The Prophet’s Commission

2 Then Jehovah said to me, Son of man stand up on thy feet that I may speak with thee. 2 And the spirit entered into me, as he spoke to me, and made me stand upon my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.

3 And he said to me, Son of man, I am about to send thee to the rebellious house of Israel; who have rebelled against me, both they and their fathers, even to this day. 4 It is I who send thee to them that thou shouldst say to them: ’Thus saith Jehovah.’ 5 Whether they will hear or refuse to hear - for they are a rebellious house - they shall learn that a prophet is among them. 6 And thou son of man, fear them not nor be dismayed at their words, though briars and thorns are about thee and thou dwellest among scorpions. Be not afraid of their words nor be dismayed at their looks; for they are a rebellious house. 7 But do thou speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

8 But thou son of man, hear what I say to thee. Be not rebellious like this rebellious house. Open thy mouth and eat what I give thee. 9 Then I looked and there was stretched out to me a hand in which there was a roll of a book. 10 And he unrolled it before me and it was written within and without; and in it were written lamentations and mourning and woe. 3 And he said to me, Son of man, eat this roll and go speak to the house of Israel, 2 2o I opened my mouth and he made me eat the roll. 3 And he said to me, Son of man, eat and be filled withm this roll which I give thee. Then I ate it and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

4 And he said to me, Son of man, up, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 For thou art not sent to a people of strange speech, nor to many peoples whose words thou couldst not understand. Verily, if I sent thee to them, they would hear thee! 6 But the house of Israel will not be willing to hear thee, for they are not willing to hear me; for all the house of larael are bold and unyielding. 8 Behold I make thee as bold and unyielding as they. 9 As adamant, harder than flint, have I made thy face. Be not afraid of them neither be dismayed at them. For they are a rebellious house. 10 He also said to me, Son of man, all of my words that I shall speak to thee receive in thy mind and hear with thine ears, 11 and go to the captives, the people of thy race, and speak to them and say to them: ’Thus saith Jehovah’ whether they hear or refuse to heed.

Ezekiel’s Appointment as a Watchman

12 Then the spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me the sound of great rustling, as the Glory of Jehovah rose from its place; and 13 the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, even the sound of a great rustling. 14 So the spirit lifted me up and took me away and I went in great excitement, for the hand of Jehovah was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to the captives at Tel-abib who dwelt by the canal Chebar, and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

16 At the end of seven days this word of Jehovah came to me: 17 Son of man, I make thee a watchman to the house of Israel. When thou hearest a word from my mouth, thou shalt warn them from me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ’Thou shalt surely die,’ then if thou speak not to the wicked to warn him from his wicked way, so as to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 19 But if thou warn a wicked man and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast saved thyself. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning he shall die in his sin, for the righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 21 But if thou warn the righteous man not to sin and he doth not sin, the righteous man shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast saved thyself.

The Prophet’s Period of Silence

22 And the hand of Jehovah was upon me and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the valley and there I will speak with thee. 23 Then I arose and went forth into the valley; and lo, there the Glory of Jehovah was standing, like the Glory that I saw by the River Cbebar. And I fell on my face.

24 And the spirit entered me and set me on my feet. And be spoke with me and said to me, Enter in, shut thyself up within thy house. 25 And as for thee, O son of man, 1e will put bonds on thee and bind thee therewith, and thou shalt not go forth among them. 26 And I wilql cause thy tongue to cleave to the roof of thy mouth, and thou shall be dumb, and thou shalt not be a reprover to them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth and thou shalt say to them: ’Thus saith Jehovah.’ Let him hear and let him forbear to hear who will, for they are a rebellious house.

Symbolic Representations of the Fate Awaiting Jerusalem

4 Do thou also, son of man, take a tile, and set it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem; 2 and lay siege against it, and build a siege wall against it, and throw up a mound against it; pitch camps also against it, and plant battering rams about it. 3 And take thou an iron plate, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it and so it shall be in a state of siege, and thou shalt lay a siege against it; and this is a sign to the house of Israel.

4 And do thou lie upon thy left side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. According to the number of days thou liest on it thou shalt bear their iniquities. 5 I assign thee for the years of their iniquity a fixed number of days, one hundred and ninety days. Thus thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when thou hast completed these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and bear the guilt of the house of Judah forty days, a day for a year I assign thee. 7 And thou shalt turn thy face and thy bared arm toward the siege of Jerusalem, and prophesy against her. 8 See, I put bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn from one side to the other until thou hast finished the days of thy siege.

9 Do thou also take for thyself wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt, and put them in a vessel, and make bread for thyself of them. Thou shalt eat of it the number of the days that thou liest on thy side (one hundred and ninety days). 10 Thou shalt eat thy food by weight, twenty shekels a day; at fixed intervals shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt eat it in the form of barley cakes, and bake it in their presence on human dung. 11 Thou shalt drink water by measure, one sixth of a bin; thou shalt drink it at fixed intervals. 12 { } 13 And Jehovah said, Thus shall the Israelites eat their food unclean among the nations, whither I shall drive them. 14 And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah, from my youth until now I have never been defiled, nor have I eaten what died of itself, or was torn by beasts, nor hath abominable flesh entered my mouth. 15 Then he said to me, See, I allow thee to use cow’s dung instead of human dung: on it thou mayest prepare thy food. 16 He also said to me, Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and in terror, and drink water by measure and in dismay, 17 that, lacking bread and water, each man may be filled with dismay and waste away because of his iniquity.

5 And do thou, son of man, take a short sword and use it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over thy head and beard. Then take the balances and divide the hair. 2 A third part burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are complete; and take a third part and smite with the sword round about the city; and a third part scatter to the wind. But take a few of them and wrap them up in thy skirts; 3 { } 4 and of these again take some and burn them in the fire.

5 Then thou shalt say to all the house of Israel, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midstu of the nations and countries round about her. 6 But she hath rebelled against mine ordinances more wickedly than the nations; and against my statutes more than the countries round about her. For they rejected mine ordinances and have not walked in my statutes." 7 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: "Because ye have been more rebellious than the nations round about you, in that ye have not walked in my statutes nor kept my ordinances; but have done according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you," 8 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah,"behold I also am against thee and will execute judgment against thee in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done and the like of which I will not do again, because of all thine abominations. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgment on thee, and I will scatter the whole remnant of thee to every wind. 11 Therefore, as I live," is the oracle of Jehovah, "because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all my detestable things and with all thine abominations, I will also drive thee away. And mine eye shall not spare and I also will defile thee. 12 A third part of these shall die by the pestilence and perish with famine in the midst of thee, and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and a third part I will scatter to every wind and pursue with the sword.

13 Thus will mine anger be vented, and I will appease my fury on them, and they shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in mine indignation, when I have vented mine anger on them. 14 And I will make thee a desolation among the nations which are about thee, in the eyes of every passer by. 15 And thou shalt be an object of scorn and derision, of instruction and dismay to the nations which are round about thee, when I execute judgments upon thee in anger and fury and in my wrathful rebukes, I, Jehovah, have promised. 16 When I send against you mine evil arrows, which shall destroy you, I will send famine upon you and break your staff of life. 17 And I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave you, and pestilence and bloodshed shall pass through you, and I will bring a sword upon you; I, Jehovah, have said it."’

The Judgment upon Guilty Judah

6 This word of Jehovah also came to me: 2 Son of man, set thy face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, 3 and say, ’O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I am about to bring the sword against you and I will destroy your high places, 4 and your altars shall be shattered, and your sun pillars broken in pieces, and I will cause your slain to fall before your idols, 5 and I will scatter your bones about your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places cities shall be laid waste, and the high places desolate, so that your altars shall be waste° and desolate, and your idols shall be broken in pieces, and your sun pillars hewn down; 7 and the slain shall fall in your midst, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

8 And when there shall be among the nations some of you who have escaped the sword, when ye are dispersed in the lands; 9 then ye who have escaped will remember me among the nations whither ye are carried captive. I will crush the hearts of those who have adulterously turned from me, and the eyes which have adulterously turned after-their idols, and they shall loathe themselves for the wicked things which they have done, for all their abomination. 10 And they shall know that I, Jehovah, have not vainly said that would do them this evil."’

11 This saith Jehovah, Clap thy hands and stamp thy feet and say, ’Woe, woe, because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, because with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence shall they fall. 12 He who is far off shall die by pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is besieged shall die by famine: thus, I will vent my fury upon them. 13 And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain lie in the midst of their idols on every high hill, on every mountain top, and under every green tree, and under every leaf-clad terebinth, where they have offered sweet savior to all their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them to make the land waste and desolate from the wilderness to Riblah, in all their dwelling places; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.’

The Nation’s Doom

7 “Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me: 2 O thou son of man, thus saith Jehovah to the land of Israel, “An end is come! Say, The end is come on the four quarters of the land! 3 Now is the end upon thee, and I will vent mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy deeds; and I requite thee for all thine abominations. 4 And I will have no compassion on thee, neither will I pity; but I will requite thee for thy deeds, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

5 Thus saith Jehovah; Calamity follows calamity! Behold it cometh! 6 An end is come; the end is come! it awaketh against thee! behold, it is come. 7 The doom is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land! The time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against thee, and will judge thee according to thy deeds; and I will requite thee all thine abominations. 9 And I will not have compassion on thee, neither will I pity; I will bring upon thee according to thy ways; and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, do smite.

10 ‘Behold, the day! behold, it has come! thy doom hath gone forth; the sin hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 11 The support of the wicked shall be taken away without tumult or haste. 12 The time is come, the day draweth near, let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all her multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, nor will the buyer retain what this morning he bought.

14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goeth to the battle; for my wrath is upon all her pomp. 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city—famine shall devour him. 16 But those of them who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each because of his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also gird them- selves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an un- clean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah; they shall not satisfy their appetite, neither fill their stomachs; because these have been the occasion of their iniquity. 20 Its ornamental beauty they have made an object of pride, and from it they have made the images of their abominations and detestable things. Therefore I will make it to them as an unclean thing, 21 and I will give it into the hands of strangers as a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my jewel; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it. 23 Make a complete destruction, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the heathen nations, and they shall take possession of their houses; I will also make the pride of their strength to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.

25 Anguish cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 And the prince shall clothe himself with dismay, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble; I will do to them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

Jerusalem’s Guilt and Punishment

8 1n the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of Jehovah fell upon me. 2 Then I beheld and there was a form like that of a man; from that which appeared to be his loins downward, fire; and from his loins upward, like something shining, as the gleam of glowing metal. 3 And he stretched forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair: and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the entrance of the northern gateway of the inner court, where stood the image of jealousy, which provokes his jealousy. 4 And there was the glory of the God of Israel, like that which I saw in the plain.

5 Then said he to me, O man, lift up thine eyes toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes toward the north, and there at the north of the gate of the altar was that image which provokes jealousy. 6 And he said to me, O man, seest thou what they’ are doing? The great abominations which they are doing here, so that I must go far off from my sanctuary? Yet thou shall see still greater abominations.

7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and I saw, and there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, O man, dig now in the wall; and when I had digged into the wall, there was a door. 8 { } 9 And he said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they are practicing here. 10 So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of reptile, and all the idols of the house of Israel were portrayed on the wall round about. 11 And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, were standing before them, each with his censer in his hand ; and the odor of the cloud of incense was ascending. 12 Then said he to me, Son of man, dost thou see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in secret, each in his chamber? for they think, ’Jehovah doth not see us; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.’ 13 He also said to me, Thou shalt see still greater abominations which they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the north gate of Jebovah’s house; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then said he to me, Seest thou, O man? Thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah’s house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and with their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun, in the east. 17 Then he said to me, Seest thou, O man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to practice the abominations which they commit here? but they must fill the land with violence and turn again to provoke me to anger? and now they are sending a stench to my nostrils. 18 Therefore will I also act in wrath; I will show no compassion, neither will I have pity.’

9 Then be cried loudly in my ears, saying, Draw near, ye who have charge over the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. 2 Thereupon, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, that faces northward, each with his weapon of slaughter in his hand; and in the midst of them a man clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn at his side. And they went in, and stood before the bronze altar.

3 Now the Glorv of the God of Israel had ascended from the cherubim on which it rested, to the threshold of the temple, and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side, 4 and said to him, Go through the city and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men, who sigh and lament over the abominations that are done in its midst.

5 And to the others he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him, and smite; show no compassion neither have pity; 6 slay utterly old men, young men, and virgins, little children and women; but touch no man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. 7 And he said to them, Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain, go forth and slay in the city. 8 And while they were smiting, I fell upon my face and cried out, Ah, Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all that remains of Israel when thou pourest out thy wrath upon Jerusalem?

9 Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice, for they think that Jehovah hath forsaken the land so that Jehovah doth not see. 10 And as for me also, I will show no compassion, neither will I have pity, but I will bring the consequences of their acts upon their own head. 11 And behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

10 { } 2 Then he said to the man clothed in linen, Go in between the whirling wheels, which are under the cherubim, and fill both thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And in my sight he went in. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of Jehovah ascended from the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh. And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, he went in and stood beside a wheel. 6 { } 7 And he stretched forth his hand to the fire that was between the cherubim and took some and went out.

8 And there appeared on the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9 And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside each cherubim; and the appearance of the wheels was like that of a topaz. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same form, as if a wheel had been within a wheel. When they went, they went in whatever direction the four sides faced; they turned not as they went, but to the flace whither the head looked, they followed it, not turning as they went. 12 And the felloes and spokes of the four wheels were full of eyes round about. 13 As for the wheels, in my hearing they were called, the whirling wheels. 14 { } 15 And the cherubim mounted up; these are the living creatures that I saw by the River Chebar. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim spread their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not leave their side. 17 When they stood still, these stood still; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

18 And the Glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight as when they went forth, the wheels being beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and over them was the Glory of the God of Israel. 20 These are^ living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar; and I knew they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces and four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the River Chebar - and as for them, they went every one straight forward.

11 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the house of Jehovah; and there, at the door of the gate, were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 And he said to me, O man, these are the men who nre devising iniquity, and counselling evil in this eity, who are saying, ’Have not the houses recently been rebuilt? this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.’ 3 { } 4 Therefore prophesy ngainst them; prophesy, O man.

5 And the spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said to me, Say, Thus saith Jehovah: ’So ye say, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. 6 Ye have multiplied your slnin in this city, and ye have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: "Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but you will I bring out of the midst of it. 8 Ye fear the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you," saith Jehovah. 9 "And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments upon you. 10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you on the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel; 12 and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed my decisions, but have acted according to the decisions of the nations that are round about you."’

Promise of Restoration to the Faithful Exiles

13 Now while I was prophesying, Pelatinh the son of Ilenaiah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make an end of the remnant of Israel? 14 14Thereupon this word of Jehovah came to me, 15 Son of man, thy kinsmen thy fellow-exiles, and all the house of Israel, all of them, of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem say: ’You are far from Jehovah; to us this land is given as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "True I have removed them for off among the nations, and scattered them over the lands, yet will I be their sanctuary for a little while in the countries whither they have gone."’ 17 Therefore say, Thus saith Jehovah: ’I will gather them from the peoples, and assemble them from the countries where they have been scattered, and I will give them the land of Israel. 18 And they shall go thither, and shall take away all its detestable and abominable things. 19 And I will give them another heart, and I will put a new spirit into them; and I will take the stony heart out of their breast and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may follow my statutes, and keep mine ordinances and do them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those who are devoted to their detestable things and their abominations, I will visit the consequences of their deeds upon their own heads,"’ is Jehovah’s oracle.

22 Then the cherubim spread their wings and the wheels were beside them and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 The Glory of Jehovah ascended from the midst of the citv and stood on the mountain on the east of the city. 24 And the spirit lifted me up and brought me to the land of the Chaldeans to the captives, in a vision by the spirit of God. And the vision which I saw departed from me. 25 And I told the captives all the words that Jehovah had shown me.

The Certain Exile of King and People

12 And this word of Jehovah came to me, 2 Son of man, thou art dwelling in the midst of a rebellious house who haYe eyes to see, but they see not; ears to hear, but they hear not; for they are a rebellious house. 3 And do thou, O son of man, prepare by day in their presence goods for removal; and remove from thy place to another place in their presence. Perhaps they may perceive although they are a rebellious house. 4 Bring out thy goods by day in their presence as though for removal, and do thou go forth in the ewning in their presence, as one who goes forth into exile. 5 ln their presence dig through the wall and go out through it. 6 1n their presence take up thy goods upon thy back. Go forth in the dark, covering thy face, so that thou wilt not see the land; for I have appointed thee as a sign to the house of Israel.

7 Then I did as I was commanded. I brought out my goods by day, as though they were goods for removal, and in the evening I dug through the wall and before their eyes I went forth in the dark, bearing them on my back.

8 And this word of Jehovah came to me in the morning, 9 Son of man, hath not the rebellious house of Israel said to thee: ’What art thou doing’? 10 Say to them: ’Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel, who are in her midst." 11 Say: ’I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile and captivity 12 and the prince who is in their midst shall bear a burden on his back. He shall go forth in the dark. He shall dig through the wall and go out through it with covered face, so that he shall not see the land; 13 and I will cast my net over him and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; and he shall not see it, and there shall he die 14 And all who are about him, his supporters, and all his troops, will I scatter to eYery wind, and pursue them with the sword. 15 And they shall learn that I am Jehovah when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries. 16 And I will save few of them from the sword, from famine and from pestilence, that they may recount all their abominations among the nations whither they shall go, and that they may know that I, indeed, am Jehovah.’

Condemnation of the False Prophets

21 This word of Jehovah came to me, 22 Son of man, what is this proverb which ye have in the land of Israel: ’The days go by and every vision faileth.’ 23 Therefore say to them: ’Thus saith Jehovah: "I will make this proverb cease, and they shall no longer use it as a proverb in Israel." But say to them: "The days are at hand and the fulfilment of every vision. 24 For there shall be no longer any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I, Jehovah, will speak a word, and that word which I shall speak shall be performed and it shall be no longer delayed. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and perform it," is the orade of Jehovah.’ 26 This word of Jehovah also came to me, 27 Son of man, behold the house of Israel are saying: ’The vision which he utters is for many days to come, and he prophesies for times that are far off.’ 28Therefore say to them: ’Thus saith Jehovah: "None of my words shall be longer delayed, for I speak a word and it shall be performed," is the oracle of Jehovah.’

13 Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel. Prophesy and say to them: ’Hear the word of Jehovah: 3 "Thus saith Jehovah: Woe to the foolish prophets who prophesy according to their own mind and to what they have not seen. 4 Like jackals on the ruins are thy prophets, O Israel. 5 Ye have not gone up into the breaches, nor built up a wall for the house of Israel, that ye may stand up in battle in the day of Jehovah. 6 They see false visions and divine lies, saying, The oracle of Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not sent them. And they await the fulfilment of their words. 7 Do ye not see a false vision and utter lying divinations?

8 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Because ye speak falsely and see lies, therefore behold I am against you, is Jehovah’s oracle. 9 My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor inscribed in register of the house of Israel. And to the land of Israel they shall not come, that ye may know that I am Jehovah. 10 Inasmuch as they haxe led my people astray by saying, Peace, when there was no peace; and if some one build a wall, they daub it over with whitewash: say to those who daub with whitewash, There shall be an overwhelming rain: and hailstones shall falls and a tempestuous wind shall rend it. 11 { } 12 And behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not then be said to you, Where is the daubing with which ye daubed it? 13 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, I will let loose a tempestuous wind in my wrath: and in mine anger there shall be an overwhelming rain, and in fury hailstones shall foll. 14 Thus will I tear down the wall which ye have daubed with whitewash and cast it to the earth, and its foundations shall be laid bnre, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst of it; that ye may know that I am Jehovah. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon those who daub it with whitewash. And it shall be saith to you, Where is the wall? where are those who daub it? 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and see visions of peace for her when there is no peace," is the orade of Jehovah.’

17 And do thou, O son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people who prophesy out of their own hearts, and do thou prophesy against them, 18 and say, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists, and prepare long veils for the heads of persons of every height, to hunt lives. Ye hunt souls from among my people, and keep alive souls for yourselves. 19 And ye profane me among my people, for handfuls of barley and bits of bread - to put to death thosex who should not die, and to keep alive those who should not live, by lying to my people who listen to your lies."

20 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, "Behold, I am against your bands, wherewith you hunt lives, and I will tear them from your arms, and set free those whom ye hunt. 21 And I will tear off your long veils and deliver my people out of your hand and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 22 Because ye make sorrowful the heart of the righteous with lies, when I have not made him sorrowful, and strengthen the hands of the wicked, so that he doth not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore ye shall no longer see idle visions and practice divinations, but I will deliver my people from your hands, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah."’

Judah Sinful Beyond All Pardon

14 Now when certain of the elders of Israel came and sat hefore me, 2 this word of Jehovah came to me: 3 Son of man, these men have taken their idols to their hearts and have set before themselves their iniquity as a stumbling block. Shall I let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak with them and say to them: Thus saith Jehovah: "Any mnn of the house of Israel who shall take his idols to his heart and put in his way his iniquity as a stumbling block and betakes himself to a prophet, I, Jehovah, will myself answer him according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may lay hold of the hearts of Israel, because they have turned away from me for all their idols."’ 6 Therefore say to the house of lsrael: Thus saith Jehovah: "Turn ye, turn ye away from your idols and from all your abominations turn away your face. 7 For any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens who dwell in Israel vho shall abandon thee and take his idols to his heart and set his iniquity as a stumbling block before him and shall go to a prophet, that the prophet may consult me for him; I, Jehovah, will myself answer him; 8 and I will set my face against that man and I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from among my people, that ye may know that I am Jehovah.

9 When a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him out of the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they slrnll bear their inquity; as the iniquity of him who consults, so shall be the iniquity of him who prophesies, 11 that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor again be defiled with all their transgressions; but they shall be my people and I shall be their God, is the oracle of Jehovah.’"

12 This word of Jehovah also came to me: 13 Son of man, if the land sin against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and destroy its staff of life and send famine upon it, 14 if these three men were in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they would by their righteousness, save onlye themselves, saith Jehovah. 15 If I send evil beasts throughout the land and they depopulate it so that it become waste and no one pass through it because of the beasts - 16 though these three men were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, they would not deliver either sons or daughters; they alone would be saved, and the land would be waste. 17 Or if I send a sword into that land, and say,’Sword, pass through the land," and I cut off from it man and beast - 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, they would not deliver either sons or daughters, but they alone would be saved. 19 Or if I send pestilence into that land and pour out my fury upon it in blood so as to cut off from it man and beast- 20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, they would not save either son or daughter. They by their righteousness would save only themselves.

21 Thus saith Jehovah, how much more when I send my four evil judgments: sword, famine, evil bea ts and pestilence upon Jerusalem to destroy from her man and beast. 22 And should there be left survivors in her, sons and daughters, who should escape and come forth to you, then, when ye see their conduct and their deeds, ye will be comforted for the evil which I have brought on Jerusalem, for all that I have brought on her; they will comfort you when ye ee their conduct and their deeds, for ye will learn that it is not without cause that I did all that I have done to her, is the oracle of Jehovah.

Jerusalem the Worthless Vine

15 This word of Jehovah came to me: 2 Son of man, of what use is the wood of the vine in comparison with all the branchesg which are on the trees of the forest? 3 Doth one takeh from it wood to make anything? Or doth one take from it even a peg on which to hang any kind of vessel? 4 Behold, it is put into the fire to be consumed; the fire consumes its two ends and its middle is burned up. Is it then fit for anything? 5 Even when it is whole it is used for nothing; much less can it be used when fire hath consumed it, and it is burned up!

6 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: Just as the wood of the vine of all the trees of the forest is given up to the fire to be consumed, so I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be destroyed. 7 And I will set my face against them. They have come forth from the fire, and fire shall consume them and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them, 8 and make the land desolate because they have been faithless, is the oracle of Jehovah.

Jerusalem’s Shameful Moral Record

16 Again this word of Jehornh came to me: O man, make known to Jerusalem: ’Thine origin and thy nativity are from the land of the Canaanite: thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother was a Hittite. 2 {} 3 {} 4 And as for thy nativity, in the day when thou wast born thy cord was not cut, thou wast not washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not at all salted or swaddled. 5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things out of compassion for thee; but thou wast cast forth into the open field, in contempt for thy person, on that day when thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee welter inc in thy blood, I said to thee, as thou wast thus weltering in thy blood, "Live; 7 become great as the growth of the field." And thou didst become great and grown up and didst attain the age of marriage; thy breast was formed and thy hair was grown; but thou wast naked and bare.

8 Then I passed by thee and saw thee, and behold, thou hadst come to the time of marriage; so I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness and pledged myself to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,’ is the oracle of Jehovah, ’and thou becamest mine.

9 Then I bathed thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10 I clothed thee also with embroidered work, and gave thee shoes of Egyptian leather, and girded thee with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. 11 And I decked thee with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and put a chain about thy neck. 16 2And I put a ring in thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head. 13 Thus thou wert adorned with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou didst become exceedingly beautiful. 14 And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, because of the splendor with which I endued thee,’ is the oracle of Jehovah.

15 But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot by virtue of thy renown, and didst lavish thy harlotries on every one who passed by. 16 And thou didst take thy garments, and madest thee gaily adorned high places, and didst play the harlot in them. 17 Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of gold and of silver, which I had given thee, and madest thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them. 18 And thou didst take thy embroidered garments, and didst cover them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them. 19 My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them as a sweet savor; and thus it was,’ is the oracle of Jehovah. 20 ’Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were thy acts of harlotry so small a thing, 21 that thou must needs slay my children, and deliver them up, by causing them to pass through the fire for these? 22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood.

23 And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness’ (woe, woe to thee! is the oracle of Jehovah), 24 ’that thou hast built thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a high place in every street. 25 Thou hast built thy high place at every street corner, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast offered thyselfu to every one who passed by, and multiplied thine acts of harlotry. 26 Thou didst play the harlot with thy neighbors, the people of Egypt - sensual, multiplying thine acts of harlotry, to provoke me to anger! 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand over thee, and diminished thy portion, and delivered thee to the will of those who hate thee, the daughter of the Philistines, who were ashamed of thy lewd conduct. 28 Thou hast played the harlot al o with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied. 29 Thou hast moreover extended thy whoredom to the land of traffic, Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied with this.

30 What shall I do with thy heart’ is the oracle of Jehovah, ’seeing that thou didst all these things-the deed of an impudent harlot! 31 in that thou did build thy vaulted place at every corner, and make thy raised place in every street? But thou hast not been as a harlot in that thou scornest hire. 32 An adulterous wife receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 To all harlots gifts are given; but thou gavest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and didst bribe them that they might come unto thee on every side for thy harlotries. 34 And thou wast different from other women in thy acts of harlotry, in that none solicited thee to play the harlot, and in that thou gavest hire, although no hire was given thee; thus wert thou different.’

35 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah. 36 Thus saith Jehovah: ’Because thy adultery was lavishedx and thy nakedness uncovered through thy harlotries with thy lovers; and because of all thy abominable idol, and the blood of thy children, that thou hast given to them; 37 therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all those whom thou hast loved, with all those whom thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will disclose thy nakedness to them, that they mar see all thy nakedness. 38 And I will judge thee, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged: and I will bring upon thee the blood judgment of wrath and jealousy. 39 I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy high places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels: and they shall leave thee naked and bare. 40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 41 And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and so execute jndgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will stop thy harlotry, and thou shalt also give no more hire. So will I vent my wrath upon thee, until my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast roused me to rage in all these things: therefore, behold, I also will requite thee,’ is the oracle of Jehovah; ’and thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations.

44 Behold, ewry one who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, "As is the mother, so is the daughter." ’ 45 Thou art the daughter of thy mother, who scorned her husband and her children: and thou art the sister of thy sisters who seorned their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, with her daughters, who dwell to the north of thee; and thy younger sister, who dwelt to the south of thee, was Sodom and her daughters. 47 Yet thou hast not walked in their ways, nor done according to their abominations- that would haYe been a small thing - but thou wast more corrupt in all thy ways than these. 48 As I live,’ is the oracle of Jehovah, ’Sodom, thy sister, with her daughters hath not done as thou, with thy daughters, hast done. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and her daughters, neither did she reach out the hand to help the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty, and committed abominations before me: therefore I took them away as soon as I obserYed it. 51 Neither hath Samaria committed half thy sins; but thou hast committed more abominations than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done. 52 Thou also, hear thine own shame, in that by thy sins thou hast pleaded for thy sisters, in that thou bast aeted more abominably than they; they are more righteous than thou: therefore, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 A nd I will restore again their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and thy fortunes together with theirs; 54 that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all thou hast done in consoling them. 55 And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and thou and thy daughter shall return to thy former estate. 56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thee in the day of thy pride, 57 before thy nakedness was uncovered, as nowe thou art like her, an object of scorn to the daughters of Edom, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines round about, who scorn thee. 58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations,’ is the oracle of Jehovah.

Zedekiah’s Breach of Faith

17 This word of Jehovah came to me, 2 O man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the hoμse of Israel, 3 and say, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, with full plumage and of different colors, came to Lebanon, and took away the top of the cedar; 4 he cropped off the topmost of its young twigs, and carried it to the land of traffic; he set it in the city of merchants. 5 He took also some of the seed of the land, and planted it in fruitful soil; he plantedh it beside abundant waters; he set it as a slip that it might sprout 6 and become a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches would turn toward him, and its roots be under him; that it might become a vine, and produce branches, and send forth boughs.

7 There was also another great eagle with wide wings and many feathers; and, behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and toward him sent forth its branches, from the bed in which it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It was planted in a good soil by abundant waters, that it might bring forth branches, and bear fruit and become a noble vine."’ 9 Say thou, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit; so that all its sprouting leaves shall wither? Will he not come with a strong arm and much people to pluck it upk from its roots. 10 Behold, when planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it? wither in the bed where it is growing?"’

11 Then this word of Jehovah came to me, 12 ’Say now to the rebellious house: "Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and princes, and brought them to him to Babylon.

13 And he took one of the royal family, nnd made a covenant with him: he also imposed an oath upon him, and took away the mighty of the land: 14 that it might be a submissive kingdom, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might sene him. 15 But he rebelled against him, sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large arrny. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?"’ 16 As I live, saith Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. 18 For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he hath pledged himself, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.

19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath hath he despised, and my covenant hath he broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. 20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there, for he hath been faithless to me. 21 And all his choice men in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they who remain shall be scattered toward eYery wind; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

22 Thus saith Jehovah: I will also take a portion of the lofty head of the cedar, and will set it out; from the topmost of its tender twigs I will pluck off a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and become a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of eYery feather; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and haYe made the dry tree to flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.

The Methods of Divine Judgment

18 This word of Jehovah came to me:

What do ye mean by using this proverb in the land of Israel: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?" 3 As I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, never again shall we use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold all souls are mine - the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The person who sins, he alone shall die.

5 But if a man be righteous, doing justice and what is right, 6 if he eat not upon the mountains nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defile his neighbor’s wife, nor approach a woman in her impurity, 7 and wrong no one, restore to the debtor his pledge, take nought by robbery, give his bread to the hungry and clothe the naked, 8 lend not at interest, nor take any increase, keep his hand away from iniquity, execute true judgment between man and man, 9 follow my statutes, keep my commandments to do them, he is righteous; he hall live, is the oracle of Jehovah.

10 But if ye beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, who does none of these thing , 11 but eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 wrongs the poor and needy, robs, restore not the pledge to the debtor, lifts up his eyes to idols, commits abomination, 13 lends on interest, and takes increase, shall he live? He shall not live. He hath done all these abominations. He shall die. His blood shall be upon him.

14 And behold, if ye beget a son who sees all the things that his father has done, and fears and does not do likewise, 15 does not eat upon the mountains, nor lifts up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 oppresses no one, exacts no pledge, takes nothing by robbery, gives bread to the hungry and clothes to the naked, 17 keeps his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or increase, keeps my ordinances and follows my statute - he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall live. 18 His father, because he practiced oppression, committed robbery, and did what was not good among my people, died for his iniquity. 19 But ye say, Why should not the son bear the iniquity of his father? If the son execute justice and righteousness, keep all my stntutes to do them, he shall surely live. 20 The person who sins shall die. A son shall not bear his father’s iniquity, and a father shall not bear his son’s iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous shall be to his credit, and the wickedness of the wicked to his discredit.

21 If the wicked turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and execute justice and righteousness, he shall surely live: he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be held against him. Because of the righteousness which he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? is Jehovah’s oracle. If he turn from his ways shall he not live?

24 But if the righteous turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and practice all the abominations which the wicked do, none of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered. For the treason which he has committed, and for the sin of which he has been guilty, he shall die. 25 Yet ye say, ’The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear, O house of Israel, is not my way right? Is it not your ·way that is not right? 26 When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does iniquity, for the iniquity he has done he shall die.

27 But if a wicked man turn from the wickedness which he has done and do justice and righteousness, he shall saYe his life. 28 He fears and turns from all the transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live and not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel say, ’The way of the Lord is not right.’ Is not my way right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? 30 Therefore, O house of lsrael, I judge each of you according to his ways, is the oracle of Jehovah. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, that they may not be a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31 Put away from you all the transgressions which you commit against me, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, is the oracle of Jehornh. Therefore repent and live.

Lament over Judah’s Rulers

19 “Do thou utter a lament over the prince of Israel 2 and say:

How like a lioness was thy mother among the lions!

She crouched among the young lions, she reared her whelps,

3 And one of her whelps she brought up, he became a young lion,

He learned to seize prey, and men he devoured.

4 Against him the nations raised a cry, in their pit he was taken;

They led him away with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5 When she saw that she but waited her hope perished,

And she took another of her whelps, she made him a young lion,

6 He went about among the lions, he became a young lion,

He learned to seize prey, men he devoured.

7 He ravaged their palaces, and their cities he wasted;

Dismayed was the land and all that was within it, at the sound of his roaring.

8 The nations gathered together against him, from the provinces round about,

About him they spread their net, in their pit he was taken,

9 They led him away with hooks to the king of Babylon,

They brought him into strongholds, in a cage they confined him,’

That his voice no more should be heard on the mountains of Israel.

10 Thy mother was like a vine in a vineyard, planted by waters,

She was fruitful and full of branches, because of the many waters.

11 And she had a mighty branch, which became a ruling sceptre,

And its stature rose up into the midst® of the clouds;

And it appeared in its full stature amidst the mass of its boughs.

12 But in wrath was the vine plucked up, cast down to the ground,

And the east wind withered its fruit in its beauty,

And its mighty branch was withered, fire consumed it,

13 And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry land.

14 Fire hath gone forth from its branch, hath consumed its boughs,

Now it has no mighty branch, no royal sceptre.

This is a lament and has become a lament!

Jehovah’s Past Dealings with His People

20 Now in the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me. 2 Then this word of Jehovah came to me: 3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Have ye come to consult me? As I live, saith Jehovah, I will not be consulted by you."’ 4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abomination of their fathers; 5 5 and say to them,’Thus saith Jehovah: "In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them, in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Jehovah, your God; 6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. 7 And I said to them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God."’

8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hear me; they did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, nor forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the mi 9 But I acted for my name’s sake, lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which the:v were, in whose sight I had made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

10 So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. 11 .And I gave them my statutes, and showed them mine ordinances, which if a man do he shall live thereby. 12 Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that it is I, Jehovah, who sanctifieth them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man keep he shall live thereby; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the ·wilderness to consume them. 14 But I acted for my name’s sake, lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands; 16 because they had rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I completely destroy them in the wilderness.

18 And I said to the children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yoursehes with their idols. 19 I am Jehovah your God; walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; 20 and keep my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God. 21 But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do he shall live thereby; they profaned my sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and acted for my name’s sake, lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth. 23 Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries, 24 because they had not executed mine ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and because their eyes were turned toward the idols of their fathers 25 Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances wherein they should not live; 26 and I defiled them by their own gifts, through causing all their first-born to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, so that they might know that I am Jehovah.

27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "In this also have your fathers blasphemed me, committing a trespass against me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, and whenever they saw any high hill, or leafy tree, they offered there their sacrifice, and there they presented their sweet savor, and they poured out there their libations. 20 Then I said to them, What meaneth the high place to which ye go? So it has been called a high place to this day."’

30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Do ye defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers, play the harlot after their abominations, 31 and defile yourselves with all your idols by offering your gifts, by making your sons to pass through the fire, even to this day? and shall I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As I live," saith Jehovah, "I will not be consulted by you; 32 and that which cometh into your mind shall not be, in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone."’

33 ’As I live,’ saith Jehovah, ’surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you; 34 and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the lands wherein you are scattered, with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; 35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you,’ saith Jehovah. 37 ’And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you by talc :z 38 and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.’

39 As for .vou, O house of Israel, thus saith Jehovah: ’Go, let every man serve his idols! But afterwards ye shall surely hear me; no more profane my holy name with your gifts and with your idols; 40 but on my holy mountain,’ saith Jehovah, ’there shall all the house of Israel, all of them serve me; there will I accept them and there will I require your offerings and the chief of your obligations with all your consecrated things. 41 Your sweet savors will I accept, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered and through you my holiness will be made evident in the sight of the nations. 42 And ye shall know thnt I am Jehovah, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers. 43 And there ye shall remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have defiled yourselves: and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evil deeds that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel,’ saith Jehovah.

Jehovah’s Vengeance upon Jerusalem and Ammon

45 Now this word of Jehovah came to me: 46 Son of man, turn thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field of the south; 47 and say to the forest of the south: ’Hear the word of Jehovah: "Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be burned thereby. 48 And all mankind shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."’ 49 Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! they say of me, ’Is he not speaking riddles?’

21 This word of Jehovah also came to me: 2 Son of man, turn thy face toward Jerusalem, and preach against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 and say to the land of Israel,’ Thus saith Jehovah: "Behold, I am against thee, and will draw my sword from its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword goeth forth from its sheath against all mankind from south to north; 5 and all mankind shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not again be sheathed.

6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with heartbreakinga and with bitterness, sigh before their eyes. 7 And when they say to thee, Why sighest thou? thou shalt answer, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water; behold it cometh, and it shall be, saith Jehovah."’

And this word of Jehovah came to me: 9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Say:

A sword, a sword, sharpened andd polished.

10 It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter;

It is polished as lightning flashe forth.

11 And it is given to a slayer to be grasped in the hand!

The sword it is sharpened, yea, it is polished!

To give it into the hand of the slayer!

12 Shriek and wail, son of man, for it is against my people.

It is against all the princes of Israel;

They are delivered over to the sword together with my people;

Smite therefore upon thy thigh.

13 For there is a trial, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah.

14 ‘Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy,

And smite thy hands together;

And let the sword be doubled the third time.

It is the sword of those mortally wounded!

It is the great sword of those mortally wounded!

15 Fill them with terror that their hearts may melt,

That the fallen may be many at their gates;

They are given over to the slaughter of the sword;

Ah! it is made as lightning, it is sharpened for slaughter!

16 Gather thee together, to the right, to the left,

Whithersoever thine edge is appointed.

14 I will also smite my hands together,

And I will cause my wrath to rest;

I, Jehovah, have spoken it.’ ”

18 This word of Jehovah also came to me: 19 “Son of man, mark out for thyself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; let the two come forth from the same land; and mark out a sign-post, mark it out at the head of the road to each city. 20 Thou shalt mark out a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, and to Jerusalem in its midst. 21 For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shaketh the arrows to and fro, he consulteth the teraphim, he looketh at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the lot for Jerusalem, rams, to open the mouth with a cry, to lift up the voice with a shout, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts. 23 To them it appears as a false divination; but he bringeth iniquity to remembrance, that they may be captured.

24 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are revealed, and in all your doings your sins appear because ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25 And thou who art mortally wounded, thou wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the final judgment for guilt, 26 thus saith Jehovah: “Remove the mitre, and take off the crown! This shall be no more the same! Exalt the low, and abase the high! 27 In ruin, ruin, ruin will I lay it low. This also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, “Thus saith Jehovah concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reviling and say thou: "A sword is drawn to slay, polished to flash forth lightning; 29 in false visions, in divination it was told thee that thou wouldst lay it upon the neck of those mortally wounded, the wicked, whose day is come in the time of the final judgment for guilt. 30 Return it to its sheath. In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy birth, will I judge thee. 31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee; I will blow upon thee the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful in destroying. 32 Thou shalt be fuel for the fire; thy blood shalt be in the midst of the land, thou shalt not be remembered; for I, Jehovah, have spoken it."’

The Charge Against Jerusalem

22 Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city, and show her all her abominations, 2 {} 3 and say, “Thus saith Jehovah, ‘O city that sheddest blood in thy midst that thy time may come; and makest idols for thyself that thou mayest be defiled; ‘ 4 for the blood which thou hast shed thou art guilty and because of the idols which thou hast made thou art defiled, and thou hast brought on thy day of judgment and thy time of reckoning. Therefore I give thee up to the scorn of the nations and to the mockery of all lands. 5 Those which are near and those which are far from thee shall mock thee, thou infamous one, abounding in tumults!

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood. 7 In thee they have despised father and mother; in the midst of thee they oppressively deal with the resident alien; in thee they wrong the fatherless and the widow.

8 Thou despisest my holy things, and profanest my sabbaths. 9 In thee are man who slander to shed blood; and in thee they eat upon the mountains; in the midst of Le they commit lewdness? 10 In thee they uncover their father”s nakedness; in thee they humble her who is unclean in her time of impurity. 11 And one committeth abomination with his neighbor”s wife; and another lewdly defileth his daughter-in-law; and another in thee marrieth his sister, his father”s daughter. 12 In thee they take bribes to shed blood; thou takest interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me,’ is the oracle of Jehovah.

13 ‘Behold, therefore, I smite my hands together because of the extortions thou hast practiced, and the blood which is in thy midst. 14 Will thy heart be firm, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it. 15 And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and consume out of thee thy filthiness. 16 And thou shalt be put to shame? in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.’ ”

17 And this word of Jehovah came to me: 18 Son of man, the house of Israel hath become dross to me; all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: “Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As silver and brass and iron and lead and tin are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt it, so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you therein and melt you. 21 Yea, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and there ye shall be melted in the midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted therein; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.”

23 And this word of Jehovah came to me, 24 Son of man, say to her, “Thou art a land without rain or shower in the day of indignation, 25 whose princes in her midst are like a roaring lion that tears the prey; they devour men; they take treasure and precious things; they make many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things; they make no distinction between the holy and the common, neither do they teach men to discern between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves who tear the prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets daub for them whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus saith Jehovah,’ when Jehovah hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land practice oppression and robbery; yea, they wrong the poor and needy, and oppress the resident alien wrongfully. 30 And I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the breach before men, in behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. 31 Therefore I pour out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I bring the consequences of their own deeds upon their heads,” is the oracle of Jehovah.

Faithless Samaria and Jerusalem

23 This word of Jehovah came to me: 2 There were two women, daughters of one mother. 3 They played the harlot in Egypt in their youth, there their breasts were pressed, and their virgin bosoms handled. 4 Their names were Oholah, the elder, and Oholibah, her sister. They became mine and bore sons and daughters, and as for their names, Oholah was Samaria, and Oholibah was Jerusalem.

5 And Oholah played the harlot, disloyal to me, and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, warriors, 6 clad in purple, prefects, and governors, attractive youths — all of them, horsemen riding on horses; 7 and she bestowed her harlotries upon them — choice men of Assyria, all of them, and after them she lusted, with all their idols she defiled herself. 8 And she did not abandon her harlotries from the days when she was in Egypt; in her youth they have lain with her, and they have handled her virgin bosom, and lavished their harlotry upon her. 9 Therefore I gave her up into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 They uncovered her nakedness, they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword, so that she became an example to women, and punishment was inflicted upon her.

11 Her sister, Oholibah, saw, yet she carried her lust and her adulteries beyond those of her sister; 12 after the Assyrians she lusted, prefects, warriors, clad in purple, horsemen riding on horses, attractive youths, all of them. 13 And I saw that she was defiling herself; they both followed the same way. 14 But she carried her harlotries further; and when she saw men pictured on walls, figures of Chaldeans, pictured in vermilion, 15 their loins girded with sashes, their heads adorned with turbans, in appearance all of them like captains, portraits of Babylonians, whose native land was Chaldea, 16 she lusted after them, as she looked upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. 17 Then the Chaldeans went in to her, into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their harlotry, so that she was unclean because of them, and she loathed them. 18 Thus she revealed her harlotries, and her nakedness was seen, and I loathed her, as I had loathed her sister. 19 But she increased her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she committed harlotry in the land of Egypt, 20 and she lusted after her paramours, whose lust was like that of asses and stallions. 21 And thou soughtest the lewdness of thy youth, when? thy bosom was handled in Egypt, and thy youthful breasts were pressed.

22 Therefore, Oholibah, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am about to stir up thy lovers against thee, those whom thou loathest, and I will bring them against thee on every side, 23 Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa all the Assyrians with them, attractive youths, prefects and governers, all of them, captains and warriors, all of them riding on horses. 24 They shall come against thee with a multitude of chariots and wagons and with a host of peoples, with shields, buckler, and helmet, will they array themselves round about thee. And I will lay judgment before them, and by their sentence they shall condemn thee. 25 And I will pour out my jealous indignation upon thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall cut off thy nose and thine ears, and the rest of thee shall fall by the sword; they shall carry off thy sons and thy daughters, and the rest of thee shall be con- sumed with fire. 26 They shall strip thee of thy garments, and take away thy beautiful jewels. 27 So I will remove thy lewdness from thee, and thy harlotries from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes to them nor remember Egypt any more. 28 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am about to give thee into the hands of those whom thou hatest, into the hands of those whom thou loathest, 29 and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and take away all the fruit of thy labor, and leave thee bare and naked, and the shame of thine adulteries shall be laid bare, 30 for thy lewdness! and thy harlotries have done this to thee, in that thou hast played the harlot with the nations by defiling thyself* with their idols. 31 In the way of thy sister hast thou gone, and I will give her cup into thy hands.

32 Thus saith Jehovah:

Thy sister”s cup shalt thou drink, it is deep and large;

Thou shalt be an object of scorn and derision! it holds much!

‘Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and affliction—a cup of terror and desolation!

The cup of thy sister Samaria, 34 thou shalt drink it and drain it,

Thou shalt break it into fragments, thou shalt tear thy breasts,

For I myself have spoken, is the oracle of Jehovah.

Because thou hast forgotten me and cast me aside,

Therefore thou also shalt bear thy lewdness and thy harlotries.

36 And Jehovah said to me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholi- bah? Then show them their abominations, 37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands; also with their idols have they com- mitted adultery, and their own sons, whom they bore to me, they have turned over to them to be devoured by fire. 38 This also they have done to me: they have profaned my sanctuaries” and defiled my sabbaths, 39 for when they sacri- ficed their sons to their idols they entered my sanctuary on the same day to pollute it. Behold, thus they have done, within my house. 40 And moreover they sent for men who came from afar, to whom the messengers were sent; and behold, they came, for whom thou didst bathe and paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments, 41 and didst sit on the beautiful divan, with table spread before it, and upon it thou didst put mine incense and mine oil, 42 and there was the sound of a joyful melody. They also sent for men of the common type, drunkards, brought in from the wilderness, and they put bracelets upon their hands and splendid crowns upon their heads. 44 Men went* in unto them as one goes in to a harlot; so they went in unto Oholah and Oholibah, to commit lewdness, 45 but righteous men shall pronounce upon them the judgment of adulteresses, for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands!

46 Thus saith Jehovah: Bring up a host against them, and give them over to violence and plunder, 47 let them be stoned with stones, and cut down with swords, let their sons and their daughters, and their houses be burned with fire. 48 Thus will I cause lewdness to cease in the land, and all women shall be instructed, and will not imitate your lewdness. 49 I will requite you for your lewdness. Ye shall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

Reception of the News that Jerusalem was Besieged

24 Again in the tenth month of the ninth year, in the tenth day of the month, this word of Jehovah came to me: 2 Son of man, write down the name of this day; on this very day the king of Babylon began to lay siege to Jerusalem. 3 And speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them,

Thus saith Jehovah,

’Set on the caldron, set it on, also pour water into it,

4 Put the pieces into it, every good piece, thigh and shoulder;

Fill it with choice bones, 5 take of the best of the flock;

Also kindle wood under it, make it boil vigorously.

Also let the bones seethe within it.”

6 For thus saith Jehovah: “Woe to the bloody city, that caldron full of rust, from which the rust is not yet gone! 7 For her blood is still in her midst. On the naked rock she hath placed it; she hath not poured it out on the ground, that the dust might cover it. 8 To stir up fury, to execute vengeance, I have put her blood upon the naked rock, that it may not be covered.” 9 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, ’Woe to the bloody city! I myself will pile high the wood. 10 Heap up the wood, kindle the fire, cook the flesh, brew the broth. and let the bones be burned. Take out its pieces, piece by piece, for them no lot is cast. 11 Then let it stand empty upon the coals, that it may be heated, that its copper may glow, that the impurity within it may be melted out, its rust cleansed away; 12 yet its great rust is not removed from it by fire!

13 Its rust is thy impurity because of lewdness, because I have sought to cleanse thee and thou wouldst not become clean from thine uncleanness. Thou shalt be cleansed no more, until I satisfy my fury upon thee, 14 I, Jehovah, have spoken. It comes, and I will do it! I will not turn back nor pity nor repent, according to thy ways and thy deeds will I judge thee,” is the oracle of Jehovah.

15 This word of Jehovah came to me: 16 Son of man, behold, I am about to take from thee the desire of thine eyes in an instant, yet thou shalt not mourn nor weep nor shed tears. 17 Sigh in silence, mourn not for the dead, put on thy turban, thy sandals on thy feet, do not cover thy beard, nor eat the bread of mourning. 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning and in the evening my wife died, and on the morrow I did as I was commanded, 19 and the people said to me, Will you not tell us why you do so? 20 And I said to them, this word of Jehovah came to me: 21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, and the joy of your souls. And your sons and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword. 22 Ye shall do as I have done, ye shall not cover your beard nor eat the bread of mourning; 23 your turbans shall be upon your heads and your sandals upon your feet, ye shall not weep, but ye shall pine away because of your iniquities. And ye shall stare in confusion at one another. 24 Ezekiel shall be a sign to you, just as he does shall ye do when it comes. Then ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

25 And thou, son of man, on the day that I take from them their strength, their proud joy, and delight of their eyes, the joy of their souls, their sons and their daughters, 26 on that day shall one who has escaped come to thee to inform thee. 27 On that day shall thy mouth be opened to the fugitive; and thou shalt speak and be no longer silent, and thou shalt be a sign to them that they may know that I am Jehovah.

The Judgment against Israel”s Malignant Foes

25 “This word of Jehovah came to me again, " 2 Son of man, turn thy face toward the Ammonites, and prophesy against them, 3 and say to the Ammonites: “Hear the word of Jehovah: ‘Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, over my sanctuary when it was defiled, and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and over the house of Judah when it went into captivity, 4 therefore I am about to give thee to the sons of the East as a pos- session. “They shall pitch their tents in thee, and set up in thee their dwell- ings; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk; 5 and I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the cities of the Ammonites a grazing place for flocks, that ye may know that I am Jehovah.’

6 Thus saith Jehovah, "Because thou didst clap thy hands and stamp thy feet, and didst rejoice maliciously over the land of Israel; 7 therefore I will stretch out my hand against thee, and make thee the spoil of the nations, and I will cut thee off from the peoples and cause thee to perish out of the lands; I will destroy thee that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah.’ ”

8 Thus saith Jehovah, Because Moab saith: “Behold the house of Judah has become like all the nations,” 9 therefore behold, I will lay open the flank of Moab, from the cities of its borders to the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 and I will give it, together with the Am- monites, to the sons of the East as a possession, that Rabbath-ammon may be no more remembered among the nations. 11 And on Moab will I execute judgment, that they may know that I am Jehovah.

12 Thus saith Jehovah, Because Edom hath acted revengefully toward the house of Judah, and hath incurred great guilt by taking bitter revenge, 13 therefore thus saith Jehovah, “I will stretch out my hand against Edom and I will cut off from it man and beast, and make it desolate; from Teman to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will execute my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel and they shall do to Edom according to my anger and my fury, and she shall know my vengeance,” is the oracle of Jehovah.

15 Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Philistines acted revengefully, and took revenge in a spirit of spite to destroy in perpetual hate, 16 therefore thus saith Jehovah, “Behold, I will stretch out my hands against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the rest of the sea-coast, 17 and execute great vengeance upon them, that they may know that I am Jehovah, when I execute my vengeance upon them.”

26 “In the eleventh year, the first day of the first month, this word of Jehovah came to me: 2 Son of man, because Tyre hath said concerning Jerusalem:

“Aha, the gate of the nations is broken,

It is open to me; I shall be full! she is laid waste!”

3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah:

“Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and I will bring against thee

Many nations, as the sea brings up its waves,

4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers,

And I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock;

5 She shall be a place in which to spread nets in the midst of the sea,

For I have spoken, is the oracle of Jehovah.

6 Her daughters which are on the mainland shall be slain by the sword,

And they shall know that I am Jehovah.”

7 For thus saith Jehovah: “Behold, I am about to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the king of kings, from the north with horses and chariots and horsemen and a host of many peoples. 8 Thy daughters on the mainland he will slay with the sword, and he will build a tower against thee, and raise up a mound against thee, and raise up shields against thee; 9 and he will direct the shock of his battering rams against thy walls, and hew down thy towers with his axes. 10 Because of the vast number of his horses, their dust shall cover thee; at the sound of horsemen, and wheels, and char- iots thy walls shall shake, when he enters thy gates as one enters the city that is taken by storm. 11 With the hoofs of horses he will trample all thy streets, he will slay thy people with the sword and thy strong pillars shall go down to the ground. 12 They will despoil thee of thy riches and take thy mer- chandise as booty, break down thy walls, and tear down thy pleasant houses; and thy stones and thy timber and thy dust they will cast in the midst of the waters. 13 And I will still the sound of thy songs, the music of thy harps shall be heard no more. ‘I will make thee a bare rock; thou shalt be a place in which to spread nets; thou shalt never again be rebuilt, for I, Jehovah, have spoken,” is the oracle of Jehovah.

20 This word of Jehovah came to me, 21 Son of man, set thy face against Sidon, and prophesy against her 22 and say, “Thus saith Jehovah, "Behold, I am against thee, O Sidon, and I will show forth my glory in thy midst, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, when I execute judgment upon thee, and show forth my sanctity within thee. 23 And into thee I will send pestilence, and into thy streets blood, and the slain shall fall in thy midst, by the sword round about within thee, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. 24 Of all the malignant neighbors* of the house of Israel, none shall any longer be to them an irritating briar or a piercing thorn, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.’ ”

25 Thus saith Jehovah, “When I gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among which they are scattered, and show forth my sanctity through them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in the land which I gave to their father Jacob; 26 and they shall dwell therein securely, and build their houses and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell securely, when I execute judgment upon all their neighbors, who treat them despitefully, and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God.

Nebuchadnezzar”s Conquest of Egypt

17 In the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month, this word of Jehovah came to me, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a long service against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was galled; yet neither he nor his army had any wages from Tyre for the services that he had rendered against her. 19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages of his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his pay for the service which he rendered me,” saith Jehovah.

21 Tn that day I will cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give thee freedom of speech among them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.”

The New Epoch in Ezekiel”s Work

33 This word of Jehovah came to me, 2 Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say to them, ’When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one of their number and make him their watchman; if, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people; 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and does not take warning and the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him; whereas if he had taken warning he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman, when he sees the sword coming, does not bloiw the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and take one of them; he is taken. away on account of his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman”s hand.

7 As for thee, son of man, I have set thee as a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore when thou hearest the word at my mouth, give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wickedY ‘Thou shalt surely die,’ and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; he shall die for his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. 9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die for his iniquity, but thou hast saved thyself.”

10 And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel: “Thus ye say: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them we pine away; how can we live?"” 11 Say to them, “As I live, saith Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’

12 And thou, son of man, say to the sons of thy people, “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turn- eth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sinneth. 13 When I say to the righteous, ‘Thou shalt surely live,’ and he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘Thou shalt surely die;’ if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right, 15 and restores the pledge, gives again that which he had taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 Yet the sons of thy people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right;’ but it is their way that is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet ye say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his acts.”

21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the fifth day of the tenth month, one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten. 22 Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before the one who had escaped, came; and he had opened my mouth, in expectation of his coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no more dumb.

23 This word of Jehovah came to me: ‘The inhabitants of the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ’Abraham was but one man,° and he received the whole land as a possession, while we are many, the land is given to us as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ’Thus saith Jehovah: ‘Ye eat with the blood, and worship idols, and commit acts of bloodshed; shall ye possess the land? 26 Ye depend upon your swords, ye commit abomination and ye defile one another”s wives, shall ye possess the land?’ ” 27 Thus saith Jehovah, ’As I live, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and those who are in the open field shall be given to the wild beasts to devour, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence; 28 and I will make the land waste and desolate, and the pride of its might shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with no one passing through them; 29 and they shall know that Iam Jehovah, when I make the land desolate and waste, for all the abominations which they have done.

30 As for thee, son of man, the sons of thy people talk about thee beside the walls, and at the doors of their houses, and say! one to another, ‘Come, hear! what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah?’ 31 They come in to thee as people come, and sit before thee, and hear thy words, and do them not. Falsehoods are in their mouths, and their hearts are set on their own gain. 32 Behold, thou art to them as a love song, of beautiful tone and excellently played; they hear thy words, but do them not. 33 But when it comes to pass —behold, it comes! They will know that there was a prophet among them.”

Israel”s Traitorous Rulers and the Future Restoration

34 This word of Jehovah also came to me: 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to the shepherds, ’Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only fed themselves. Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 Ye have eaten the milk and clothed yourselves with the wool, ye have killed the fatlings, but my flock ye have not fed. 4 The weak ye have not strengthened, the sick ye have not healed, the crippled ye have not bound up, ye have not brought back that which was driven away, ye have not sought that which was lost, and the strong ye have ruled harshly. 5 So my flock has been scattered because there was no shepherd, and has become food for all the wild beasts of the field.° My flock hath wandered on all the mountains and on every high hill, and they were scattered? over all the face of the earth with none who searched and sought for them.’ ”

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah, As I live, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah, inasmuch as my flock has become the prey and food of all the beasts of the field, because there was no one to shepherd them, for my shepherds cared not for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they did not feed, 9 therefore, O shepherds, 10 thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hands, and I will cause them to cease from tending my flock; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths, that it may no longer be food for them.”

11 Por thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “Behold, I myself, will seek for my flock and search them out, 12 as a shepherd searches for his flock on the day when his sheep are scattered, so will I search for my flock, and deliver them from ali the places whither they have been scattered in the day of cloud and darkness. 13 And I will take them from among the peoples, and will gather them from the lands, and bring them into their own habitable land, and feed them on" the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the habitable parts of the land. 14 With good pasture will I feed them, and on the high mountains of Israel shall be their pasture. There they shall lie down in a good habitation, and feed on rich pasturage in the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my flock, and I will lead them to pasture,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 16 ’The lost I will seek, what is driven away I will bring back, the crippled I will bind up, the sick I will restore to strength, over the fat and the strong I will watch,’I will be a righteous shepherd to them.

17 As for you, my flock,” thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “I will judge between the sheep and the rams and the he-goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that ye must trample with your feet the rest of the pasture ? And to drink of clear water, that ye must foul the rest with your feet, 19 so that my flock must eat what ye have trampled down and drink what ye have fouled with your feet? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “ Behold I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep 21 because ye push with side and shoulder, and thrust with your horns, all the feeble sheep, until ye scatter them abroad. 22 And I will deliver my flock and they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, he shall feed them, namely, my servant, David. And he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken. 25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will put away wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests.

26 And I will give them showers of rain in its season, and I will send the dashing rain in its time, rains of blessing shall there be; 27 and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall give its increase, and they shall be secure in their habitable land, and know that I am Jehovah, when I break the frame of their yoke, and deliver them from the hands of those who have made them slaves. 28 They shall no longer be afraid of the nations, the beasts of the field shall not devour them, and they shall dwell securely with none to make them afraid. 29 And I shall provide for them a successful planting, so that they shall no longer be consumed by hunger in the land, and shall never again receive the reproach of the nations. 30 And they shall know that I, Jehovah, am their God and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 31 “My flock are ye, the flock that I tend, and I am your God,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah.

Edom”s Desolation

35 Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me: 2 Son of man, turn thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, ’Thus saith the Lord Jehovah:

‘Behold, I am against thee, Mount Seir!

I will stretch out my hand against thee,

And make thee waste and desolate;

4 I will make thy cities a waste,

And thou shalt be a desolation,

So that thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.

5 Because thou didst cherish eternal enmity and didst deliver over the Israelites to the sword in the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, 6 therefore as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, thou art guilty of blood, and blood shall pursue thee, 7 and I will make Mount Seir a waste and desolation, and I will cut off from it those who come and go therefrom, 8 and I will fill its mountains with the! slain. On thy hills and thy valleys and all thy watercourses shall fall those slain with the sword; 9 and I will make thee n everlasting desolation and thy cities shall not be inhabited, that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah.

10 Because thou saidst, the two nations and the two lands shall be mine, and I take possession of them (although Jehovah was there), 11 therefore, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, I will deal with thee according to the anger and jealousy wherewith, because of thy hatred, thou didst deal with them, and I will make myself known in thee when I judge thee, 12 and thou shalt know that I, Jehovah, have heard all thy revilings, which thou utteredst against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are desolate, they are given to us to devour, and thou spokest arrogantly against me! I heard it! ‘ 14 hus saith Jehovah, ‘“ As thou didst rejoice over my land, because it was desolate, thus will I deal with thee. Desolate shalt thou be, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it, that thou* mayest know that I am Jehovah.’ ”

Restoration of the Land of Judah

36 And thou son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah. 2 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! and the ancient high places have become our possession, 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Inasmuch as they have made you desolate, and crushed you on every side, that ye might become the possession of the rest of the nations, and ye are the popular talk and gossip, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, and to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the deserted cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations, which are around about you— 5 therefore thus saith Jehovah, verily, in the heat of my jealousy have I spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, that have appropriated my land to them- selves as a possession, with heartfelt joy, with malicious spite, in order to take its common pasture land? as prey. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I speak in my jealousy and in my wrath, because ye have borne the reproach of the nations. 7 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I swear that the nations that are round about you shall surely bear their own shame.

8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall put forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they will quickly come. 9 For, behold, I am with you, and I will turn toward you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; v 10 and I will make the men upon you many, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt; 11 and I will make the men and beasts upon you many, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former estate, and I will do better for you than in your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more bereave them of children. 13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say to thee, Thou hast devoured men, and bereaved thy nation, 14 therefore thou shalt devour men no more, nor bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord Jehovah. ‘ 15 I will no longer let the reproach of the nations be heard against? thee, neither shalt thou hear the shame of the peop any more,® saith the Lord Jehovah."”

16 Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds; their ways before me were as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed among the countries; according to their ways and deeds I judged them. 20 But when they! came to the nations, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, “These are the people of Jehovah, and they have come forth out of his land.’ 21 But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations whither they went.

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus saith Jehovah: ‘I act not for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye have gone. 23 And I will make sacred my great name which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, when through you I shall be sanctified in their sight. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries and will bring you into your own land. 25 And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away your stony heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to live according to my statutes, nd ye shall keep mine ordinances and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people and I will be your God. 29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the grain, and make it plentiful, and inflict no famine upon you. 30 And I will make plentiful the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of your iniquities and your abominations. 32 Not for your sake do I do this, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known to you; be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.’ ”

33 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being a desolation in the sight of all those who passed by. 35 And they shall say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste places and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the na- tions that are left round about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have rebuilt the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate; I, Jehovah, have spoken it,and will do it.” 37 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “ This petition also will I grant to the house of Israel, that I may do it for them; I will increase their men like a flock, 38 Like the sacrificial flock, like the flock of Jerusa- lem at her festivals, so the waste cities shall be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.”

The Resurrection of the Nation

37 The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me by the spirit and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 And he caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest. 4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. 5 Thus saith Jehovah to these bones: ‘Behold I am about to put breath into you, that ye may live. 6 And I will put sinews on you, and will clothe you with flesh, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, that ye may live; and know that I am Jehovah.’ ”

7 So I prophesied as he commanded me: and as I prophesied, there was an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh had clothed them, and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus saith Jehovah: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host.

11 Then he said to me, O man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are com- pletely ruined.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, “Thus saith Jehovah: ‘Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am Jehovah ,when I have opened your graves, and raised you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my spirit in you, that ye may live, and I will restore you to your own land: that ye may know that ie Jehov ah, have spoken it and performed it,’ ”—is the oracle of Jehovah.”

15 This word also came to me from Jehovah: 16 ‘Do thou, O man, take a stick, and write upon it, JUDAH AND THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM: then take another stick, and write upon it, JOSEPH, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL ASSOCIATED witH HIM. 17 Then join them together, so that they may become one stick in thy hand. 18 And when the children of thy people shall say to thee, “Wilt thou not show us what this means?” 19 say to them, “Thus saith Jehovah: ‘Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will unite them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be united in my hand.” 20 And let the sticks on which thou writest be in thy hand before their eyes. 21 And say to them, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "Behold, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations, whither they are gone, and gather them from all sides, and bring fem into their own land: 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and there shall be one king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any longer; 23 nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their apostasies wherein they have Sinead: and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt: and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. 28 My dwelling place also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 29 And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.’ ”

Jehovah”s Ultimate Victory over the Hostile Heathen Powers

38 This word of Jehovah also came to me, 2 Son of man, turn thy face against Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ’Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: ‘Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal, 4 and I will turn thee about, and I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will lead thee forth together with all thine army, horses, and horsemen, clad in complete armor, a mighty host with shield and buckler, all of them armed with swords, 5 Paras, Cush, and Put with them, all with buckler and helmet, 6 Gomer and all its hordes, the house of Togarmah, from the extreme north, and all his hordes, many peoples with thee. 7 Be prepared, yea, hold thyself ready, thou and all thy host assembled with thee, and be a reserve for me, 8 after many days thou wilt be mustered forth, after many years thou shalt come against the land that has been restored from desolation, to a people gathered from many nations, against the mountains of Israel which were a continual desolation; but she has been brought out from the nations, and all of them are dwelling in safety. 9 Thou shalt go up like a storm, like a cloud shalt thou cover the land,’ thou and all thy host, and the many peoples with thee.’ ”

10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "On that day plans will come into thy mind and thou wilt form an evil design, 11 and say, I will go up into a land of villages, I will go to those who are friendly, who dwell in security, all of them, dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates— 12 to take spoil, to carry off prey, to turn thy hand against the wastes that have been repeopled, against the people gathered from the nations, having acquired possessions and prop- erty, dwelling at the centre of the earth. 13 Sheba and Dedan and their mer- chants, Tarsish and all her traders will say to thee, Art thou come to get spoil? Hast thou gathered thy host to carry off spoil, to take silver and gold, to seize possessions and property, to gather much plunder?’ ”

14 Therefore prophesy, O son of man, and say to Gog, “Thus saith Jehovah: ‘Wilt thou not at that time, when my people Israel are dwelling in security, bestir thy self, 15 and come from thy place, from the extreme north, thou and many peoples with thee, all riding on horses, a mighty host, a vast army? 16 And wilt thou not come up after many days against my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land? Yea, I will bring thee up against my land, that the nations may know what I am, when through thee I show myself to be holy in their sight.’’

17 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “Art thou not he of whom I declared in former days, through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied through the years that I would bring thee against them? 18 And on that day, the day when Gog cometh against the land of Israel,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah, “then will my fury be thoroughly aroused, 19 yea, in my jealousy, the heat of my wrath I declare: Verily on that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel; 20 all the fishes of the sea and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the fields, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all men, who are on the face of the earth, shall tremble at my presence. And the mountains shall be torn apart and the cliffs shall topple over, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will summon every terror against him,” is the oracle of Jehovah; “every man”s sword shall be against his brother! 22 And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment against him; and I will rain upon him and upon his hordes and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing flood, and hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 And I will show my greatness and sanctity in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.”

39 And thou, Son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ’Thus saith Jehovah: "Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal; 2 and I will turn thee about and lead thee forth, and will cause thee to come up from the extreme north, and I will bring thee against the mountains of Israel; 3 And I will smite thy bow from thy left hand, and will cause the arrows to fall from thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel—thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee. I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it,’ saith Jehovah. 6 And I will send a fire on Gog,! and on those who dwell securely in the coast-lands; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 7 And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more; and the nations shall know that I, Jehovah, am holy in Israel.

5 Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done,’ is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah; ‘this is the day of which I have spoken. 9 And they who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons, and burn them, both the bucklers and the shields, the bows and arrows, the pikes and spears, and they shall use them as firewood seven years, 10 so that they shall take no wood out of the forests; for they shall use the weapons as firewood; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and prey upon those who preyed upon them, is the oracle of Jehovah.

11 And in that day I will give to Gog a renowned place as a grave in Israel, the valley of Abarim! on the east of the sea; and there shall they bury Gog and his multitude; and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall bring to them renown in the day when I show forth my glory,’ is the oracle of Jehovah. 14 And they shall set apart men who shall be continually employed in passing through the land, and in bringing those who remain on the face of the land in order to cleanse it,’ is the oracle of Jehovah. "After the end of seven months they shall search. 15 And they who pass through the land shall pass through, and when anyone sees a man”s bone, he shall set up a sign by it until the buriers bury it in the valley of Hamon-Gog. 16 And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus they shall cleanse the land.’’

17 And thou, son of man, speak to birds of every sort and to every beast of the field, “Thus saith Jehovah: ‘Assemble, and come; gather from every side to my sacrifice, that I am about to sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, of goats, and of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full and drink blood till ye be aetneen of my sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you. 20 And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and riders, with mighty men and all men of war,’ is the oracle of Jehovah.

21 ‘’Thus I will establish my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see the judgment which I execute, and the hand which I lay upon them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am their God, from that day and for- ward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them; so I gave them into the hands of their adversaries and they all fell by the sword; 24 according to their uncleanness, and according to their transgres- sions I punished them, and hid my face from them.’ ”

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah; “Now I will bring back the cap- tivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 And they shall forget their shame and all their infidelity which they showed toward me, when they dwell securely in their land, with none to make them afraid, 27 when I bring them back from the peoples, and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, and through them show my sanctity in the sight of many nations. 28 And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the na- tions, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; 29 neither will I hide my face any longer from them; for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah.

The Temple Plan

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that very day, the hand of Jehovah was laid upon me, and he brought me 2 in an inspired vision to the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, on which was a city-like building toward the south. 3 Thither he brought me, and there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a flaxen Hue and a measuring reed in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. 4 And the man said to me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and give heed to all that I shall show thee; for, in order that thou shouldst be shown it wert thou brought hither; declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

5 There was a wall encircling a temple, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, each cubit being equal to a cubit and a handbreadth, and he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height one reed.

6 Then he came to the east gateway and went up its steps and measured East the threshold of the gate one reed wide. 7 And each guard-room was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the guard-rooms were spaces of five cubits; and the threshold of the gate at the vestibule of the gate on the inner side was one reed. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight cubits, and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was on the inner side. 10 the guard-rooms of the east gate were three on each side; all three were of the same dimensions; and the posts were on both sides. 11 And he measured the breadth of the entrance to the gateway, ten cubits; and the width of the gate, thirteen cubits; 12 and there was a sill one cubit wide, before the guard-rooms on each side; and the guard-rooms, six cubits on both sides.

13 And he measured the gate from the outer wall of the one guard-room to the the outer wall of the other, twenty -five cubits wide; door opposite door. 14 He also measured the vestibule, twenty cubits; and the court reached to the jambs, round about the gateway. 15 And from the front of the gateway at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate were fifty cubits.

16 And the guard-rooms and their jambs had windows, within the gate round about, and likewise the vestibule had windows round about within; and on each jamb were palm-trees.

17 Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement made round about the court; thirty chambers were upon the pavement. 18 And the pavement was on the side of the gateways; it corresponded to the length of the gateways, that is, the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the breadth from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court without, one hundred cubits on the east and on the north.

20 And the north gateway of the outer court, he measured its length and breadth, 21 And there were three guard-rooms on each side; and its jambs and its vestibules corresponded to the measurement of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits. 22 And its windows and its vestibules and its palm trees measured the same as those of the east gate; and seven steps led up to it; its vestibule was within. 23 And there was a gate to the inner court opposite the north gate, corresponding to the one on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits.

24 And he led me toward the south; and he measured its guard-rooms and its jambs and its vestibule; they were of the same dimensions as the others. 25 And there were windows in it and in its vestibule round about corresponding to the other windows; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits, 26 And seven steps led up to it, and its vestibule was within; and it had palm-trees, one on each side of its jambs. 27 And there was a gate to the inner court on the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.

28 Then he brought me to the inner court at the south gateway; and he measured the south gateway; it measured the same as the others; 29 its guard-rooms, and posts and vestibule were of the same dimensions as way the preceding; and there were windows in it and in its vestibule round about; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 31 And its vestibule faced the outer court; and there were palm-trees beside its posts; and the ascent to it had eight steps.

32 And he brought me to the east side of the inner court; and he measured the gateway; it measured the same as the others; 33 and its guard-rooms and posts and vestibules were of the same dimensions as the preceding; and there were windows in it and in the vestibule round about; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 34 And its vestibule faced the outer court; and there were beside its palm-trees posts, one on each side; and the ascent to it had eight steps.

35 Then he brought me to the north gateway; and he measured the gateway; it measured the same as the others. 36 And its guard-rooms and posts and vestibules were of the same dimensions as the preceding; and there were windows in it and in the vestibule round about; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide, 27 And its vestibule faced the outer court; and there were beside its palm-trees posts, one on each side; and the ascent to it had eight steps.

38 And there was a chamber with its opening into the vestibule of the gateway; there they washed the burnt-offering. 29 And in the vestibule of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which were slain the burnt-offerings and the sin-offerings and the guilt-offerings. 40 And outside the entrance to the gateway on the north, were two tables. 41 There were four within and four without the gateway; eight tables, upon which the burnt-offerings were slain. 42 There were also four tables for the burnt-offering, of hewn stone, each a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and a cubit high; on which they laid the instruments wherewith the burnt-offerings and the sacrificial animals were slain, 43 and projections, one handbreadth in length, were fastened within round about. And over the tables were protecting roofs to keep off the rain and the hot sun.

44 He brought me outside the gate and into the inner court, and there were two chambers on the inner court, one by the north gate, facing the south, the other by the south gate facing the north. 45 And he said to me, This chamber, which faces the south, is for the priests, who have charge of the temple; 46 and the chamber which faces the north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; they are the sons of Zadok, those of the sons of Levi who may come near to Jehovah to serve him. 47 And he measured the court, a hundred cubits wide, and a hundred cubits broad—a perfect square. The altar was in front of the temple.

48 Then he brought me to the porch of the temple, and meas- ured the jambs of the porch on each side, five cubits in thickness, and the width of the gate was fourteen cubits and the pillars of the gate were three cubits thick on each side. 49 The dimensions of the porch were twenty by twelve cubits; and the ascent was by ten steps; and there were pillars by the jambs on each side.

41 Then he brought me to the hall of the temple and measured the jambs, six cubits broad on each side. 2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side; and he measured its length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.

3 Then went into the inner room and measured the jambs of its entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the side-walls of the entrance, seven cubits on each side. 4 And he measured its length, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, before the hall of the temple. And he said to me, This is the most holy place.

15 And the hall of the temple, and the inner room and its porch were paneled, 16 and the windows latticed and covered. And the galleries round about on their three stories, opposite the threshold, were ceiled with wood round about, from the ground up to the windows, 17 and from the door to the inner room and without. And on all the wall round about within and without were drawings 18 and carved cherubim and palm-trees, there being a palm-tree between every two cherubim. 19 And each cherub had two faces; the face of a man turned toward the palm-tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion turned toward the palm-tree on the other side; they were carved on all the temple round about. 20 From the ground to the top of the door were carved cherubim and palm-trees. The wall of the hall of the temple had 21 pilasters. And before the holy place was something that looked like 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high, and two cubits in thickness and two cubits in width; and its corners, and its base and walls were of wood. And he said to me, This is the table that stands before Jehovah. 23 And the base of the temple and the holy place had two doors. 24 And each door had turning leaves; two for each door. 25 Cherubim and palm-trees were carved on them, as on the walls; and there was a threshold in front of the porch without. 26 And there were closed windows and palm-trees on both sides of the porch; thus were the side-chambers of the temple and the thresholds.

5 Then he measured the thickness of the wall of the temple, six cubits; and the width of the side-chambers, four cubits, round about the temple on every side. 6 And the side-chambers were in three stories, one above another, and thirty in each story; and there were abatements all around the walls of the temple that the side-chambers might be fastened to them and not in the walls of the temple. 7 And the side-chambers became wider as they went up higher and higher, for the temple grew narrower higher and higher up round about the temple; and there was an ascent from the lowest story to the highest by the middle story. 8 And I also saw that the temple had a raised platform round about; the foundations of the side- chambers were a full reed in height, that is, six great cubits. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side-chambers, was five cubits; and the space left between the side-chambers that belonged to the temple 10 and the outer chambers was twenty cubits wide round about the temple on each side. 11 And the doors of the side-chambers were toward the open space, one door toward the north and another door toward the south; and the width of the open space of the platform was five cubits round about.

12 And the building that faced the enclosure on the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and its length ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the enclosure, and the building, with its walls, a hundred cubits long; 14 also the width of the front of the temple, with the eastern enclosure was one hundred cubits. 15 And he measured the length of the building in front of the rear enclosure, its galleries on both sides, one hundred cubits.

42 Then he brought me forth into the outer court on the north; and he brought me to the chamber which faced the enclosure and the building on the north. 2 One hundred cubits was its length on the north side,” and the width was fifty cubits. 3 Opposite the space of twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and the raised platform which belonged to the outer court, was a gallery on each side in three tiers. 4 And in front of the chambers was a passage-way to the inner court, ten cubits wide and one hundred! cubits long; and their doors were on the north. 5 The upper chambers were smaller, for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle chambers in the building; 6 that is, they were in three stories, and had no pillars like the pillars of the outer courts; therefore the upper was smaller than the lowest and middle chambers. 7 And the outer wall by the side of the chambers along the outer court in front of the chambers was fifty cubits long; 8 that is, the length of the chambers in the outer court was fifty cubits, while in front of it was one hundred cubits. 9 Below these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one approached them from the outer court; 10 at the beginning of the outer wall on the south, in front of the enclosure and the a eenet were chambers, 11 with the passage-way before them; they were similar to the chambers on the north; of the same length and width, the same exits and arrangements, and with their doors on the south. 12 There was a door at the beginning of the passage-way, directly in front of the wall on the east, as one approached them.

13 Then said he to me, the north and south chambers are the sacred chambers, where the priests who approach Jehovah shall eat the most holy things; there they shall deposit the most holy things, the cereal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering, for the place is holy.

15 Having finished the measurement of the inner temple he brought me by way of the east gate, and measured it round about. 16 He measured on the east side five hundred cubits, with the measuring reed round about. 17 He measured on the north side five hundred cubits by the measuring reed round about. 18 He measured on the south side five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 19 Then he turned to the west side and meas- ured five hundred cubits by the measuring reed. 20 He measured it on the four sides; and it had a wall round about, five hundred cubits in length and five hundred cubits in width, to separate between the sacred and the common.

43 Then he brought me to the east gate. 2 And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. 3 And the vision which I saw was like that which I saw when he came to destroy the city; and the visions were like that which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 Then the glory of Jehovah came into the temple by the east gate. 5 And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the temple.

6 Then I heard one speaking to me from the temple, as One stood by me. 7 And he said to me, O man, this is the place of my throne, and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites forever. And the house of Israel, they and their kings, shall no more defile my holy nameY with their idolatry and with the corpses of their kings 8 by placing their thresholds by my threshold, and their door-posts beside my door-post, with only a wall between me and them, thus defiling my holy name by the abominations which they have committed; therefore I have destroyed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their idolatry, and the corpses of their kings, far from me, that I may dwell in the midst of them forever.

10 Do thou, O man, show the house of Israel the temple, its appearance and its pattern, 11 that they may be ashamed of all that they have done, describe to them the temple and its construction, its exits and its entrances and its form, and make known to them all its ordinances and laws; and write it down in their sight, that they may take heed to perform all its forms and ordinances. 12 This is the law of the temple: on the top of the mountain its whole territory shall be sacred. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

13 And these are the measurements of the altar in cubits of a cubit and a handbreadth: the base shall be a cubit high, one cubit wide, with a border around its edge about a span wide; and this shall be the height of the altar: 14 from the foundation base to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit. 15 And the alter hearth shall be four cubits high; and above the hearth shall be four horns, one cubit high. 16 And the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits square. 17 And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits square; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the base one cubit wide round about. Its steps shall face the east.

18 Then he said to me, O man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: “These are the regulations for the altar in the day when it is completed, ‘In order that burnt-offerings may be offered and blood sprinkled on it, 19 thou shalt give to the priests the Levites who are of the family of Zadok, who approach to serve me,’ saith the Lord Jehovah, ‘a young bullock as a sin-offering. 20 And they shall take some of its blood, and put it on the four horns, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border round about; thus shall they cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 They shall also take the bullock of the sin-offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place outside the temple. 22 And on the second day they shall offer a male goat without blemish as a sin-offering, and shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bullock. 23 °When they have made an end of cleansing it, they shall offer a young bullock and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 And they shall present them before Jehovah, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them and they shall offer them as a burnt-offering to Jehovah. 25 Seven days shalt thou provide daily a goat as a sin-offering;) they shall also provide a young bullock, and a ram from the flock, without blemish. 26 For seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify and consecrate it. 27 At the end of these days, on the eighth day and thereafter, the priests shall present your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings upon the altar; and I will accept you,’ saith the Lord Jehovah.”

44 Then he took me back to the outer eastern gate of the sanct- uary, and it was closed. 2 Then he said to me, This gate shall remain closed; it shall not be opened, and none shall enter by it; for Jehovah the God of Israel hath entered by it, therefore it shall remain closed. 3 As for the prince he may sit therein? to eat bread in the presence of Jehovah; he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and by the same way shall he go out.

4 Then he took me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the temple. And I fell on my face. 5 And Jehovah said to me, O man, give heed, see with thine eyes and hear with thine ears all that I tell thee regarding the regulations of the temple of Jehovah and all its laws, and observe carefully how to enter the temple by all of the exits of the sanctuary. 6 Say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, "Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, ‘in that ye have brought foreigners, neither consecrated in heart nor flesh, to be in my sanctuary to profane it,°when ye offered me bread, fat and blood; thus ye have broken my covenant, with all your abominations! 8 And ye have not taken charge of my holy things but ye have set them as keepers in charge of my sanctuary.’ ”

9 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, ’No foreigner, consecrated neither in heart nor flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelites, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But those Levites who went far from me, when Is- rael went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear their guilt. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and ministering in the temple, they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them and minister to them. 12 Since they were wont to minister to them before their idols, and were a stumbling-block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore I have taken a solemn oath against them,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah, “and they shall bear their guilt. 13 And they shall not approach me to act as priests to me, so as to come near any of my sacred things, or to those which are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame and the punishment for the abominations which they have committed; 14 Iwill make them responsible for the care of the temple, for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein.

15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who took charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me fat and blood,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 16 “They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach near to my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments, but they shall have on no wool while they are officiating in the gates of the inner court and in the temple. 18 They shall have linen turbans upon their heads and linen breeches on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat. 19 But when they go forth to the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they were officiating, and lay them in the sacred chambers; and they shall put on other garments, that they may not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their hair to grow long; they shall cut off their hair. 21 None of the priests shall drink wine, when they enter the inner court. 22 Neither shall they marry a widow nor a divorced woman, but only Israelitish virgins or the widow of a priest.

23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the sacred and the common, and instruct them how to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in a controversy they shall act as judges, judging it acording to my ordinances. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes and in all my appointed feasts; and they shall maintain the sanctity of my sabbaths.

25 And they shall not approach a dead person to defile themselves; except in the case of a father, or a mother, or a son, or a daughter, or brother, or unmarried sister. 26 And after his defilement, a priest shall be given seven days. 27 And on the day that he goeth into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering,” is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah.

28 And they shall have not inheritance; I am their inheritance; and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the cereal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the best of all the firstfruits of every thing, and every contribution of every thing, of all your contribu- tions, shall belong to the priest; ye shall also give to the priests the best of your dough, that a blessing may rest on thy household. 31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that dieth a natural death or hath been mangled, whether it be bird or beast.

45 When ye allot the land as inheritance, ye shall offer as a special gift® to Jehovah, a sacred portion of the land, five thousand cubits long, and twenty thousand cubits wide; it shall be sacred throughout its entire extent. 3 And out of this area shalt thou measure off a space twenty- five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, and on it shall the sanctuary, the most holy stand. 4 It is a holy portion of the land; it shall belong to the priests who are the ministers in the sanctuary, who draw near to minister to Jehovah; and it shall be a place for their houses, and an open space for the sanctuary. Out of this a square of five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with an open space fifty cubits wide around it. 5 And a space twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; their possession shall it be for cities in which to dwell.

6 And as the possession of the city, ye shall assign a space five thousand cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand long, bende the sacred reservation; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel. 7 And the prince shall have the space on both sides of the sacred reservation and the possession of the city, facing the sacred reservation and the possession of the city, on the west and on the east, and of the same length as one of the portions of the tribes, from the west border to the the east border 8 of the land. It shall be his possession in Israel; and the princes of Israel shall no more oppress my people, but shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

9 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Enough, O princes of Israel ! Put away violence and oppression, and practice justice and righteousness! Free my people from your robberies, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephahY and the bath shall be of one measure; the bath shall contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer; the homer shall be the standard of measurement. 12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be valued as five shekels, and ten as ten, and your maneh shall be fifty shekels.

13 This is the contribution that ye shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah out of every homer of wheat; and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah out of every homer of barley; 14 and the fixed proportion of oil, shall be the tenth part of a bath out of every cor, the cor being ten baths; 15 and one lamb out of a flock of two hundred, from all the families of Israel, as a cereal-offering, and a burnt-offering, and peace-offerings, to make atone- ment for them, saith the Lord Jehovah. 16 All the people of the land shall contribute to this special gift for the prince in Israel. 17 And it shall be the prince”s part to give the burnt-offerings, and the cereal-offerings, and the libations at the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, at all the feast days of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the cereal-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

21 Tn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall observe the feast of the passover; seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock as a sin-offering; 23 and during the seven days of the feast he shall provide a burnt-offering for Jehovah, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish; and a male goat daily as a sin-offering. 24 And he shall provide a cereal-offering, an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and of oil a hin to an ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, shall he do the same during the seven days, for the sin-offering, the burnt-offering, the cereal-offering, and for the oil.

46 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The east gate of the inner court shall be shut during the six working days; but on the sabbath day, and on the day of the new moon it shall be open. 2 And the prince shall enter from without by the vestibule of the gate, and shall stand by the door-post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate, ana then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 3 And the people of the fined shall worship at the door of that gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 And the burnt-offering which the prince shall offer to Jehovah on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and one ram without blemish; ®the cereal-offering being an ephah to a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and of oil a hin to an ephah.

6 And on the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish and six lambs, and a ram, without blemish; 7 and he shall prepare a cereal-offering, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs as he is able, and of oil a hin to an ephah.

8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go forth by the same way. 9 But when the people of the land shall come before Jehovah in the feast days, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate; and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate; none shall return by the gate at which ie came in, but shall go out straight ahead. 10 The prince shall go in with them, when they go in, and go out, when they go forth.

11 And on the feast days and the festivals the cereal-offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and of oil a hin to an ephah. 12 And when the prince shall prepare a voluntary-offering, a burnt-offering or peace-offerings as a voluntary-offering to Jehovah, the east gate shall be opened for him, and he shall present he burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he doth on the sabbath day; then he shall go out; and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

13 And he shall provide daily a lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt-offering to Jehovah;! each morning shall he provide it. 14 And he shall provide as a cereal-offering with it each morning the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine meal, as a cereal-offering to Jehovah by a perpetual ordinance. 15 Thus shall he provide the lamb, and the cereal-offering, and the oil, each morning, as a regular burnt-offering.

16 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, If the prince make a gift to any of his sons, out of his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he make a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of release; then it shall revert to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. 18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people”s inheritance so as to deprive them by force of their possession; he shall give an inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that none of my people be scattered from his possession.

19 Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the priests” sacred chamber on the north; and there was a place on the extreme western side. 20 And he said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt-offering and the sin-offering, and bake the cereal-offering, so as not to bring them out into the outer court, thereby making the people sacred. 21 Then he brought me into the outer court, and made me pass by the four corners of the court; and there in each corner of the court was a court. 22 In the four corners of the court there were small° courts forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide; these four in the corners were of the same size. 23 And there was a row of stones round about each of the four, and places for boiling were constructed beneath the row of stones round about. 24 Then he said to me, These are the houses where the ministers of the temple shall boil the sacrifice of the people.

47 Then he brought me to the door of the temple and there was water issuing from under the threshold of the temple eastward—the temple faced the east—and the water came down on the south side of the temple, to the south side of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by the way of the north gate, and led me around outside to the eastern outer gate; and there water was flowing on the south side.

3 As the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through waters, ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand cubits, and caused me to pass through waters, knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand cubits, and caused me to pass through waters, hip-deep. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand cub- its; and it was a river through which I could not pass, for the waters were deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be forded.

6 And he said to me, Seest thou, O man? Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, there on the bank of the river were very many trees on both sides. 8 Then he said to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall descend to the Arabah; and they shall go to the Dead Sea into the salt waters; which waters shall be made fresh. 9 Every living creature which swarmeth, in every place whither the river cometh, shall live; and the fish shall be very many.t 10 Fishers shall stand by it from Engedi even to En-eglaim; it shall be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish shall be like the fish of the Great Sea, exceeding many. 11 But its marshes and pools shall not be made fresh; they shall be left for salt. 12 And by the bank of the river on both sides shall grow every kind of tree which furnisheth food; their leaves shall not wither, neither shall their fruit fail; every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for their waters issue from the sanctuary, and their fruit shall be for food and their leaves for healing.

13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, This is the border, whereby ye shall allot the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 14 Ye shall share it equally, for I swore to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.

15 And this is the border of the land on the north: From the Great Sea¥ by* Hethlon, to the entrance of 16 Hamath, as far as Zedad, Berothah, and Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and Hamath; and to Hazerenon, which is on the border of Hauran; 17 thus the border shall run from the sea to Hazarenon, so that the territory of Damascus is on the north on the border of Hamath. This is the northern border.

18 On the east: Between Hauran, Damascus and Gilead and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the northern border to the eastern sea shall ye measure. This is the eastern border.

19 On the south: From Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, and to the Great Sea. This is the southern border.

20 On the west: The Great Sea from the southern border to a point opposite the entrance of Hamath. This is the western border.

21 Thus ye shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribe of Israel. 22 Ye shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and the aliens residing among you, who have begotten children among you; and they shall be reckoned with you as the native-born among the Israelites; they shall be assigned a portion with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And ye shall give the alien his portion in the land in which he dwells, saith the Lord Jehovah.