 17 And I will send against you famine and fierce animals,[fn] and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!”

Idolatrous Worship and Idolatrous Objects Denounced

6 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying, 2 “Son of man,[fn] set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, 3 and you must say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: “Look, I am bringing upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places, 4 and your altars will be desolate, and your incense altars will be broken, and I will throw down your slain ones before[fn] your idols, 5 and I will place[fn] the corpses of the children of Israel before[fn] their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all of your dwellings, the cities will be desolate and the high places will be ruined, so that your altars will be desolate and will suffer punishment. Your idols will be broken and will come to an end, and your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be destroyed, 7 and the slain one will fall in the midst of you, and then you will know that I am Yahweh. 8 But[fn] I will spare some, so there will be[fn] for you fugitives from the sword among the nations when you are scattered[fn] in the countries. 9 And your fugitives will remember me among the nations to which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by their adulterous heart[fn] which departed from me, and by their adulterous eyes[fn] which went after their idols, and they will feel loathing for themselves,[fn] for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things. 10 And they will know that I am Yahweh; not in vain[fn] I spoke to bring to them this evil.” ’ 11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, because of which[fn] they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. 12 The one who is far away will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on[fn] them. 13 And you will know that I am Yahweh when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols[fn] around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place at which they gave a pleasing scent for all of their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”

Punishment for Abominations Throughout the Land

7 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man,[fn] thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: ‘The end comes, the end on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is on you, and I will send my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your detestable things. 4 And my eye will not take pity on you, and I will not show compassion for your ways; on you I will bring your detestable things; they will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! Disaster after disaster is coming! 6 The end comes, comes the end! It has awakened against you! Look! It comes! 7 Doom is coming against you, the dweller[fn] of the land; the time comes, the day is near, panic and not joy is on the mountains. 8 Soon[fn] I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things. 9 And my eye will not take pity, and I will not show compassion. According to your ways I will deal with you,[fn] and your detestable things will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh who strikes.[fn] 10 Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts. 11 Violence has grown to become a staff of wickedness; none[fn] from them will remain, and none[fn] from their abundance nor from their wealth;[fn] and prominence will not be among them. 12 The time has come, the day has arrived; let not the buyer rejoice, and let the seller not mourn, for anger is on all their multitude. 13 For the seller will not return to the merchandise while they are still alive,[fn] for the vision is about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life. 14 They shall blow on the trumpet and prepare everything,[fn] but there is no one going to the battle, for my anger is on all of their multitude. 15 The sword is outside,[fn] and the plague and the famine are inside;[fn] the one who is in the field will die by the sword, and the one who is in the city, famine and plague will devour him. 16 And if their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt. 17 All of the hands will hang limp, and all of the knees will be wet with urine.[fn] 18 And they will wear sackcloth, and horror will cover them, and on all of the faces will be shame, and baldness on all of their heads. 19 Their silver they will discard on the streets, and filth will be their gold; their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. They will not satisfy their hunger[fn] and their stomachs they will not fill, for their guilt will be their[fn] stumbling block.

Judgment for the Profanation of the Temple and Sanctuary

20 “ ‘And the beauty of its[fn] ornament he made into a prideful thing[fn] and made with it their detestable things and their vile idols; therefore I will make it into an impure thing for them. 21 And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it. 22 And I will turn my face from them, and they will defile my treasured place, and violent ones will enter and defile it. 23 Make a chain for the land; it is full of bloody crimes[fn] and the city is full of violence. 24 And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses, and I will put to an end the pride of the mighty ones, and their sanctuaries will be defiled. 25 Anguish comes, and they will seek peace, and there will be none. 26 Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor will be upon rumor. And they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, and the prince will be dressed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their way I will do to[fn] them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

Abominations in the Temple and in Jerusalem

8 And then[fn] in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me.[fn] And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there, 2 and I saw,[fn] and look! A figure like the appearance of a man;[fn] from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and upward[fn] was like the appearance of brightness,[fn] like the outward appearance of[fn] amber. 3 And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate that faced north,[fn] at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous. 4 And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley. 5 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] lift up now[fn] your eyes toward the north.”[fn] And I lifted up my eyes toward the north,[fn] and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] “Do you see[fn] what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing[fn] here so as to drive me from[fn] my sanctuary, and yet you will see again[fn] greater[fn] detestable things.” 7 And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall. 8 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] dig now[fn] through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway. 9 And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doing[fn] here. 10 And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creatures[fn] and detestable beasts;[fn] and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around.[fn] 11 And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing before them.[fn] Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up. 12 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man,[fn] what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’ ” 13 And he said to me, “Still you will see again[fn] greater detestable things that they are doing.” 14 And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz. 15 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?[fn] Still you will see again[fn] greater detestable things than these.” 16 And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun. 17 And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?[fn] Was it too small a thing[fn] for the house of Judah to do[fn] the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and they provoked me to anger again,[fn] and look! They are putting the branch to their nose. 18 And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”

Yahweh’s Avenging Messenger Destroys the Wicked in the City

9 And he called in my ears with a loud voice, saying,[fn] “They have come near,[fn] the punishers of the city, and each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. 2 And look! Six men coming from the way of the upper gate[fn] that faced northward,[fn] and each with his weapon for[fn] shattering in his hand; and one man was in the midst of them, dressed in linen, and the[fn] writing case of the scribe was at his side. And they came and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel lifted itself up from upon the cherub that he was on[fn] and went to the threshold of the house,[fn] and he called to the man who was clothed in linen with a scribal writing case at his side.[fn] 4 And Yahweh said to him, “Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and lamenting[fn] about all of the detestable things that are being done[fn] in the midst of her.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city behind him and kill! Your eyes shall not take pity, and you shall not have compassion. 6 You must kill totally[fn] old man, young man and young woman, and little children and women, but concerning[fn] every man with the mark on him[fn] you must not approach; and from my sanctuary you must begin.” And they began with the old men who were before[fn] the house.[fn] 7 And he said to them, “Defile the house[fn] and fill the courtyards with the dead; go out! And they went out, and they killed in the city. 8 And then[fn] as they were striking,[fn] and I was left behind, I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! “Will you be destroying all of the remnant of Israel while you pour out your rage[fn] on Jerusalem?” 9 And he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly[fn] great, and the land is filled with bloodguilt, and the city is full of injustice. For they say Yahweh abandoned the land, and Yahweh does not see.[fn] 10 And I, my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion; their way I will bring on their head.” 11 And look! The man clothed in linen and with a writing case at his side[fn] was bringing back a word, saying,[fn] “I have done all that you commanded me.”

God’s Presence Leaves the Temple

10 And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire,[fn] and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. 2 And he spoke[fn] to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim[fn] and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes. 3 Now[fn] the cherubim were standing on the south of the temple when the man went,[fn] and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. 4 And the glory of Yahweh rose up from on the cherub toward[fn] the threshold of the house,[fn] and the house[fn] was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as[fn] the outer courtyard; it was like the voice of God Shaddai[fn] when he speaks.[fn]

6 And then at his command[fn] to the man clothed in linen, saying,[fn] “Take fire from among the wheel area from among the cherubim,” he went and stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from among[fn] the cherubim toward the fire that was among[fn] the cherubim, and he lifted up and gave[fn] it into the hollow of the hand of the man clothed with linen, and he took it, and he went out.

8 And there appeared for[fn] the cherubim the form of a human hand[fn] under their wings. 9 And I saw, and look, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub,[fn] and the appearance of the wheels was like the outward appearance of turquoise stone.[fn] 10 Their appearance[fn] was the same for each of the four of them,[fn] as if the wheel was in the midst of a wheel. 11 When they went[fn] to the four of their directions that they went, they did not change direction when they went,[fn] for the place to which the head[fn] turned, they went behind him; they did not change direction at their going. 12 And their whole body,[fn] and their rims, and their spokes, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels for the four of them.[fn] 13 Concerning the wheels, he was calling them “the wheelwork” in my hearing.[fn] 14 And each one had four faces;[fn] the face of the one was the face of a cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a human, and the face of the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim rose; that is, the living creatures[fn] that I saw at the Kebar River.[fn] 16 And when the cherubim went,[fn] the wheels beside them went; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth,[fn] the wheels also did not turn aside from beside them. 17 When they stood,[fn] they stood, and at their rising, they rose with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 And the glory of Yahweh went out from[fn] the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels were[fn] beside them. And he stood at the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple[fn] of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[fn]

20 This was[fn] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the Kebar River,[fn] and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces,[fn] and there were four wings for each, and the likeness of human hands[fn] was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces, they were the faces that I saw at the Kebar River;[fn] thus was their appearance, and they each went straight ahead.[fn]

Judgment On Evil Rulers

11 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple[fn] of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. 2 And he said to me, “Son of man,[fn] these are the men who devise mischief,[fn] and who are offering bad counsel in this city, 3 who are saying, “The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh. 4 Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”[fn]

5 And the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say, ‘thus says Yahweh: “This is what you think, house of Israel, and I myself know them,[fn] the thoughts of your spirit. 6 You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain ones.” ’[fn] 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they are the flesh, and it is the pot, and I[fn] will bring you out from its midst. 8 The sword you have feared, and the sword I will bring against you!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 9 “And I will bring you out from its midst, and I will give you into the hand of strangers, and I will execute judgments against you. 10 By the sword you will fall at the border of Israel; I will judge you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 11 It will not be as a pot to you, and so you would be[fn] in the midst of it as flesh, for at the border of Israel I will judge you. 12 And you will know that I am Yahweh, whose[fn] rules you did not follow, and whose[fn] regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you acted.” ’[fn]

13 And it happened that as I was prophesying,[fn] Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried with a loud voice, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, you are making a complete destruction of the remnant of Israel!” 14 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 15 “Son of man,[fn] your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem,[fn] ‘They are far from Yahweh, therefore to us this land was given as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries to which they have gone.’ ”[fn] 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you. 18 And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it. 19 And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give[fn] in their inner parts. And I will remove their[fn] heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God. 21 But to[fn] the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

22 Then[fn] the cherubim lifted up their wings, and their[fn] wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.[fn] 23 And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles,[fn] in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen left me.[fn] 25 And I spoke to the exiles[fn] all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.

The Announcement of the Imminent Coming of the Exile

12 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] you are dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion who has eyes to see and they do not see;[fn] they have ears to hear,[fn] and they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion. 3 And you, son of man,[fn] prepare for yourself[fn] the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go into[fn] exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion. 4 And you must bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like those who go into exile.[fn] 5 Before their eyes dig through for yourself,[fn] through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it. 6 Before their eyes, on your[fn] shoulder, you must lift up the baggage in the dusk, and your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you as a sign to the house of Israel.” 7 And I did just as[fn] I was commanded; my baggage, like the baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myself[fn] into[fn] the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought the baggage on my shoulder; I carried it before their eyes. 8 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me in the morning, saying,[fn] 9 “Son of man,[fn] did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and the entire[fn] house of Israel who are among them.” ’[fn] 11 Say, ‘I am your sign, and just as[fn] I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into[fn] captivity they will go.’ 12 And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, and[fn] he will go out; the wall will be dug through[fn] to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will[fn] not see the land with his[fn] eye. 13 And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. 14 And all who are around him, his help[fn] and all of his troops I will scatter in every direction,[fn] and I will draw[fn] the sword behind them. 15 And they will know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them[fn] among the nations and I scatter them in the countries. 16 But[fn] I will spare from them a few men[fn] from the sword, from the famine and from the plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will go, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

17 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 18 “Son of man,[fn] you must eat your food with trembling, and your water with shuddering, and with anxiety you must drink. 19 And you must say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: “They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate from[fn] its fullness because of all the violence of those who are dwelling in it.[fn] 20 And the inhabited cites will be desolate,[fn] and the land will be a desolation, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”

21 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 22 “Son of man,[fn] what is this proverb you people have[fn] about the land of Israel, saying,[fn] ‘The days are prolonged,[fn] and every vision has come to nothing.’ 23 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel.” ’ But[fn] say to them, ‘The days are near, and also the word of every vision.’ 24 For there will not be any longer any false vision[fn] or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel. 25 For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak as a word, and it will be done. It will not prolong itself any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 26 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 27 “Son of man,[fn] look! The house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he is seeing is for many days from now, and for distant times he is prophesying.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “None of my words will be prolonged any longer that I speak as a word, and it will be fulfilled!” ’ ” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Condemnation of False Prophets

13 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] prophesy to[fn] the prophets of Israel who are prophesying,[fn] and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own imagination,[fn] ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’ 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, and they did not see anything![fn] 4 Your prophets have been like foxes[fn] among ruins. 5 You did not go up into[fn] the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. 6 They saw falseness and a lying divination,[fn] the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait for the confirmation of their word.[fn] 7 Have you not seen a false vision[fn] and spoken a lying divination,[fn] and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but I myself did not speak.[fn] 8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 9 “And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and into[fn] the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. 10 Because, yes, because they led my people astray, saying[fn] ‘Peace!’ And there is not peace. And when anyone[fn] builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. 11 Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be a torrent of rain,[fn] and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! [fn] And a windstorm[fn] will burst forth! 12 And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And so I will let burst forth a windstorm[fn] in my rage, and there will be a torrent of rain[fn] in my anger, and hailstones in my rage for complete destruction.[fn] 14 And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! 15 And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more,[fn] and the people covering it are no more,[fn] 16 that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!’ ” ” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

17 “And you, son of man,[fn] place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their imagination,[fn] and prophesy against them! 18 And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to those who sew[fn] magic charm bands on all the wrists[fn] of the hands of my people and those who make the veils[fn] that are on the head of people of every height, to ensnare people’s lives![fn] Will you ensnare the lives[fn] of my people and keep yourselves alive?[fn] 19 And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by means of your lies to my people who are listening to your lies.” ’[fn] 20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against your magic charm bands with which you are ensnaring persons[fn] as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you are ensnaring, treating persons as birds. 21 And I will tear off your veils, and I will deliver my people from your hand, and they will not any longer be in your hand as prey, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 22 Because you disheartened the heart of the righteous by deception, and I have not[fn] caused him pain, and strengthened the hands of the wicked so that he did not turn[fn] from his wicked way to save his life. 23 Therefore falseness[fn] you will not see,[fn] and divination you will not practice[fn] any longer, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh!’ ”

Condemnation of Israel’s Idolatrous Elders

14 And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat before me.[fn] 2 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 3 “Son of man,[fn] these men took up their idols into their heart and they placed before themselves[fn] a stumbling block of their guilt.[fn] Should I really let myself be consulted by them?[fn] 4 Therefore speak with them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every person from the house of Israel who brings up his idols into his heart and places before himself[fn] a stumbling block of his guilt[fn] and yet he comes to the prophet, I Yahweh, I will respond to him through this act[fn] with respect to the multitude[fn] of his idols, 5 so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from me, all of them, through their idols.’ 6 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Return,[fn] and turn away from your idols and from all of your detestable things! Turn away your faces!” ’ 7 For each person[fn] from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself from following me[fn] and brings up his idols into his heart and places before himself[fn] a stumbling block of his guilt[fn], and yet he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer[fn] him myself. 8 And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to[fn] be a sign and make him into[fn] the subject of proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I am Yahweh. 9 And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they will bear their guilt, like[fn] the guilt of the inquirer so[fn] the guilt of the prophet will be, 11 so that the house of Israel will not go astray again from me,[fn] and they will not make themselves unclean again with all of their transgressions, and they will be for me a people, and I will be for them as God,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Jerusalem will not be Spared

12 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 13 “Son of man,[fn] when a land sins against me by acting very unfaithfully,[fn] then I will stretch out my hand against it, and I will break for it the supply of food,[fn] and I will send against it famine, and I will cut it off, both human and animal. 14 And if even the three of these men were in the midst of it—Noah, Daniel, and Job—they, through their righteousness, would save only themselves!”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 15 “If a fierce animal I should let cross through the land, and it should make it childless and it will be a desolation, so that there will not be one crossing over the land due to[fn] the presence of the animal, 16 even if these three men were in the midst of it, as surely as I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “surely they will not save sons and daughters; they themselves alone,[fn] they will be saved, but the land will be a desolation. 17 Or, if I bring a sword over that land, and I say, ‘Sword, let it cross over into[fn] the land!’ And I will cut off from it both human and animal. 18 And if these three men were in the midst of it, as surely as I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “they will not save sons and daughters, but they alone[fn] will be saved. 19 And if I were to send a plague to that land, and I pour out my rage on it with blood to cut it off, both human and animal, 20 and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of her, as surely as I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “surely not a son, surely not a daughter will they save by their righteousness; they would save themselves.”[fn] 21 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “How much more when I send my four punishments—the evil sword, and famine, and a fierce animal, and a plague—to Jerusalem to cut it off, both human and animal! 22 But[fn] look! A remnant will be left over in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out.[fn] Look! They are coming out to you, and you will see their way, and with their deeds you will be consoled with respect to[fn] the evil that I brought over Jerusalem, all of it that I brought over[fn] it. 23 And they will console you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not for nothing I did all that I did in it,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Jerusalem a Useless Vine

15 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man, how will the wood of the vine be better than[fn] any of the wood of[fn] the branch which is among the trees of the forest?[fn] 3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can they take a tent peg from it to hang on it any object?[fn] 4 Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything? 5 Look! When it is in perfect condition,[fn] it will not be used for anything, how much less[fn] when the fire has consumed it[fn] and it is charred; and then can it be used again for anything? 6 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Just like[fn] the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest[fn] which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. From the fire they mayescape,[fn] but the fire will yet consume them, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I set my face against them.[fn] 8 And I will make the land a desolation because they acted very unfaithfully!”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

God’s Covenant Grace to Unfaithful and Rebellious Israel

16 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] make known to Jerusalem its detestable things, 3 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites,[fn] your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born[fn] your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not thoroughly washed clean with water,[fn] and you were not thoroughly rubbed with salt,[fn] and you were not carefully wrapped in strips of cloth.[fn] 5 No eye took pity on you[fn] to do to you one of these things to show compassion for you, and you were thrown into the open field[fn] in their despising of you on the day you were born.[fn]

6 “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live! 7 Grow up;[fn] I will make you like a plant of the field.” And you grew up, and you became tall and reached full womanhood.[fn] Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown, but you were naked and bare.

8 “ ‘And I passed by you, and I saw you, and look, your time of lovemaking had come,[fn] and so I spread out my hem over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore to you, and I entered into[fn] a covenant with you,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘and you became mine.[fn] 9 And I washed you with water, and I rinsed off your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 And I clothed you with beautiful finished cloth, and I put sandals on you of fine leather, and I bound you in fine linen, and I covered you with costly fabric. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments,[fn] and I put a bracelet on your arms and a necklace on your neck. 12 And I put an ornamental ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown[fn] on your head. 13 And you adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your clothing was fine linen and costly fabric and beautiful finished cloth; you ate finely milled flour and honey and olive oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful; you were fit to be a queen.[fn] 14 And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 15 ‘And you trusted in your beauty, and you prostituted on account of your name, and you poured out your fornication on every one passing by, saying, “Let it be his.” 16 And you took from your clothes and you made for yourself colorful[fn] shrines, and you prostituted on them; this had not happened before,[fn] and it will not continue to happen.[fn] 17 And you took your beautiful jewelry[fn] made from my gold and from my silver that I had given to you, and you made for yourself male images,[fn] and you prostituted with them. 18 And you took the clothes of your beautiful finished cloth, and you covered them and my oil and my incense you set before them.[fn] 19 And my bread that I gave to you, finely milled flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, then you set it before them[fn] as a pleasing odor,[fn] and so it was,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 20 ‘And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne for me, and you sacrificed them to them to be eaten,[fn] as if your whorings were not enough.[fn] 21 And you slaughtered my children, and you gave them to be sacrificed to them.[fn] 22 And in all of your detestable things and your fornication you did not remember the days of your childhood when you were naked and bare,[fn] when you were kicking about in your blood.

23 “ ‘And then after all of your evil! Woe, woe, to you!’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 24 ‘And then you built for yourself a mound, and you made for yourself a high place in every public square. 25 At the head of every street you built your high place and you disgraced your beauty and you spread your feet for every passerby, and you increased your whoring. 26 And you prostituted with the Egyptians,[fn] your neighbors who were sexually aroused,[fn] and you increased your fornication to provoke me. 27 And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you into[fn] the desire of your haters, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed because of your lewd conduct.[fn] 28 And you prostituted with the Assyrians[fn] on account of your insatiable lust,[fn] and you prostituted with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 And you increased your fornication to the land of traders,[fn] to Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied. 30 How hot with fever was your heart!’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. ‘When you did[fn] all of these actions of a headstrong female prostitute,[fn] 31 when you built[fn] your mound at the head of every street and your high place you made on every street, yet[fn] you were[fn] not like a prostitute, as you were scorning your harlot’s wages. 32 O, adulterous woman! In the place of her husband she received strangers. 33 To all prostitutes they give a fee, but you, you gave your gifts to all of your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in your whorings! 34 And it was the opposite with you from the other women in your whorings; no one solicited you as a prostitute.[fn] You gave[fn] a harlot’s wages, and a harlot’s wages were not given to you, and so it was just the opposite.

35 “ ‘Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh. 36 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of the pouring out of your shame and because your nakedness was revealed in your whoring with your lovers, and on account of all of the idols of your detestable things, and according to the blood of your children whom you gave to them, 37 therefore, look! I am gathering all of your lovers whom you were pleased about,[fn] and all of whom you loved in addition to all of whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from everywhere,[fn] and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all of your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you with the judgment of women committing adultery and shedding blood, and I will give you the blood of rage and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hand, and they will demolish your mound, and they will break down your high places, and they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take your beautiful jewelry,[fn] and they will leave you naked and bare. 40 And they will bring up against you a crowd, and they will stone you with stones,[fn] and they will cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will execute against you judgments before[fn] many women, and I will stop you from prostitution, and also a harlot’s wages you will not give[fn] again. 42 And I will satisfy my rage on you, and my jealousy will turn away from you, and I will be calm, and I will not be angry any longer. 43 Because[fn] you did not remember[fn] the days of your childhood and you made me angry with all of these. And in turn I, look, I will return your way upon your head,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘and did[fn] you not do wickedness[fn] in addition to all of your detestable things? 44 Look! Everyone quoting a proverb[fn] against you, he will quote, saying,[fn] ‘Like her mother is her daughter!’ 45 You are a daughter of your mother who abhorred her husband and her children, and you are a sister of your sisters who abhorred their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father was an Amorite. 46 And your elder sister, she is Samaria, and her daughters, who are dwelling on your north, and your younger sister is the one dwelling on your south; she is Sodom and her daughters. 47 And you have not only gone in their ways, but[fn] you also did according to their detestable things. In such a short time[fn] you behaved more corruptly than they in all of your ways. 48 As surely as I live,’[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as[fn] you and your daughters did. 49 Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of food, and prosperous ease[fn] was to her and to her daughters, and she did not sustain the needy and the poor.[fn] 50 And they were proud, and they did a detestable thing before me,[fn] and I removed them because[fn] I saw it. 51 And Samaria did not sin according to even half of your sins,[fn] and you caused your detestable things to increase more than they, and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did.[fn] 52 Also,[fn] you bear your disgrace, by which you furnished justification to your sisters[fn] through your sins by which you acted more abominably than they; they were more righteous than you, and also,[fn] you be ashamed and bear your disgrace through your making your sister righteous.

53 And I will restore their fortune, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and even the fortunes of your captivity in the midst of them, 54 in order that you may bear your disgrace and you may be put to shame because of all that you did at your consoling them. 55 And as for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state. 56 And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride 57 before[fn] your evil was uncovered? It was like the time of the scorn of the daughters of Aram and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who are despising you. 58 Your wickedness and your detestable things, you, you must bear them,’ declares[fn] Yahweh. 59 ‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will do it[fn] to you according to what you have done,[fn] who despised the oath to break covenant. 60 And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.[fn] 61 And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, both the older and the younger,[fn] and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant. 62 And I, I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, 63 in order that you will remember, and you will be ashamed, and you will not open your mouth again[fn] because of[fn] your disgrace when I forgive you for all that you have done!’ ” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel, 3 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The great eagle with great wings and long feathers[fn] and full of variegated plumage[fn] came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar. 4 He plucked the top of its new plant shoot, and he brought it to the land of Canaan and put it in a city of merchants, 5 and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in fertile soil[fn] on[fn] many waters; like a willow he planted it. 6 And it sprouted, and it became a vine spreading out,[fn] low of height, turning its branches to him, and its roots were under it, and it became a vine,[fn] and it made[fn] branches, and it sent out foliage.

7 “ ‘ “And there was another great eagle, great of wings and with abundant plumage, and look! This vine stretched out its roots toward him and extended its branches to him to water it from the garden bed where it was planted.[fn] 8 It was planted in[fn] a good field by[fn] many waters[fn] to produce branches[fn] and to bear fruit to become[fn] a beautiful vine.” ’[fn] 9 Say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will it prosper? Will he not tear out its roots, and will he not make its fruit scaly, and it will wither, and all of the freshness of its vegetation will dry up? And to lift it from its roots will not require great strength or many people.[fn] 10 And look! Though it is planted, will it prosper? When the east wind strikes it,[fn] will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!” ’ ”

11 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying, 12 “Say now to the rebellious house of Israel, ‘Do you not know what these are?’[fn] Say, ‘Look! The king of Babylon will come to Jerusalem, and he will take its king and its officials, and he will bring[fn] them to himself,[fn] to Babylon. 13 And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and he brought him under oath,[fn] and he took the rulers of the land, 14 so that they would be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant in order for it to stand.[fn] 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these things, and can he break the covenant and escape? 16 As I live,’[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely[fn] in the place of the king who made[fn] him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him—in the midst of Babylon he will die. 17 And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work[fn] with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives. 18 And he despised the oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand in pledge, and yet he did all of these things. He will not escape.’ 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘As I live,[fn] surely[fn] my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head. 20 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there about his infidelity that he displayed against me. 21 And all of his choice troops, among all of his troops, they will fall by the sword, and those who are remaining,[fn] they will be scattered to all the directions of the wind, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’ 22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And I will take, even I, from the treetop of the high cedar, and I will plant it, from the head of its new plant shoot I will pluck a tender one, and I will plant it, even I, on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the height of the mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it will carry[fn] branches,[fn] and it will bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar,[fn] and all of the birds of all wings[fn] will dwell under it in the shade of its branches. 24 And all of the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, I will bring low a high tree, and I will exalt a low, fresh tree, and I will make a dry tree flourish. I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do it.’ ”

God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked

18 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “What do you mean by[fn] quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,[fn] ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’[fn] 3 As I live,[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you[fn] to quote this proverb in Israel! 4 Look! All lives are mine.[fn] The lives of father and son alike are mine.[fn] The person[fn] sinning will die. 5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6 and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of[fn] menstruation, 7 and he oppresses no one[fn] and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery[fn] and he gives[fn] his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8 and he does not charge interest[fn] and he takes no usury, and he holds back[fn] his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,[fn] 9 and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,[fn] performing faithfully[fn] —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

10 “And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood[fn] and does any of these things[fn] 11 (though[fn] he[fn] did not do all of these things), for the son also[fn] eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12 He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,[fn] and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. 13 He charges interest[fn] and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.

14 “And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. 15 On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. 16 And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;[fn] he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17 He brings back[fn] his hand from iniquity;[fn] he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes[fn] in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18 Because his father oppressed severely;[fn] he stole from his brother;[fn] that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through[fn] his guilt.

19 “Yet[fn] you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! 20 The person,[fn] the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked[fn] shall be on him. 21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sins[fn] that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! 22 All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against[fn] him. Through[fn] his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I delight by any means[fn] in the death of the wicked, declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that[fn] he lives? 24 And when the righteous turns[fn] from his righteousness, so that[fn] he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then[fn] will he live because of all of his righteousness[fn] that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.[fn] Through[fn] them he shall die.

25 “Yet[fn] you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then[fn] he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! 27 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.[fn] 28 And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! 29 And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?[fn]

30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one[fn] according to his ways,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. “Repent[fn] and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31 Throw away from yourselves[fn] all of your transgressions that you committed,[fn] and make for yourselves[fn] a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. “And so repent[fn] and live!”

Lament for the Leaders of Israel

19 “And you, raise a lament about[fn] the leaders of Israel,

• 2 and you must say,‘What a lioness was your mother
  • among the lions.
• She lay down in the midst of young lions,
  • and she reared her lion cubs.
  • 3  he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
  • 4  in their pit he was caught,
• and they brought him with hooks
  • to the land of Egypt.
  • 5 [fn] that she was waiting in vain; her hope was destroyed,
• and she took one from her cubs,
  • and she made him a fierce lion.
  • 6  he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
  • 7 [fn] and he devastated their cities,
• and the land was appalled, and[fn]
  • at the sound of his roar.
  • 8 [fn]
• and they spread their net over him,
  • and he was caught in their pit.
  • 9  and they brought him to the king of Babylon;
  • they brought him into[fn] a prison,
• so that his voice would not be heard[fn]
  • on the mountains of Israel.
  • 10 was like the vine in your vineyard;[fn] planted[fn] beside water,
• and it was full of branches
  • from many waters.[fn]
  • 11 [fn] to[fn] scepters of rulers;
• its height became tall
  • between[fn] thick foliage,
• and it was seen[fn] because of its tallness
  • among the abundance of its branches.
  • 12  it was thrown to the earth,
• and the east wind dried up its fruit;
  • they were stripped off,
• and its strong branch dried up;
  • fire consumed it.
  • 13 it is planted in the desert, in a[fn]
  • 14 so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed,
• and there was not in it[fn]
  • a scepter for ruling.’ ”

This is a lament, and it will be used as a lament.[fn]

God’s Dealings with Israel for His Name’s Sake

20 And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat before me.[fn] 2 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 3 “Son of man,[fn] speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Are you coming to consult me? As I live,[fn] I will surely not allow myself[fn] to be consulted by you!” ’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 4 Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man?[fn] Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors.[fn] 5 And you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of my choosing Israel I swore[fn] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and I swore[fn] to them, saying,[fn] ‘I am Yahweh your God.’ 6 On that day I swore[fn] to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. 7 Then I said to them, ‘Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one did not throw away[fn] the detestable things of their eyes; and they did not abandon[fn] the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

9 “But[fn] I acted for the sake of my name to keep it from being profaned[fn] before the eyes of the nations among whom they lived,[fn] where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. 10 And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, 11 and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. 12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them so they would know[fn] that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them.

13 “But[fn] in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes,[fn] and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, 14 and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I brought them out.[fn] 15 And also I myself swore[fn] to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands— 16 because they despised my judgments, and they did not walk in my statutes,[fn] and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols. 17 But my eye took pity on them by not destroying them, and I did not completely destroy them[fn] in the desert.

18 “And I said to their children in the desert, ‘You must not go in the statutes of your parents;[fn] you must not keep their regulations, and you must not make yourself unclean with their idols. 19 I, Yahweh, am your God, so go in my statutes and keep my regulations and do them. 20 And treat my Sabbaths as holy, and they will be a sign between me and between you that you may know[fn] that I, Yahweh, am your God.’ 21 But the children rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes,[fn] and they did not observe my regulations,[fn] which if a person does them, then he will live by them. My Sabbaths they desecrated, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to finish my anger against them in the desert. 22 But I withheld my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name not to be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I had brought them out before their eyes. 23 What is more, I swore[fn] to them in the desert to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands, 24 because they did not do my regulations, and my statutes they despised, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the idols of their ancestors.[fn] 25 And in turn I gave to them rules that were not good and regulations by which they will not live.[fn] 26 And I defiled them through their gifts in sacrificing all of the first offspring of the womb, in order that[fn] I will cause them to be stunned, so that they will know that I am Yahweh.

27 “Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man,[fn] and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Again in this your ancestors blasphemed me at[fn] their display of infidelity toward me.” ’[fn] 28 And I brought them to the land that I swore[fn] to give[fn] to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered their sacrifices, and they presented there the provocation of their offering, and they gave there their fragrant incense offering, and they poured out their libations there. 29 And I said to them, ‘What is the high place[fn] to which you are going?’ And it is called[fn] Bamah until this day. 30 Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “In the way of your ancestors[fn] will you defile yourself, and after their vile idols will you prostitute yourselves? 31 And when you lift up your gifts, sacrificing your children[fn] through the fire, you are defiling yourself through all of your idols until today,[fn] and will I let myself[fn] be consulted by you, house of Israel?” ’ As I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “I will not let myself[fn] be consulted by you! 32 And what you are planning,[fn] surely it will not be—that you are saying, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the clans[fn] of the lands, serving wood and stone!’[fn]

33 “As I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “surely[fn] with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage pouring forth[fn] I will reign as king over you! 34 And I will bring you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with rage poured out. 35 Then I will bring you to the desert of the peoples, and I will execute justice on you there face to face. 36 Just as[fn] I executed justice on your ancestors[fn] in the desert of the land of Egypt, likewise I will execute justice on you!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 37 “And I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 And I will purge the rebels from among you and the ones transgressing against me; I will bring them out from the land where they are living as aliens,[fn] but into the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am Yahweh.

39 And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Let each one go serve his idols now and after, if you are not listening to me, but my holy name[fn] you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

40 “For on my holy mountain,[fn] on the mountain of the height of Israel,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “there all of the house of Israel will serve me, all of them,[fn] in the land. I will take pleasure in them, and there I will accept your contributions and the best of your portions with all of your holy objects. 41 I will accept you as a fragrant incense offering[fn] when I bring you out from the peoples and I gather you from the lands to which you were scattered, and I will show myself holy among you before the eyes of the nations. 42 And you will know that I am Yahweh when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land that I swore[fn] to give to your ancestors. 43 And you will remember there your ways, and all of your deeds by which you were made unclean,[fn] and you will feel a loathing for yourself[fn] for all of your evils that you have done.

44 And you will know that I am Yahweh when I deal with you[fn] for the sake of my name and not according to your evil ways[fn] or according to[fn] your corrupted deeds, house of Israel,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. [fn] And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] “Son of man,[fn] set your face toward the way of the south,[fn] and preach to the south, and prophesy against the forest of the territory of the Negev. And you must say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am kindling against you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree; the blaze of the flame will not be quenched, and all the surfaces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. And all creatures will see that I, Yahweh, I kindled it—it will not be quenched!” ’ ” Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, they are saying about me, ‘Is he not posing a parable?’ ”

A Vision of the Avenging Sword of Yahweh

21 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. 3 And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because[fn] I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to[fn] all creatures[fn] from south to north. 5 And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!” ’ 6 And you, son of man,[fn] groan with shaking hips,[fn] and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And then[fn] when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

8 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 9 “Son of man,[fn] prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. 10 It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, polished to flash like lightning![fn] Or will we rejoice?[fn] A rod, my son, is despising every tree.[fn] 11 And he gives it to be polished, to be seized by the hand.[fn] It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer. 12 Cry and wail, son of man,[fn] for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore strike your thigh.[fn] 13 For examine![fn] And what if also the rod will not be despising?’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 14 And you, son of man,[fn] prophesy and clap your hands.[fn] And the sword will strike twice;[fn] let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them, 15 so that a heart melts, and the fallen multiply[fn] at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped[fn] for slaughtering. 16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your edge[fn] is directed. 17 And also I myself[fn] will clap my hands,[fn] and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

18 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 19 “And you, son of man,[fn] mark out for yourself[fn] two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must both[fn] go out from the same land. And hew out a signpost;[fn] hew it at the head of the road of the city. 20 You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites[fn] and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. He shakes the arrows,[fn] he inquires with the teraphim, he examines[fn] the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter,[fn] to raise the battle cry,[fn] to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.[fn] 23 And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely[fn] in their eyes; they have sworn oaths for themselves.[fn] But[fn] he will bring their guilt to remembrance so as to seize them.

24 “Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear—because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.’ 25 And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end, 26 thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things are no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high. 27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also[fn] this has not ever happened;[fn] it will remain until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it to him.’ 28 And you, son of man,[fn] prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the Ammonites[fn] and concerning their disgrace,’ and you must say, ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughtering; it is polished for holding, for flashing like lightning,[fn] 29 when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give[fn] you on the neck of the profane ones of the wicked, whose day has come,[fn] the time of final punishment.[fn] 30 Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you! 31 And I will pour out my anger 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 craftsmen of destruction. 32 You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’ ”

Highlighting the Sins and the Judgments of Israel

22 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “And you, son of man,[fn] will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city?[fn] Then you must make known to her all of her detestable things! 3 And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “A city pouring out blood in the midst of her; its time has come,[fn] and it made idols for itself, becoming unclean. 4 By your blood that you poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you made you have become unclean, and you have brought your days near, and your appointed years have come.[fn] Therefore I have made you a disgrace for the nations and a laughingstock to all of the countries. 5 The people near and the people far from you will make fun of you, the unclean and the terrified.[fn] 6 Look! The princes of Israel, each one according to his strength,[fn] they are in you for the shedding of blood.[fn] 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt in you; they violated[fn] the alien with[fn] extortion; in the midst of you they mistreated the orphan and widow. 8 You despised my holy objects; my Sabbaths you profaned. 9 Slanderous men are among you[fn] to shed blood, and they, among you,[fn] eat upon the mountains; they do wickedness in the midst of you. 10 They uncover the nakedness of a father among[fn] you; they violate a woman unclean of menstruation among[fn] you. 11 And a man does a detestable thing with the wife of his neighbor, and a man defiles his daughter-in-law in wickedness, and a man sexually violates among[fn] you his sister, the daughter of his father. 12 They take a bribe among[fn] you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain from your neighbors by extortion, and so you have forgotten me, declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 13 And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you. 14 Can your heart endure,[fn] or can your hands be strong at the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act! 15 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the countries, and I will purge your uncleanness from you. 16 And I will be profaned by you before the eyes of the nations, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”

17 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 18 “Son of man,[fn] the house of Israel has become as silver dross to me; all of them are as bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace, even as silver dross, silver dross they became! 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because all of you have become as silver dross, therefore look! I am gathering you to the midst of Jerusalem, 20 like the gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin to the middle of a furnace to blow fire on it for melting. Thus I will gather in my anger and in my rage, and I will deposit[fn] you, and I will melt you. 21 And I will gather you, and I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and so I will melt you in the midst of her. 22 Thus you will be melted like the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have poured out my rage on you.’ ” 23 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 24 “Son of man,[fn] say to her, ‘You are a land not cleansed; it is not rained upon in the day of indignation.’ 25 The conspiracy of its prophets in the midst of her is like a roaring lion that is tearing prey. They devour people, and they take wealth and treasure; they make its widows numerous in the midst of her. 26 Its priests treat my law violently, and they profane my holy objects; they do not distinguish between a holy object and what is unholy, or between the clean and the unclean. They do not teach the difference, and they hide their eyes from my Sabbaths, and so I am profaned in the midst of them. 27 Its officials are like wolves tearing prey in its midst, to pour out blood, to destroy people, to make dishonest gain. 28 And for them its prophets plaster whitewash; they are seeing falseness and are practicing divination for them by lying, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ and Yahweh has not spoken. 29 They severely oppress the people of the land, and they committed robbery,[fn] and they mistreated the needy and the poor, and they oppressed the alien without[fn] justice. 30 And so I sought for them somebody, one repairing the wall and standing in the breach before me[fn] on behalf of the land not to destroy it, but I did not find anyone, 31 and so I poured out my indignation on them. With the fire of my wrath I destroyed them; I returned their way upon their head,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Oholah and Oholibah as Symbols of God’s Corrupt People

23 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] there were two women, the daughters of one mother, 3 and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. 4 Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And they became mine,[fn] and they bore sons and daughters, and their names[fn] are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. 5 And Oholah prostituted herself while she was still mine,[fn] and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, 6 clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, handsome young men[fn] and all of them horsemen, experts on horseback.[fn] 7 And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the Assyrians,[fn] all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. 8 And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. 9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians[fn] after whom she lusted.[fn] 10 They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her.

11 “And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust she behaved more corruptly than her,[fn] and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians,[fn] governors and prefects, warriors[fn] clothed in[fn] perfection,[fn] expert horsemen,[fn] all of them handsome young men.[fn] 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they had both taken the same path![fn] 14 And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved[fn] on the wall, images of Chaldeans[fn] carved in red, 15 belted with a belt at[fn] their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,[fn] the image[fn] of the Babylonians;[fn] Chaldea was the land of their birth. 16 And she lusted for them when her eyes saw them,[fn] and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. 17 And so the Babylonians[fn] came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. 18 And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her just as[fn] I turned from her sister. 19 Yet[fn] she increased her whorings, recalling[fn] the days of her childhood when she was prostituted[fn] in the land of Egypt. 20 And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. 21 And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.

22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am stirring up your lovers against you concerning whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: 23 the Babylonians[fn] and all of the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all of the Assyrians[fn] along with them, handsome young men,[fn] governors and prefects, all of them adjutants[fn] and excellent horsemen.[fn] 24 And they will come against you with an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd[fn] of peoples; they will set themselves against you from all around with large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give before them[fn] judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments. 25 And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and those who are left,[fn] they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant[fn] will be consumed by fire. 26 And they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take your splendid jewelry.[fn] 27 And I will put an end to your obscene conduct coming from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.’ 28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom[fn] you turned away. 29 And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take all of your acquisitions, and they will leave you naked and in bareness; and the nakedness of your fornication and your obscene conduct and your whorings will be exposed. 30 These things are accomplished[fn] against[fn] you since you prostituted yourself after the nations, and on account of that, you defiled yourself by their idols. 31 You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand.” ’

32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You will drink the deep and wide[fn] cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; the cup holds so much![fn] 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria. 34 And you will drink it, and you will drain it, and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for I myself[fn] spoke,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn[fn] you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings.”

36 And Yahweh said to me, “Son of man,[fn] will you judge Oholah and Oholibah and declare their abominable deeds to[fn] them? 37 For they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me—they sacrificed them as food! 38 Also they did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and they profaned my Sabbaths, 39 and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, this is what they did in my house![fn] 40 What is worse,[fn] they sent for men who come[fn] from a distant place, to whom a messenger was sent to them, and look! They came! Men for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself with an ornament. 41 And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared before her,[fn] and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.[fn] 42 And a sound of a carefree crowd was with it,[fn] and in addition to these men, a crowd of drunken men[fn] was brought in[fn] from the desert,[fn] and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads. 43 And I said to[fn] the one worn out with adulteries, ‘Now they will prostitute her concerning her fornication, even her.’[fn] 44 And so they went to her like going to a female[fn] prostitute; and thus they went to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of obscene conduct. 45 But righteous men, they will judge them with the judgment of committing adultery, and with the judgment of shedding blood; for they were committing adultery, and blood was on their hands.”

46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder. 47 And an assembly must stone them with stones,[fn] and they must cut them down. With their swords they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and with fire they shall burn their houses. 48 And I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land,[fn] and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness. 49 And they will repay your obscene conduct upon you, and the guilt of your idols you will bear, and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

The Boiling Pot and the Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

24 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] write for yourself the name of the day, this very day.[fn] The king of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem on exactly this day! 3 And deliver a proverb[fn] to the rebellious house,[fn] and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Place the pot! Place it and also pour water into it. 4 Gather its pieces to it, every good piece, thigh and shoulder, fill it with choice bones; 5 take the choicest of the flock, and also pile the bones[fn] under it; boil it vigorously;[fn] indeed,[fn] its bones boiled in the midst of it.” ’ ”

6 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the city of bloodguilt! A pot that has its rust in it; its rust did not go out from it.[fn] Bring it out piece by piece;[fn] one is as good as another.[fn] 7 For her blood was in the midst of her; she put it on a bare rock;[fn] she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.[fn] 8 To stir up rage, to avenge myself through vengeance, I placed its blood on the barrenness of a rock, so that it may not be covered.”[fn]

9 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the city of bloodguilt! I, even I, will make the pile of wood great! 10 Pile up the logs; kindle the fire; finish cooking the meat, and mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned.[fn] 11 And make it stand[fn] empty upon its burning coals so that it may become hot, and its copper may become molten and be melted in the midst of it,[fn] so that its uncleanness and its rust be consumed. 12 Through effort she has caused weariness; its thick rust[fn] went not out of it. Its rust! Into the fire with its rust! 13 In your uncleanness is obscene conduct, because I cleansed you, but you were not clean from your uncleanness; you will not be clean again until I fully vent my rage[fn] on you. 14 I, Yahweh, I have spoken. It is coming, and I did it; I will not disregard, and I will not take pity, and I will not reconsider. According to your ways and according to your deeds they will judge you!”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

15 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 16 “Son of man,[fn] look! I am taking from you what is pleasing to your eyes with a plague,[fn] but you shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not run down. 17 Sigh in silence for the dead; you shall not make a mourning ceremony. Bind your turban on you, and you must put your sandals on your feet. You must not cover your upper lip,[fn] and the bread of mourners[fn] you shall not eat.” 18 And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning just as[fn] I was commanded. 19 And the people said to me, “Will you not make known to us what these things that you are doing mean for us?” 20 And I said to them that the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 21 “Say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I will be profaning my sanctuary, the pride of your strength and the delight of your eyes and the object of your own[fn] affection; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind will fall by the sword, 22 and you shall do just as[fn] I did: You shall not cover your upper lip,[fn] and you shall not eat the bread of mourners.[fn] 23 And your turban must be on your heads, and your sandals must be on your feet. You shall not mourn, and you shall not weep, but you shall waste away because of your iniquities, and you shall groan to one another.[fn] 24 And Ezekiel will be to you as a sign; everything that he did[fn] you shall do; and when it comes you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

25 “And you, son of man,[fn] will it not be that on the day when I take from them[fn] their stronghold, the joy of their glory, the delight of their eyes, and the longing of their inner self,[fn] their sons and daughters— 26 on that day a survivor will come to you with the news.[fn] 27 On that day your mouth shall be opened at the arrival of the fugitive,[fn] and you shall speak, and you shall not be silent any longer, and you shall be to them as a sign, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Judgment upon Various Gentile Nations

25 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] set your face toward the Ammonites[fn] and prophesy against them, 3 and you must say to the Ammonites,[fn] ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because of your saying, ‘Ah!’ to my sanctuary when it was profaned, and to the land of Israel when it was[fn] desolate, and to the house of Judah when they went into the exile, 4 therefore look! I am giving you to the people[fn] of the East as a possession, and they will set up their encampments in you, and they will make in you their dwelling places; they themselves[fn] will eat your fruit and they themselves[fn] will drink your milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah as a pasture of camels and the Ammonites[fn] as a haunt of flocks, and they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” 6 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because of clapping your hand and stamping with your foot, and because you rejoiced in[fn] yourself with all of your malice over the land of Israel, 7 therefore look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I will give you as plunder[fn] to the nations, and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will destroy you from the countries, and I will wipe you out, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”

8 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because of Moab and Seir saying, ‘The house of Judah is like all of the nations,’ 9 therefore, look! I am opening the side of[fn] Moab from the cities on its frontier, the glory of the land: Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give it to the people[fn] of the East in addition to the Ammonites[fn] as a possession, so that the Ammonites[fn] will not be remembered among the nations. 11 And on Moab I will execute punishments, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

12 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because of the doings of Edom in avenging himself with vengeance for[fn] the house of Judah, and so they became very guilty and[fn] they avenged themselves on them,” 13 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “so[fn] I will stretch out my hand against Edom and I will cut off from it both human and animal, and I will make it a ruin from Teman and Dedan; they will fall by the sword. 14 And I will exact my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will do in Edom according to my anger and according to my rage, and they will know my vengeance,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because of the acting[fn] of the Philistines in vengeance, so that they avenged themselves relentlessly with malice in themselves for destruction with everlasting hostility,[fn] 16 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites, and I will destroy the remainder of the seacoast.[fn] 17 And I will execute on them great vengeance with punishments of rage, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I exact my vengeance on them!”

Ezekiel Prophesies Against Tyre

26 And it was in the eleventh[fn] year, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] because[fn] Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Ah! The gates of the peoples are broken; it has swung open to me; I shall be filled, for it lies in ruins!’ 3 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring up against you many nations like the stirring up of the sea stirring up its waves.[fn] 4 And I will destroy the walls of Tyre, and they will demolish its towers, and I will scrape away its earthen dirt from it, and I will make it into a bare rock.[fn] 5 It will become a place for spreading out dragnets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken,’ declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. ‘And it will become as plunder for the nations, 6 and its daughters who are in the field with the sword, they will be killed; and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

7 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am bringing to Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, from the north, the king of kings, with horse and with chariot and with horsemen and his assembly and many people. 8 Your daughters he will kill in the field with the sword, and he will place[fn] against you siege works, and he will build against you a siege ramp, and he will raise against you a shield, 9 and the thrust of his battering ram he will direct against your walls, and your towers he will break down with his weapons. 10 From the abundance of his horses he will cover you with their fine dust; at the sound of horseman and wheel and chariot your walls will shake, at his coming into your gates like the entrance of a city that is being broken through. 11 With the hooves of his horses he will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong stone pillars[fn] will tumble down to the earth. 12 And they will plunder your wealth, and they will loot your merchandise, and they will break down your walls, and the houses of your delight they will break down, and your stones and your timbers and your earthen dirt they will cast into the midst of the water. 13 And, I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your lyres will not be heard any longer. 14 And I will make you into a bare rock,[fn] a place for the spreading out of dragnets. You will not be built again, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Tyre, “Will not the coastlands shake from the sound of your downfall, at the groaning of the wounded, at people being killed[fn] in the midst of you? 16 And all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, and they will remove their robes, and their beautiful garments[fn] of finished cloth they will take off. With terror they will be clothed, and on the ground they will sit, and they will tremble continually,[fn] and they will be appalled over you.

• 17 And they will raise a lament over you, and they will say to you,‘How you have been lost who was inhabited from[fn] the seas;
  • the city that was praised, that was strong.
• It is located on the sea,
  • and its inhabitants imposed their terror[fn]
  • 18  at the day of your downfall,
• and the islands that are in the sea
  • will be horrified because of your departure.’ ”

19 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when bringing up over you the deep, the great surging waters[fn] will cover you. 20 And I will bring you down with those who are going down to the grave,[fn] an ancient people,[fn] and I will cause you to dwell in the world[fn] of the depths, in the ruins from of old with those who are going down to the grave,[fn] so that you will not be inhabited and have a place[fn] in the land of the living. 21 Sudden terrors I will bring on you, and you shall no longer exist; and you will be sought, and you will not be found again forever,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

A Lament for Doomed Tyre

27 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “And you, son of man,[fn] raise a lament against Tyre.

• 3 And you must say to Tyre, the one who sits at the entrance of the sea as the merchant of the peoples to the many coastlands, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:Tyre,[fn]
  • “I am perfect[fn]
  • 4 the heart of the seas are your boundaries; your builders perfected your beauty.
  • 5 with pine trees from Senir all of your boards for you;
• they took cedars from Lebanon
  • to make a sailing mast[fn]
  • 6  with oaks from Bashan;
• your deck they made with inlaid ivory,
  • with cypress trees from the coastlands of Cyprus.[fn]
  • 7 [fn]
• blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus[fn]
  • was your awning.
  • 8  were your rowers;
• your[fn] O Tyre, were [fn]
  • and they were your seamen.
  • 9 [fn] were [fn] as the repairers of the seam of your boat;
• all of the ships of the sea and their mariners were[fn]
  • to barter your wares.
  • 10  were[fn]
• small shield and helmet hung[fn]
  • and gave to you your adornment.
  • 11 [fn] of Arvan and Helech were on your walls all around,
• and Gammadites
  • were in your towers.
• They hung their quivers[fn] on your walls all around;
  • they perfected your beauty.

12 “ ‘Tarshish was your trader; from the abundance of all of their wealth, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your merchandise. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders; in exchange for people[fn] and an object of bronze they gave you your wares. 14 From Beth Togarmah they exchanged horses and war horses and mules for your wares. 15 The people[fn] of Dedan were trading with you, many coastlands composed the region of your influence;[fn] they brought back horns of ivory and ebony as your payment. 16 Edom[fn] was trading with you because of the abundance of your products, trading with malachite, purple wool yarn and colorful weaving, and fine white fabric and black corals and rubies; all these they exchange for your merchandise. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were trading with you with wheat from Minnith and millet and honey and olive oil and balm; all these they gave for your wares. 18 Damascus was trading with you because of[fn] the abundance of your products, because of the abundance of all of your wealth, trading with the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 Vedan and Javan from Uzal, they exchanged wrought iron, cinnamon,[fn] and reed spice for your merchandise; all this was for your wares. 20 Dedan was trading with you, with garments of woven material for riding. 21 Arabia and all of the leaders of Kedar were your customers;[fn] with young rams and adult rams and goats they were trading with them with you. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah were trading with you, with the finest of every spice and with every precious stone and gold; they exchanged all these for your merchandise. 23 Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Assyria, and Kilmad were trading with you. 24 They were trading with you in finery, in mantles of blue cloth and colorful embroidered work and with rugs of variegated cloth in twisted cords and knotted tightly; these were among your merchandise.[fn] 25 The ships of Tarshish were carrying for you your wares, and you were filled, and you became very heavy in the heart of the seas.

• 26 the rowers brought you;
• but[fn] wrecked you
  • in the heart of the seas.
  • 27  your mariners, and your seamen,
• your shipwrights[fn] and the barterers of your wares
  • and all of[fn] who are in you,
• along[fn] with all of your crew who are in the midst of you,
  • they will fall in the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.
  • 28 [fn] of your seamen, the pasturelands will shake.
  • 29  all of those holding an oar,
• mariners, all of the seamen of the sea
  • will stand on the land,
  • 30 [fn] over you with their voice, and they will cry out[fn] bitterly,
• and they will throw[fn] dust on their heads,
  • and they will roll[fn] in the dust.
  • 31 [fn] and they will dress[fn] themselves in sackcloth,
• and they will weep[fn] over you with a bitterness of soul[fn]
  • and with bitter wailing.
  • 32 [fn] over you with their wailing a lament, and they will chant[fn] a lament over you:
• ‘Who is like Tyre,
  • like this destruction in the midst of the sea?’
  • 33 the seas, you satisfied many peoples with the abundance of your wealth,
• and by your wares
  • you made rich the kings of the world.
  • 34  in the depths of waters;
• your wares and all of your crew
  • in the midst of you have sunk.
  • 35  are appalled over you,
• and their kings[fn] in horror;
  • [fn]
  • 36  you have become a horror,
  • and[fn]

A Prophesy Aimed at the King of Tyre

28 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn]

• 2 “Son of man,[fn] say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because your heart was haughty,
  • and you said, ‘I am a god;
• I sit in the seat of the gods,
  • I sit in the heart of the seas!’
• But[fn] you are a human, not a god,
  • and you gave your heart to be like the heart of a god.
  • 3  so that[fn] is hidden from you?
  • 4  you have gained for yourself wealth,
• and you have amassed gold and silver
  • in your treasuries.
  • 5  you have increased your wealth
  • and your heart was proud in[fn] your wealth.” ’ ”
• 6 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:“Because of your regarding your[fn]
  • like the[fn] of a god,
  • 7 am bringing strangers over you, the most ruthless of the peoples,
• and they will draw their swords against the beauty[fn] of your wisdom,
  • and they will defile your splendor.
  • 8  and you will die[fn]
  • in the heart of the seas.
  • 9 [fn] “I am a god!” before the face of your killers?[fn]
• And in fact you are a human[fn] and not a god
  • in the hand of[fn]
  • 10 the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers,

for I myself[fn] have spoken!” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

11 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn]

• 12 “Son of man,[fn] raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and you must say to him, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You were a perfect model of[fn] an example,
  • full of wisdom and perfect of beauty.
  • 13  and every precious stone was your adornment:
• carnelian, topaz and moonstone,[fn]
  • turquoise, onyx and jasper,
• sapphire,[fn] malachite and emerald.
  • And gold was the craftsmanship of your settings
• and your mountings in you;
  • on the day when you were created they were prepared.
  • 14 an anointed guardian cherub, and I placed you on[fn]
• you walked in the midst of stones of fire.
• 15 were blameless in your ways from the day[fn]
  • until wickedness was found in you.
  • 16  they filled the midst of you with violence, and you sinned;
• and I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
  • and I expelled you, the guardian[fn] cherub,
  • from the midst of the stones of fire.
  • 17  you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor.
• I threw you on the ground[fn] kings;
  • I have exposed you[fn]
  • 18  in the dishonesty of your trading,
• I profaned your sanctuaries
  • and I brought fire from your midst;
• it consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth
  • [fn]
  • 19 [fn] among the peoples are appalled over you;
• you have become as horrors,
  • and[fn]

20 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 21 “Son of man,[fn] set your face toward Sidon and prophesy against it,

• 22 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:“Look! I am against you, Sidon,
  • and I display my glory in the midst of you,
• and they will know that I am Yahweh
  • [fn]
  • and I will show myself holy within it.
  • 23  and blood will be in its streets.
• And the dead will fall in the midst of her
  • by the sword that is against it from all around;
• and they will know that I am Yahweh.

24 And there will not be any longer[fn] a painful thorn and a sharp thornbush for[fn] the house of Israel from anywhere around them[fn] from those who are despising them,[fn] and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” ’ ”

25 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples to which they were scattered about in them, and I show myself holy in[fn] them before the eyes of the nations, then they will live on their soil, which I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 And they will live on it in safety, and they will build houses, and they will plant vineyards, and they will live in safety when I execute my judgments on all those who despise them from all around them,[fn] and then they will know that I am Yahweh their God.”

Yahweh’s Judgment upon Egypt

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth[fn] day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against Egypt, all of it.

• 3 Speak, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:“Look! I am against you,
  • Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
• the great sea monster,
  • the one lying down
• in the midst of his Nile streams,
  • who says to me, “ It is my Nile, and I made it for myself.”[fn]
  • 4 and I will make the fish of your Nile streams stick to your scales,
• and I will bring you up from the midst of your Nile streams,
  • and all of the fish of your Nile streams which cling to your scales.
  • 5 to the desert, you and all the fish of your Nile streams.
• On the surface of the field you will fall;
  • you will not be gathered,
  • and you will not be assembled.
• To the animals[fn] of the field
  • and to the birds[fn] of the heavens
  • I will give you as food.
  • 6 am Yahweh, because of their[fn] being a staff of reed for the house of Israel.
  • 7  and you split their every shoulder.
• And when they leaned on you, you broke,
  • and you caused all of their loins to wobble.”

8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am bringing on you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal. 9 And the land of Egypt will become[fn] a desolation and ruins, and they will know that I am Yahweh because he[fn] said, ‘The Nile is mine![fn] And I, I made it!’ 10 Therefore look! I am against you and against your Nile streams, and I will make the land of Egypt into ruins, a pile of rubble, a desolation from Migdol to Syene and up to the boundary of Cush. 11 A foot of a human will not pass over it, and a foot of an animal will not pass over it, and so it will not be inhabited for forty years.[fn] 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and its cities to be in the midst of ruined cities. They will be a desolation for forty years, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries.”

13 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and I will bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and they will be a lowly kingdom there. 15 Of all the kingdoms it will be the most lowly, and it will not exalt itself again over the nations, and I will make them small so as not to rule over the nations. 16 And it will not be again for the house of Israel an object of trust, bringing to remembrance their guilt when they turned back to them,[fn] and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

17 And then[fn] in the twenty-seventh year,[fn] in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 18 “Son of man,[fn] Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, he made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bare, and every shoulder was rubbed raw, but[fn] a wage was not paid for him and for his army from Tyre for the labor that he did against it.” 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he will carry its wealth away, and he will plunder its plunder, and he will loot its loot, and it will be a wage for his army. 20 As his wages that he worked for, I will give to him the land of Egypt, because they worked for me,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

21 “On that day I will cause power[fn] to grow up for the house of Israel, and for you I will give an opening of your mouth in the midst of them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

A Lament over the Nation and Land of Egypt

30 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn]

• 2 “Son of man,[fn] prophesy, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Wail, alas! For the day!
  • 3 is near; indeed, a day is near for Yahweh.
• A day of cloud,
  • a time of the nations it will be.
  • 4  and anguish will be in Cush,
• at the falling of the slain in Egypt.
• And they will take its wealth,
  • and its foundation will be demolished.

5 Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people[fn] of the land of the treaty[fn] with them—by the sword they will fall.”

• 6 Thus says Yahweh:“And the supporters of Egypt will fall,
  • and the majesty of its strength will go down
• from Migdol to Syene;
  • by the sword they will fall in it,”
• [fn] the Lord Yahweh.
  • 7  and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
  • 8 am Yahweh when I put my fire in Egypt,
  • and all of its helpers are broken.

9 On that day messengers will go down from before me[fn] in the ships to terrify unsuspecting Cush, and anguish will be in them on the day of Egypt; for look, it is coming!”

• 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:“And I will put an end to the crowds[fn] of Egypt
  • by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.
  • 11 the most ruthless of nations, will be brought to destroy the land.
• And they will draw their swords against Egypt,
  • and they will fill the land with the slain,
  • 12  and I will sell the land into the hand of bad people,
• and I will lay waste the land and its fullness
  • by the hand of strangers.

I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

• 13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:“And I will destroy the idols,
  • and I will put an end to the worthless idols from Memphis.
• And there will[fn] a prince from the land of Egypt,
  • and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
  • 14  and I will set fire in Zoan,
  • and I will execute judgments in No.[fn]
  • 15  the stronghold of Egypt,
  • and I will cut off the crowd[fn] of No.[fn]
  • 16  certainly Sin will writhe,
• and No[fn] will be breached,
  • and Memphis will face enemies[fn]
  • 17  and they will go into captivity.
  • 18  when I break the yoke of Egypt,
• and in it the majesty of its strength
  • will come to an end.
• A cloud will cover it,
  • and its daughters will go into captivity.
  • 19  and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

20 And then[fn] in the eleventh[fn] year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 21 “Son of man,[fn] the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken. And look, it has not been bound up for giving of a remedy, or for the placing of a splint to bind it up to make it strong to take hold of the sword.” 22 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm and the broken arm, and I will let the sword fall from his hand. 23 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and I will give my sword into his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan with the groaning of the mortally wounded before him.[fn] 25 And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out to the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them into the countries, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Pharaoh Is Warned Through Assyria’s Destruction

31 And then[fn] in the eleventh[fn] year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn]

• 2 “Son of man,[fn] say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his crowd,[fn] ‘To whom are you like in your greatness?
  • 3 was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches[fn] and a forest giving shade,
• and[fn]
  • and its treetop was between the clouds.
  • 4  the deep made it grow high;
• its rivers were going all around[fn]
  • and its channels it sent out
  • to all of the trees of the field.
  • 5  with its height more than all of the trees of the field,
• and its branches became numerous,
  • and its branches became long
  • [fn]
  • 6 [fn] of the heaven[fn] made their nest, and under its branches all the animals[fn] of the field gave birth,
  • and in its shadow all the many nations lived.
  • 7  in the length of its branches,
  • for its root was toward much water.
  • 8  could not be equal to it;
• fir trees[fn] could not resemble its branches,
  • and plane trees were not even like its branches;
• any tree even in the garden of God
  • could not resemble it in its beauty.
  • 9  and all of the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied it.’ ”

10 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because[fn] it was tall in height and it set its treetop between[fn] thick clouds, and he took pride in his tallness,[fn] 11 then[fn] I gave it into the hand of the leader of nations; he dealt thoroughly[fn] with it according to its wickedness. I drove it out. 12 And strangers cut it off, the most ruthless of nations, and they abandoned it. On the mountains and in all of the valleys its branches fell, and its branches were broken in all the river channels of the land, and all the peoples of the world went out from its shadow, and they abandoned it. 13 On its fallen trunk all the birds[fn] of the heaven[fn] now dwell, and all the animals of the field were on its branches. 14 This occurred so that all of the trees with abundant water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between[fn] their thick foliage,[fn] and so thatall of the trees that are abundantly watered[fn] will not stand up to them[fn] in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given over to death, to the world below in the midst of mortals,[fn] to the people going down to the grave.”[fn]

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of its going down to Sheol, I caused mourning; I covered over it with the deep, and I withheld its rivers, and many waters were restrained, and I brought gloom over it; Lebanon and all of the trees of the field, they had fainted because of it. 16 From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with the people going down to the grave,[fn] and so in the world below all of the trees of Eden, the choice and the best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees[fn] were comforted! 17 They also went down with it to Sheol to those who died by the sword,[fn] and its army who had lived in its shadow in the midst of nations.

18 To whom could you be compared, whether in glory or in majesty[fn] among the trees of Eden? And yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; in the midst of the uncircumcised you will lie with those who died by the sword.[fn] That is Pharaoh and his entire[fn] crowd!”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

A Lament for Pharaoh, King of Egypt

32 And then[fn] in the twelfth[fn] year, in the twelfth[fn] month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn]

• 2 “Son of man,[fn] raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, ‘With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself,
  • and you are like the sea monster in the seas,
  • and you thrash about in your rivers,
  • and you make water turbid with your feet,
  • and you make your rivers muddy.
• 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh:Now I will spread my net over you
  • in the assembly of many peoples,
  • and I will bring you up in my dragnet.
  • 4  on the surface of the open field I will hurl you,
• and I will cause every bird of the heaven to dwell on you,
  • and I will satisfy the animals[fn] of all of the world from you.
  • 5  and I will fill the valleys with your carcass.
  • 6 the land with your discharge from your blood on the mountains,
  • and valleys will be filled from[fn] you.
  • 7 you at[fn] extinguishing your heavens, and I will make dark their stars,
• and I will cover the sun with the cloud,
  • and the moon will not give its light.
  • 8 [fn] sources of light in the heavens, I will make them dark over you,
  • and I will put[fn] darkness on your land,’ ”

declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

• 9 the hearts[fn] of many peoples at my bringing about your captivity among the nations,
• to countries that you do not know.
• 10  and their kings will shudder over you in horror,
• at[fn] my brandishing my sword before their faces,
  • and they will tremble[fn]
• each person for his life,
  • on the day of your downfall.”
• 11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh:“The sword of the king of Babylon,
  • it will come to you.
  • 12  by the most ruthless of the nations, all of them,
• and they will devastate the majesty of Egypt,
  • and all of its hordes will be destroyed.
  • 13 [fn] many waters.
• The feet of humans[fn] will not make them turbid again,
  • and the hooves of domestic livestock will not make them turbid.
  • 14  and their rivers as the olive oil I will let flow,”

declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

• 15 a desolation, so that the land will be stripped from its fullness
• when I strike all of those dwelling in it,
  • and they will know that I am Yahweh.

16 This is[fn] a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters of the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

17 And then[fn] in the twelfth[fn] year, on the fifteenth[fn] day of the month, the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 18 “Son of man,[fn] mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, and with her the daughters of mighty nations, down to the deep underworld[fn] with the people going down to the grave.[fn] 19 You are more lovely than whom?[fn] Go down and be laid in rest with the uncircumcised. 20 In the midst of the people slain by the sword it[fn] is given they will fall to a sword; they carried her[fn] off and all of her[fn] hordes. 21 The chiefs of the warriors will speak to him from the middle of Sheol; with his helpers they have gone down; the uncircumcised lie still, those slain by the sword.[fn]

22 Assyria is there and all of its assembly; all around it are its graves, all of them killed, those fallen by the sword, 23 who[fn] will be given its graves in the remote areas of the pit, and its assembly will be all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

24 Elam is there and all of its hordes, all around its grave, all of them dead who fell by the sword, those who went down uncircumcised to the depths of the underworld,[fn] those who spread their terror to the land of the living, and now they bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave.[fn] 25 In the midst of the slain they made a bed for her with all of her hordes all around its graves, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, for their terror was spread in the land of the living, and they now bear their disgrace with the people going down to the grave;[fn] in the midst of the slain it was placed.

26 Meshech and Tubal are there and all of its hordes, all around him its graves, all of them uncircumcised and killed by the sword, for they gave their terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with warriors fallen from long ago, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war,[fn] and they placed their sword under their heads, and their shields[fn] were on their bones, for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living. 28 And you[fn] too in the midst of uncircumcised people will be broken, and you will lie with those slain by the sword.

29 There is Edom, its kings and all of its leaders who are laid along with their might with those killed by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with the people going down to the grave.[fn]

30 There are also the princes of the north, all of them, all of the Sidonians who have gone down, being ashamed to lie with the slain because[fn] of their terror that they caused from their might, and they lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and they bear their disgrace along with the people going down to the grave.[fn]

31 Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted over all of his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all of his army,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 32 “For[fn] he spread[fn] my terror in the land of the living, and so he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword: Pharaoh and all of his hordes,”declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel Appointed as a Watchman and His Responsibility

33 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] speak to your people,[fn] and you must say to them, ‘A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land, and he blows on the horn and he warns the people, 4 and anyone who listens[fn] hears the sound of the horn and he does not take warning[fn] and the sword comes and it takes him, his blood will be on his own head. 5 For he heard the sound of the horn and he did not take warning; his blood will be on him. But if he took warning, he saved his life. 6 And as for the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and he does not blow[fn] the horn, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and it takes their lives,[fn] he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.’

7 “And you, son of man,[fn] I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; if you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. 8 When I say[fn] to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will certainly die,’ and you did not speak[fn] to warn the wicked from his way, he, the wicked, will die by his guilt, but his blood I will seek from your hand. 9 But, you, if you warn the wicked from his way, to turn from it, and he does not turn[fn] from his way, he will die by his guilt, and you will have saved your life.

10 “And you, son of man,[fn] say to the house of Israel, saying,[fn] ‘So you said, saying,[fn] “Indeed, our transgressions and our sins are on us, and because of them we are rotting, and how can we live?” ’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live,’[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, ‘Surely I have no delight[fn] in the death of the wicked, except[fn] in the wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil ones, for why should you die, house of Israel?’

12 “So[fn] you, son of man,[fn] say to your people[fn] that the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked will not cause him to stumble[fn] on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and the righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin. 13 When I say to the righteous, ‘Certainly he will live,’ and he trusted in[fn] his righteousness, and he turns and he does injustice, all of his righteousness[fn] will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die. 14 And when I say to the wicked, ‘Certainly you will die,’ but[fn] he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness— 15 for example, the wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores stolen property,[fn] he goes in the statutes of life so as not to do injustice—certainly he will live; he will not die. 16 All of his sins that he committed,[fn] they will not be remembered against[fn] him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live.

17 “Yet[fn] your people[fn] say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ yet their way is not fair. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, then he will die because of it.[fn] 19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and he does justice and righteousness, because of it[fn] he will certainly live![fn] 20 Yet you said, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ I will judge you, house of Israel, each person according to his ways.”

21 And then[fn] it was in the twelfth[fn] year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying,[fn] “The city was destroyed!” 22 And the hand of Yahweh was on me on the evening before[fn] the coming of the survivor, and he opened my mouth before the survivor came to me in the morning,[fn] and my mouth was opened, and I was no longer[fn] dumb.[fn] 23 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 24 “Son of man,[fn] the inhabitants of these ruins on the soil of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was one man, and he took possession of the land, and we are many; the land has been given for[fn] us as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You eat blood in your meat, and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and yet you want to take possession of the land?[fn] 26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and each man defiles[fn] the wife of his neighbor, and yet you want to take possession of the land?” ’[fn]

27 “Thus you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “As I live,[fn] surely[fn] whoever is in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever is on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals[fn] to eat him, and whoever is in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague. 28 And I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate with no one traveling through them.” ’[fn] 29 And they will know that I am Yahweh when I make my land a desolation and a wasteland, because of all of their detestable things that they have done.

30 “And you, son of man,[fn] your people,[fn] the ones talking together concerning you beside the walls and in the doorways of the houses, each one with his brother saying,[fn] ‘Please come and hear what is the word that is going out from Yahweh.’[fn] 31 And they come to you as people do,[fn] and they sit before you,[fn] and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they are showing[fn] passion in their mouth, but their heart is going after ill-gotten gain. 32 Now, look! You are to them like a sensual song,[fn] beautiful of voice and played well on an instrument,[fn] and they hear your words, but they are not doing them.[fn] 33 So[fn] when it comes,[fn] look! It is coming! And then they will know that a prophet was in the midst of them.”

Prophecy Concerning Israel’s Shepherds and Sheep

34 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying, 2 “Son of man,[fn] prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and with respect to[fn] the hurt[fn] you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force[fn] and with ruthlessness. 5 And they were scattered without[fn] a shepherd, and they were[fn] as food for all the animals[fn] of the field when they were scattered. 6 My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world[fn] my flock were scattered, and there was no one seeking them,[fn] and there was no one searching for them.”[fn] 7 Therefore, hear, O shepherds, the word of Yahweh: 8 “As I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “Surely[fn] because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to[fn] all the animals[fn] of the field, since there was not a shepherd, since my shepherds have not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,’ ” 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh, 10 ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will no longer[fn] feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them.”

11 “ ‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I, even I, will seek my flock, and I will look after them, 12 just like the caring of a shepherd for his herd on[fn] the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered[fn] on the day of storm and stress.[fn] 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their pasture will be on the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will lie down in good pasture, and on lush pasture they will feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself[fn] will feed my flock and I myself[fn] will allow them to lie down,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the scattered, and I will bind up the one hurt, and I will strengthen the sick; and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed her with justice.”

17 “ ‘And you, my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am judging between one sheep and another,[fn] between the rams and between the he-goats. 18 Is it not enough for you[fn] that you feed on the good pasture? And still you must trample the remainder of your pasture with your feet, and clear water[fn] you drink, and the leftover water[fn] you must make muddy with your feet. 19 And my flock must graze the pasture treaded upon by[fn] your feet, and must drink the mud puddle stirred up by[fn] your feet.”

20 “ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: “Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep, 21 because with your flank and with your shoulder you shoved, and with your horns you pushed all of the sick animals until[fn] you scattered it[fn] to the outside. 22 And so I will save my flock, and they will no longer be[fn] for plunder, and I will judge between one sheep and another.[fn] 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he will feed them; that is, my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be for them as[fn] a shepherd. 24 And I, Yahweh, I will be for them as God,[fn] and my servant David will be a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken. 25 And I will make them a covenant of peace, and I will put an end to wild animals[fn] from the land, and they will dwell in the desert safely,[fn] and they will sleep in the forest. 26 And I will make them and the area all around my hill a blessing, and I will let the rain go down at its appointed time;[fn] they will be rains of blessing. 27 And the tree[fn] of the field will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and they will be on their land safely,[fn] and they will know that I am Yahweh when I break their yoke, and I will deliver them from the hand of the ones enslaving them. 28 And they will not be any longer plunder to the nations, and the animals of the land will not eat them, and they will dwell in safety,[fn] and there will not be anyone frightening them. 29 And I will raise for them a garden plot[fn] of renown, and they will no longer[fn] be victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear any more the insult of the nations. 30 And they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them and they are my people, the house of Israel,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, 31 “and you are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are my people;[fn] I am your God,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

Prophecy Directed at Edom

35 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 2 “Son of man,[fn] set your face against the mountain of Seir and prophesy against it, 3 and you must say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, mountain of Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a wasteland. 4 Your cities I will make ruins, and you will be a desolation, and then you will know that I am Yahweh, 5 because there has been to you an ancient hostility,[fn] and you handed over the Israelites[fn] to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of their final punishment.[fn] 6 Therefore as I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “Certainly to blood guilt I will prepare you and blood[fn] will pursue; since[fn] you did not hate blood,[fn] it will pursue you. 7 And I will make the mountain of Seir into a desolation and ruin, and I will cut off from it both he who is crossing over and he who is returning. 8 And I will fill its mountains with its slain; your hills and your valleys and all of your watercourses, the slain by the sword will fall in them. 9 An everlasting desolation[fn] I will make you, and your cities will not return, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 10 I do this because of your saying,[fn] ‘The two nations and the two lands, they will be mine,[fn] and we will take possession of it,’ and yet Yahweh was there. 11 Therefore, as I live,”[fn] declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh, “so I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your jealousy that you did,[fn] because of your hatred against them, and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. 12 And you will know that I, Yahweh, I have heard all of your contemptible words that you said[fn] against the mountains of Israel, saying,[fn] ‘They will be desolate; they are given to us as food.’ 13 And you magnified yourself against me with your insolent speech,[fn] and you spoke voluminously against me with your words—I heard! 14 Thus the Lord Yahweh says, ‘As the whole world rejoices,[fn] I will make you a desolation. 15 Like your rejoicing over the inheritance of the house of Israel[fn] because[fn] it was desolate, I will do to you; you will be a desolation, mountain of Seir and all of Edom, indeed all of it; and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ” ’

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel and of Israel’s Restoration

36 “And you, son of man,[fn] prophesy to the mountains of Israel; and so you must say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh; 2 thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because the enemy said concerning you, ‘Ah, and[fn] the ancient high places will be to us as a possession!’ ” ’ 3 Therefore prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because indeed[fn] when you were desolate,[fn] then they crushed you from all around, so that you became a possession to the remainder[fn] of the nations, and you became a byword and object of slander for the people.”[fn] 4 Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh; thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the river channels and to the valleys and to the ruins that are desolate and to the cities that are abandoned and that have become as plunder and as scorn for the remainder[fn] of the nations that are from all around. 5 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Certainly[fn] in the fire of my passion I spoke against the rest of the nations and against all[fn] Edom, who made my land as a possession, because of[fn] its pastureland for plunder, for themselves in all of the joy of their whole heart and in their inner disdain.”[fn] 6 Therefore prophesy against the land of Israel, and you must say to the mountains and to the hills, to the river channels and to the valleys, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I spoke in my passion and in my anger the insult of the peoples you have endured.” 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I swear[fn] certainly[fn] that the nations that are all around you,[fn] they indeed will endure their disgrace.

8 “ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, your branch you will shoot, and your fruit you will carry[fn] for my people Israel, for they are soon to come. 9 For look! I am for you, and I will turn you, and you will be tilled, and you will be planted. 10 And I will cause your population[fn] to increase for you, all of the house of Israel, all of it, and the towns will be inhabited, and the ruins will be built. 11 And I will cause your population[fn] to increase for you, and domestic animals, even they will be numerous, and they will be fruitful, and I will cause you to be inhabited like your ancient times,[fn] and I will do good things more than in your former times, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 12 And I will send over you my people Israel, and they will take possession of you, and you will be for them as an inheritance, and you will no longer bereave them of their children.”[fn]

13 “ ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, because they are saying to you, “You are an eater of humans,[fn] and you are one who makes childless[fn] your people.”[fn] 14 Therefore humans[fn] you will not eat any longer, and your nation you will not make childless[fn] any longer,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. 15 “And I will not let you hear any longer the insult of the nations, and the disgrace of the peoples you will not bear any longer; you yourself will not cause your nation to stumble,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

16 And the word of Yahweh came[fn] to me, saying,[fn] 17 “Son of man,[fn] the house of Israel, they were dwelling on their soil, and they defiled it with their way and with their deeds; like the uncleanness of menstruation was their way before me.[fn] 18 And I poured out my rage on them for the blood that they poured on the land and for their idols with which they defiled it. 19 And I scattered them among the nations, and I dispersed them in the countries according to their way, and according to their deeds I judged them. 20 And they came[fn] into the nations to which they went,[fn] and they profaned my holy name[fn] when they said to them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, and from his land they went out.’ 21 And I was concerned for my holy name,[fn] which, the house of Israel defiled among the nations to which they went.[fn]

22 “Therefore thus say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Not for your sake[fn] am I about to act, house of Israel, but[fn] for my holy name,[fn] which you defiled among the nations to which you went.[fn] 23 And I will consecrate my great name, which was profaned among the nations and which you have profaned in the midst of them, and the nations will know that I am Yahweh!” ’ a declaration of the Lord Yahweh, when I show myself holy[fn] before[fn] their eyes.

24 “ ‘And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all of the lands, and I will bring you to your land. 25 And I will sprinkle on you pure water, and you will be clean from all of your uncleanness, and I will cleanse you from all of your idols. 26 And I will give a new heart to you, and a new spirit I will give[fn] into your inner parts, and I will remove the[fn] heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will give[fn] my spirit into your inner parts, and I will make it so that you will go[fn] in my rules, and my regulations you will remember, and you will do them. 28 And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors,[fn] and you will be to me as a people, and I will be to you as[fn] God. 29 And I will save you from all of your uncleanness, and I will call to the grain, and I will cause it to increase, and I will not bring famine upon you. 30 And I will cause the fruit of the tree and the crop of the field to increase, so that you will not suffer again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 And you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourself[fn] over[fn] your iniquities and over your detestable things. 32 But not for your sake am I acting,” declares[fn] the Lord Yahweh. “Let it be known to you, be ashamed, and be put to shame because of your ways, house of Israel.

33 “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘On the day when I cleanse you from all of your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 And the land that was desolate will be cultivated in the very place that[fn] it was desolate before the eyes of all of the persons crossing over. 35 And they will say, “This desolate land[fn] has become like the garden of Eden, and the wasted and desolate and destroyed cities, now being refortified, are inhabited.” 36 And the nations who are left all around, you will know that I, Yahweh, I built that which was destroyed;[fn] I planted the desolate land; I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act.’

37 “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Again this time I will let myself be inquired of[fn] by the house of Israel, to do something for them; I will cause them to increase their population like a flock.[fn] 38 Like the flock of the sanctuary, like the flock of Jerusalem at its festival, so the desolate cities will be filled with flocks[fn] of people; and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”