Ezekiel saw Yahweh’s glory

12 1-2I am Ezekiel, a priest, the son of Buzi. When I was 30 years old, I wasliving among theIsraeli people who had been ◄exiled from/forced to leave► Judahand had come to Babylon. I was living along the Kebar River/Canalsouth of Babylon. Almost five years after King Jehoiachin had been ◄exiled/forced to leave Judah►, on the fifth day of the fourth monthof that year, it was as though the sky was opened and I saw visions from God.

On that day, 3 God gave me messagesin visions here in Babylonia, and I felt the power [MTY] of Yahweh on me.

4 In one of the visions, I saw a windstorm coming from the north. There was a huge cloud, and lightning was flashing continually, and a brilliant light surrounded the cloud. In the center of where the lightning was flashing there was something that resembled glowing bronze. 5 In the center of the storm I saw what resembled four living creatures. They resembled humans, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings [DOU]. 7 Their legs were straight. Their feet resembled the hooves of calves, and the creatures shone like polished bronze. 8 On their four sides under their wings there were hands like humans have. 9 As the four creaturesstood there, they formed a circle/square, with their wings touching each other. They did not turn when they were moving; they went straight ahead.

10 Eachof the creatures had four faces. The face that was in front of each one was a face that resembled a human face. The face on the right side resembled a lion’s face. The face on the left side resembled an ox’s face. The face in back resembled an eagle’s face. 11 Two of each creature’s wings were lifted up and touched the wings of the creatures that were on each side. The other two wings were folded against the creature’s body. 12 The creatures went straight ahead in whatever direction the spiritthat controlled/guided them wanted them to go, without changing directions while they were moving. 13 Thefour creatures resembled burning coals or torches. A blazing fire moved back and forth among the creatures, and lighting flashed from among them. 14 The creatures moved back and forthextremely rapidly, like [SIM] flashes of lightning.

15 While I looked at the four living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each of them. 16 Each of the wheels was the same, and they all shone like [SIM] ◄chrysolite/a valuable green stone►. Each seemed to have one wheel inside another wheel. 17 Whenever they moved, they would go straight in one of the four directions that they faced; they did not turnin another direction while they moved. 18 The rims of the wheels were covered with eyes.

19 Whenever the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. So whenever the creatures rose from the ground, the wheelsalso rose up. 20 Wherever the spiritthat controlled the creatures wanted the creatures to go, they went, and the wheels went with them, because the spiritthat controlled/guided them was in the wheels [DOU]. 21 Whenever the creatures moved, the wheels moved. Whenever the creatures stoodstill, the wheels stopped. Whenever the creatures rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up with them.

22 Above the heads of the creatures there was something that resembled a dome. It shone like ice (OR, crystal) shines, and it was awesome. 23 Under the dome, the creatures stretched out their wings. Each one had two wings; each wing stretched towards the creature thatwas next to it, and two wings that were against the creature’s body. 24 Whenever the creatures moved, their wings made a sound that resembled the roar made by a rushing stream. It also sounded like the voice of Almighty God, and like [SIM] the noise of a huge army marching. Whenever the creatures stood stillon the ground, they lowered their wings.

25 While they stoodon the ground with their wings lowered, there was a voice from the dome that was over their heads. 26 Above the dome was something that resembled ahuge thronethat was made of a huge ◄sapphire/valuable blue stone►. Sitting on the throne was someone that resembled a human. 27 I saw that above his waist his body resembled metal that was glowing as though it hada very hot fire inside it. And I saw that below his waist there was a very brilliant light that surrounded him. 28 Itshone like [SIM] a rainbow shines in the clouds on a rainy day.

That was the brilliant light that represented the presence of Yahweh. When I saw it, I prostrated myself on the ground, and I heard him speak.

Ezekiel was called to be a prophet

2 He said to me, “You human, stand up while I speak to you.” 2 While he spoke to me, God’s Spirit entered me and enabled me to stand up. Then I heard him speak to me.

3 He said, “You human, I will send you to the Israeli people. They are people who have turned away from me and rebelled against me. Their ancestors rebelled against me, and they themselves are still rebelling against me. 4 The people to whom I will send you are very stubborn [DOU]. But say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you.’ 5 Andwhen you tell them my messages, perhaps those rebellious people will heed those messages and perhaps they will not heed them, but they will know thatyou are a prophet who has been among them. 6 And you human, you must not be afraid of them or afraid of what they say. Living among them will be like living in the midst of briers or scorpions, but do not be afraid of them. They are rebellious people [MTY], but do not allow them to cause you to become afraid. 7 Tell them my message, but do not expect them to pay attention to it, because they arevery rebellious. 8 But human, you must pay attention to what I say. Do not be rebellious like they are. Now open your mouth and eat what I give to you.”

9 Then, as I watched, I saw his hand that was stretched toward me. In his hand was a scroll. 10 He unrolled the scroll. On both sides of it were written words that expressed sorrow and mourning and words about trouble/disaster.

3 He said to me, “You human, eat this scroll that is in front of you. Then go and speak to the Israeli people [MTY].” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat it.

3 Then he said to me, “You human, eat the scroll that I have given to you. Fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and in my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey.

4 Then he said to me, “You human, go to the Israeli people [MTY] and tell them my message. 5 The people to whom I am sending you are not people whose language is very difficultto learn, a language which you do not understand. I am sending you to your Israeli people [MTY]. 6 I am sending you to people whose language you understand very well. If I were sending you to people whose language was difficult for you to understand, they wouldbe surprised and pay attention to what yousay to them. 7 But the Israeli people do not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me. They do not want to listen because they are all very stubborn [DOU]. 8 But I will enable you [SYN] to be as stubborn and tough as they are. 9 I will cause you to be as firm/unbreakable as [SIM] the hardest stone, like flint. So, even though they are very rebellious people, do not be afraid of them; do not allow them to cause you to be afraid.”

10 He also said to me, “You human, listen very carefully to what I say, and keep thinking about it [IDM]. 11 Go to your fellow Israelis who arehere after being ◄exiled/forced to leave their country►, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ and then tell them my message, whether they want to hear it or whether they do not want to hear it.”

12 Thenin the vision the Spiritof God lifted me up, and I heard behind mesomeone speaking very loudly, like a loud rumbling sound. I heard someone say, “Praise our glorious Yahweh in the place where he livesin heaven!” 13 I heard the sound of the wings of the four living creatures brushing against each other, andI also heard the sound of the wheels that were beside them. It was a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit took me away. Within me I was very bitter and angry [DOU], but I felt Yahweh holding me very powerfully. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abibtown near the Kebar River/Canalsouth of Babylon. Then, where they were living, I sat for seven days. I was shockedabout everything that I had seen.

The warning to the Israeli people

16 After those seven days had ended, Yahweh gave me this message: 17 “You human, I am appointing youto be like a watchman [MET] for the Israeli people [MTY]. So listen to these messages that I will give you, and tell them those messages to warn them. 18 When I say about some wicked people, ‘They will surely diebecause of their sins,’ if you do not warn them or tell them that they must turn from their wicked behavior if they want to ◄save their lives/remain alive►, those wicked people will die because of the sins that they have committed, but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY]. 19 But if you warn the wicked people and they do not turn from all their wicked behavior [DOU], they will die because of their sins, but you will have saved yourselffrom my punishing you.

20 Similarly, when righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and do evil deeds, I will cause bad things to happen [IDM] to them. But you must warn them. If you do not warn them, and if they do not stop their sinful behavior, they will die because of their sins; I will not think about the righteous things that they didpreviously, but I will consider that you are responsible for their deaths [MTY]. 21 But if you warn righteous people not to sin, and they do not sin, they will surely remain alive because they heededyour warning, and you will have saved yourselffrom my punishing you.”

22 I felt Yahweh take control [MTY] of me, and he said to me, “Get up and go outfrom the city down to the plain/valley, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went down to the valley. And I saw the glory of Yahweh there, like the glory that I had seen along the Kebar River/Canal. And I prostrated myself on the ground.

24 Then the Spiritof God entered me and enabled me to stand up. He said to me, “Go into your house and stay inside it. 25 People will tie you with ropes, with the result that you will be unable to go out among the people. 26 Even though they are very rebellious people, I will cause your tongue to stick to the roof of your mouth, with the result that you will be unable to talk and to rebuke them. 27 Butthen when I speak to youagain, I will enable you to talk [MTY], and you will say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ and you will tell them my message. Those who are willing to listento what you say will listen, butmany will refuse to listen, because they are rebellious people [MTY].”

Ezekiel symbolized the coming destruction of Jerusalem

4 Yahweh also said to me, “You human, take a large clay tablet/brick and put it in front of you. Then on the clayengrave/draw on it lines that represent Jerusalem. 2 Thendraw figures around it to represent enemy soldiers who will surround the city. Make mounds around it and a dirt ramp up against the wallaround the city. Setfigures around it that represent ◄battering rams/heavy logs that will break though the walls►. 3 Then take an iron pan, and place it to be like an iron wall between you andthe drawing of the city. Then turn your face toward the drawing. It will symbolize thatenemy troops will surround the city to attack it. That will be a warning to the Israeli people [MTY].

4-5 4-5Then lie on your left side, and stay like that for 390 days. That willsymbolize that the Israeli people will be punished for their sins; you must lie like that one day for each year during which they will be punished.

6 After that, lie down again. This time, lie on your right side for 40 days. That willsymbolize that the Israeli people will be punished more for their sins, one day for each yearduring which they will be punished. 7 Turn your face towardthe drawing of Jerusalem and bare your armlike a soldier does who prepares to go into a battle [MTY], and prophesy aboutwhat will happen to the city. 8 You will not be able to move; it will be as though I have tied you with ropes in order that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finishedsymbolizing how many years the city will be ◄besieged/surrounded by enemy soldiers►.

9 Before you do that, take some wheat and barley, beans, lentils, spelt and millet, and put them in a storage jar, and use that to bake breadfor yourself. That is what you will eat during the 390 days while you lie on your left side. 10 You will eat ◄8 ounces/a small loaf► of bread each day. 11 Also measure out ◄1.5 pints/0.6 liter► of water to drink each day. 12 Eat that bread like you would eat a loaf of barley bread. But use your own dried dung for fuel to bake the bread while people are watching. 13 That will symbolize that the Israeli people will be forced to eat food that is unacceptable to me when they are living in the nations to which I will force them to go.”

14 Then I said, “No, Yahweh God!Do not force me to do that! I have never caused myself to become unacceptable to you by doing anything like that. From the time when I was young, I have never eaten meat of any animal that was found dead or that had been killed by wild animals. And I have never eaten any meat that is unacceptable to you.”

15 Yahweh replied, “Okay, I will allow you to bake your bread using dried cow manure instead of human dungfor fuel.”

16 Then he said to me, “You human, I will cause the supply of food to Jerusalem to be cut off. Then the people will eat the small amounts of food and drink the small amounts of waterthat the government permits them to have, and they will be very distressed and anxious as they do that, 17 because water and food will be very scarce. They will see each other becoming extremely thin, and they will be appalled; but this will happen because they are being punished for the sins that they have committed.”

5 “Also, you human, when you start doing those things, take a sharp sword and use it like [SIM] a razor to shave your head and your beard. Then put the hair that you shaved off on scales, and divide the hairinto three equal parts. 2 When the time during whichyou will symbolize that the city will be surroundedby enemy troops ends, put a third of the hair inside thedrawing of the city and burn it. Take another third of the hair, scatter it all aroundthe drawing of the city, and then strike it with your sword. That will symbolize that I will strike the people of Jerusalem withtheir enemies’ swords. Then allow the wind to scatter the other third of the hair. That will symbolize thateven if they flee from the city, I will stillcause their enemies to pursue them and attack them with swords. 3 Take a few of your hairs and tuck them into the folds of your robe. 4 Then take a few of those hairs, throw them into the fire, and burn them up. That will symbolize that a fire will spread from Jerusalem and destroy things throughout Israel.

5 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘Thisdrawing will represent Jerusalem, the city which I have set in the center of the nations, with other countries around it. 6 But the wicked people of Jerusalem rebelled against obeying my commands, and they show that they are more wicked than the people of the surrounding countries. They rejected my laws and refused to obey my commands.’

7 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘You people of Jerusalem have been more rebellious than the people of the nations around you; you have not obeyed any of my laws [DOU]. You have not even obeyed the laws of the nations around you!’

8 Therefore, this is whatI, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am opposed to you people of Jerusalem. I will punish you, and the people of other nations will see it happen. 9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will punish youpeople of Jerusalem like I have never done before and will never do again. 10 As a result, parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parentsbecause there will be nothing else to eat. I will punish you severely, and I will cause those who will still be alive to be scattered in all directions [IDM].’ 11 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, because you have polluted my temple with all your disgusting statues of idols and by the other detestable things that you do, I will no longer bless you. I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you. 12 One-third of your people will die inside the city because of the plagues they will experience or by ◄famine/lack of food►. One-third of your people will be killed byyour enemies’ swords outside the city. And one-third I will cause to be scattered in all directions; butyour enemies will still pursue you and kill you with their swords.

13 Then I will no longer be angry with you; I will stop punishing [MTY] you after I have gotten revenge on you. And when I stop punishing you, you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken to you because I have been very strongly concerned aboutwhat you have done.

14 I will cause your city to be a ruins, with the result that people of other nations that are around you will pass by and see it and sneer at you. 15 They will make fun of you and taunt you. When I severely punish you because of my being very angry [DOU] with you, they will be horrified and they will be warned. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it. 16 When I cut off your food supply and cause there to be more famine, it will be as though [MET] I am shooting at you with my arrows that will destroy you. 17 I will cause you to experience a famine, and I will send wild beasts to attack you and your children, and all your children will be killed. You will experience plagues and wars, and I will cause your enemies to attack you with their swords. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

A prophecy against the mountains

6 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, turn toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy aboutwhat will happen to them, and say, 3 ‘You mountains and hills of Israel [APO], listen to what Yahweh the Lord says to you: “I am about to sendenemy soldiers with swords to come and destroy allthe shrines on your hilltops. 4 They will smash all the altarsfor worshiping idols and the altars for burning incense. And they will killmany Israeli people in front of those idols. 5 Their corpses will lie in front of their idols, and their bones will be scattered around their altars. 6 Wherever the Israelis live, their towns will be ruined, and the shrines where they worship idols will be smashed. Their altars will be completely smashed [DOU], their idols will be completely smashed [DOU], and everything that they own will become a pile of ruins. 7 Many of their people will be killed; and then they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do the things that I say that I will do.

8 But I will allow some of the Israelis to remain alive. They will escape being killed when their enemies scatter them among many other nations. 9 When that happens, in those nations to which they have been forced to go, those who have escaped from being killed will think about me. They will remember that I was very grieved because of their turning away from me [IDM] with their inner beings, and because they very much desired [IDM] to worship their idols. They will ◄hate/be very displeased with► themselves because of the evil and detestable things that they have done. 10 Andthey will realize that I, Yahweh, have punished them. They will realize that when I threatened to punish them, I surely intended [LIT] to do that.

11 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, sayto you, Ezekiel: ‘Wring your hands and stamp your feet and cry outto show that you are distressed, and groanabout what will happen to your Israeli people [MTY] because of all their wicked and detestable behavior. They will be killed bytheir enemies’ swords, they will die from hunger, and they will die from plagues. 12 Those who are far from Jerusalem will die from plagues, those who are close to Jerusalem will be killed by their enemies’ swords, and those who are still alive will die from hunger. That is how I will punish [MTY] them. 13 Some of your people’s corpses will lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hilltop and on all the mountaintops, under every big tree [DOU]—at all the places where they burned incense tohonor their idols. Then they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 14 And I will stretch out my arm and cause your entire country to become an empty wasteland, from the desertin the far south to Diblahtown in the far north. Then they will realize that I, Yahweh, have the power to do the things that I say that I will do.’ ”

Israel will soon be destroyed

7 Yahweh gave me another message. He said 2 “You human, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to the people [MTY] of Israel: All of Israel will soon be destroyed. 3 Youpeople of Israel, the end has come. I will punish you severely. I will judge you for all the wicked things that you have done, and pay you back for your disgusting behavior. 4 I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you. I will surely punish you for your wicked behavior [DOU]. Then you will know that it has happened because I, Yahweh, have done it.”

5 This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “You will soon experience many terrible disasters! 6 This will be the endof Israel; your country will be finished! And your lives will be ended [PRS]! 7 It will be the end of you people who live in the landof Israel. The time has come; the daywhen you will be destroyed is near. At that time the people who worship idols on the mountains will not be happy; they will panic. 8 I am very angry with you and am about to pour out my punishment [MTY] on you. I will judge you for all the wicked things that you have done and pay you back for your disgusting behavior. 9 I will not pity you or act mercifully toward you. I will surely punish you for your wicked behavior [DOU]. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have punished you.

10 The dayof your punishment is here! It has arrived! Disasters have come. 11 People are acting violently and doing more wicked things. And nothing that belongs to those people will be left, none of their money, nothing that is valuable. 12 Now is the time; that day has arrived. 13 People who buy things should not rejoicebecause of buying things very cheaply, and those who sell things should not be sadbecause they had to sell things cheaply, becauseYahweh will be punishing [MTY] everyone. During the rest of their lives, people who sell some of their property will never be able to buy it back, because I, Yahweh, will never change my mind about what I have declared; because of your sins, I will destroy all of you people. 14 Even though yoursoldiers blow trumpetsto prepare for a battle, no soldier will go into a battle, because I will have killed all of them.

15 When those things happen, your enemies will be outsidethe city with their swords, and there will be plagues and famines insidethe city. Thosewho flee from the city into the countryside will be killed bytheir enemies’ swords, and those who stay in the city will die from famines and plagues. 16 Those who survive and escape will flee to the mountains, and they all will moan like doves because of their sins. 17 Because everyone will be very afraid, all the people’s hands will become limp and their knees will become very weak. 18 They will put on clothes made from rough cloth, and they will be terrified. Their faces will show that they are ashamed, and they will shave their headsto show that they are very sad. 19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and consider that their gold is only like [SIM] garbage, because they will realize that their silver and gold will not be able to rescue them when I, Yahweh, punish them. They will not be able to use their gold and silver to buy things to fill their stomachs, because having a lot of gold and silver has led them to sin. 20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry, and they used it to make their detestable idols and disgusting statuesof their gods. So I will cause them to be disgusted with those things. 21 I will give their silver and gold to foreigners who invade your country and take away your valuable treasures. I will give those things to wicked people, and they will do disgraceful things to those treasures that I give them. 22 I will not ◄interfere with/stop► [IDM] robbers when they enter my sacred temple and desecrate it.

23 Prepare chains to be fastened on you. People are being murdered [MTY] throughout the country, and people are acting violently throughout the city. 24 So I will bring armies of the nations whose people are extremely wicked to occupy the houses of the Israeli people. I will cause Israeli peoplewho think that they are [IRO] strong/mighty to no longer be proud. Your enemies will cause your places of worship to no longer be acceptable to be used. 25 When your enemies cause you to be terrified, you will plead for them to make peace, but there will be no peace. 26 You will experience many disasters, and you will continually hear rumorsabout disasters that are happening in other places. People will plead with prophets to tell them what visions they have received, but the prophets will not have received any visions. Priests will no longer teach people the lawsthat I gave to Moses. 27 Your king will mourn, and his son will no longer expectthat good things will happen. The hands of people throughout the country will tremble. And I will do to them what they deserve for their wicked behavior. I will judgeand condemn them the same way they have judgedand condemned others. Then they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

Idol worship in the temple

8 On the fifth day of the sixth month of that year, almost six years after we Israeli people had been ◄exiled/forced to go to Babylon►, I was sitting in my house. The elders of Judah were sitting in front of me. Suddenly the power [MTY] of Yahweh the Lord came on me. 2 Thenin a vision I saw someone who resembled a man. Below his waist, his body was like fire, and above his waist his body was glowing like very hot metal. 3 He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up high above the earth, and in visions God took me from Babylon to Jerusalem. He took me to the temple, to the north gate, to the place where there was an idol that caused Yahweh to be very disgusted and furious. 4 And there in front of me was the brilliant light that indicated the presence of the God whom the Israeli people previously worshiped. It was like the vision that I had seen alongside the Kebar River/Canal.

5 Yahweh said to me, “You human, look toward the north!” So I looked, and I saw in the entrance of the gate near the altar that idol that caused Yahweh to be disgusted and furious.

6 He said to me, “You human, do you see what those Israeli people [MTY] are doing? They are doing detestable things here, things that will cause me to abandon my temple. But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard. I looked and saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “You human, dig through the wall here.” So I dug through the wall, and I saw a doorway inside.

9 He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things that they are doing there!” 10 So I went in through the doorway and looked, and I saw, all over the wallsof a big room, drawings of all kinds of creatures that scurry across the ground and other detestable animals, and drawings of all the idols that the people of Israelwere worshiping. 11 In front of them stood 70 elders of Israel. Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing among them. Each of them was holding a pan in which incense was burning, and fragrant smoke of the burning incense was rising up.

12 Yahweh said to me, “You human, look at [RHQ] what the Israeli elders are doing here in the darkness, each of them standing in front of the shrine of his own idol! They are saying, ‘Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has deserted this country.’ ” 13 He also said, “But you will see things that are even more detestable!”

14 Then he took me to the entrance at the north gate of the temple. I saw women sitting there, mourning for the death of the god of the people of Babylonia, Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “You human, you see this [RHQ], but you will see things that are more detestable than this!”

16 Then he took me into the courtyard outside the temple. There at the entrance of the temple, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men. Their backs were toward the temple and their faces were toward the east, and they were bowing down to worship the sun as it rose in the east.

17 He said to me, “You human, you see [RHQ] what they are doing. Do you think that it is not important that these men of Judah are doing these detestable things here? But they are doing other terrible things. They are acting violently throughout their country, and continually causing me to be angry. Look at them! They are insulting me by their actions [IDM]! 18 So I will show them that I am very angry. I will not pity them or act mercifully toward them. And even if they shout to me to help them, I will not pay attention to them.”

The command to punish Jerusalem

9 Then I heard Yahweh call out loudly, “You men who are going to punish this city, bring here the guards of the city, each carrying a weapon.” 2 Then I saw six men coming from the north gate of the temple area. Each one was carrying a weapon. With them was a man wearing a white linen robe. Hecarried at his side a case containing things to write with. They all came into the temple and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 Then the ◄glory/dazzling light► that symbolized the presence of the God of Israel rose up from above the four winged creatures and moved to the entrance of the temple. Then Yahweh called to the man wearing the linen robe, 4 and said to him, “Go throughout Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who are very sad [DOU] because of the detestable things that are being done inside the city.”

5 While I was listening, he said to the other six men, “Follow the man wearing the white robe, and kill people. Do not pity them or act mercifully toward them. 6 Slaughter old men, young men and women, older women and children, but do not harm any of those who have that mark on their forehead. Start at my temple.” So they began by killing the elders who were worshiping idols in front of the temple.

7 Then Yahweh said to those men, “Pollute the temple by filling the courtyardwith the corpses of those whom you kill! Start now!” So they went out and starting killing people throughout the city. 8 While they were doing that, I was left alone. I prostrated myself on the ground and cried out, “Yahweh my Lord, are you going to get rid of all the people of Israel and Judah who are still alive, while you are severely punishing [MTY] the people of Jerusalem?”

9 He replied, “The sins of the people [MTY] of Israel and Judah are extremely great. People are murdered [MTY] everywhere in this country, and this city is full of people who act unjustly. They say, ‘Yahweh has abandoned this country, and he does not seewhat we are doing.’ 10 So I will not pity them or act mercifully toward them. I will do to them the evil things that they have done to other people.”

11 Then the man wearing the linen robe returned, saying, “I have done what you commanded me to do.”

Yahweh’s glory leaves the temple

10 Then in the vision I saw what resembled a throne made of ◄sapphire/a very valuable blue stone►. It was above the thing that resembled a dome that was above the heads of the four winged creatures. 2 Yahweh said to the man wearing the linen robe, “Go between the wheels that are under the winged creatures. Pick up as many hot coals as you can, and scatter them over the city.” And while I watched, the man wearing the linen robe left.

3 The four winged creatures were standing on the south side of the temple when the man wearing the linen robe entered. Then a cloud filled the inner courtyard of the temple area. 4 And the ◄glory/dazzling light► of Yahweh rose up from above the winged creatures and went to the entrance of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the courtyard was full of the ◄glory/dazzling light► of Yahweh. 5 The sound made by the wings of the winged creatures could be heard as far away as the courtyard outside the temple. It wasvery loud, like [SIM] the voice of Almighty God when he speaks.

6 When Yahweh commanded the man wearing the linen robe to take burning coals from among those winged creatures, the man went intothe courtyard and stood beside one of the wheels. 7 Then one of those winged creatures reached out his hand to the fire that was there among them. He picked up some of the coals and put them in the hands of the man wearing the linen robe, and that man took them and left. 8 Under the wings of the winged creatures was something that resembled a human’s hands.

9 Then in the vision I saw four wheels alongside the winged creatures. There was one wheel beside each of the winged creatures. The wheels shone like [SIM] very valuable stones. 10 The wheels were all alike: Each had one wheel inside another wheel. 11 Whenever they moved, they went straight in whatever direction one of the winged creatures faced. The wheels did not turn in another direction while the winged creatures flew. 12 Their bodies, including their backs and hands and wings, were covered with eyes. The wheels were also covered with eyes. 13 I heard someone call them ‘the whirling wheels’. 14 Each of the winged creatures had four faces. One face was like the face of a bull, one face was like the face of a human, one face was like the face of a lion, and one face was like the face of an eagle.

15 Then the winged creatures rose up. They were the same living creatures that I had seen alongside the Kebar River/Canal. 16 When the winged creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. When the winged creatures spread their wings to fly over the ground, the wheels did not leave them. 17 When the winged creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the winged creatures started to fly, the wheels flew with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

18 Then the ◄glory/dazzling light► left the entrance of the temple and stopped above the winged creatures. 19 While I watched, the winged creatures spread their wings and started to fly, and the wheels went with them. They stopped at the gate on the east side of the temple area, and the ◄glory/dazzling light► of God, the one whom the Israelishad worshiped, was above them.

20 Those were the same four living creatures that I had seen alongside the Kebar River/Canal, and I realized that they were the winged creatures. 21 Each of them had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what resembled a human’s hands. 22 Their faces were the same as the faces that I had seen at the Kebar River/Canal. Each of them flew straight ahead.

Israel’s wicked leaders are condemned

11 Then God’s Spirit lifted me up and took me to the gate on the east side of the temple area. There at the gate were 25 men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. 2 Yahweh said to me, “You human, these are the new leaders in Jerusalem who are planning to do evil things and who are giving wicked advice to people in this city. 3 They say, ‘Everything will go well for us, so it will surely soon be [RHQ] time to build houses. We are like [MET] fine/choice pieces of meat that are carefully stored in covered pots, and we are protected from the bad things that will happen to others.’ 4 So, you human, prophesy aboutthe terrible things that will happen to them.”

5 Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon me and told me to sayto the people, “This is what Yahweh says: You Israeli people [MTY] are saying those things, but I know what you are thinking. 6 You have killed many people in this city and filled the streets with their corpses.

7 Therefore this is what Yahweh the Lord says: The corpses of the people whom you have killed here are like the meat [MET], and this city is like the pot [MET], but I will expel you from this city. 8 You are afraid ofbeing killed by enemies’ swords, and that is what I will cause to happen to you. 9 I will expel you from this city and enable foreigners to capture you and punish you. 10 They will kill [EUP] you with their swords; you will be punished right here in Israel. Then people will realize that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 11 This city will not be aa place were you will be protected like [MET] meat in a covered pot. I will punish you wherever you are in Israel. 12 And you will know that I, Yahweh, have predicted that would happen, because you have not obeyed my commands and decrees; instead, you have imitated thewicked behavior of the people of the nearby nations.”

13 While I was prophesying that, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah suddenly died. Then I prostrated myself on the ground and cried out loudly, “Yahweh my Lord, are you going tosimilarly get rid of all the Israeli people who are still alive?”

14 Then Yahweh gave me this message: 15 “You human, the people who are still in Jerusalem are talking about you and your own relatives and about all the other people who were ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries►, saying, ‘They arein Babylonia, far from Yahweh. They have left their propertyhere in Israel, so their property now belongs to us!’ ”

God’s promise that the exiles will return

16 So tell them, “This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Although I caused them to be taken far awayfrom Israel and scattered them among other nations, for a short time I will ◄be like a refuge for/protect► them in the countries to which they have been taken.”

17 So also tell them, “This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Some day I will gather you from the nationsto which you have been taken and bring you back to Israel, and you will live in your country/land again.

18 When you return to your country, you will get rid of all the vile statues of gods and detestable idols. 19 I will put a new way of thinking [IDM] within you. I will cause you to no longer be stubborn [IDM], and I will enable you to obey me completely [IDM]. 20 When I do that, you will carefully obey all my laws [DOU]. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 21 But as for those who are devoted toworshiping their vile statues and detestable idols, I will punish them as they deserve for the evil things that they have done.’ ”

22 Then the winged creatures, with their wheels beside them, spread their wingsand flew up into the air, and the dazzling brightness of Yahweh was above them. 23 That light went up away from the city and stopped above the mountain to the east of the city. 24 In the vision that I had been seeing, God’s Spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the ◄exiles in/people who had been forced to go to► Babylonia. Then the vision ended, 25 and I told the exiles everything that Yahweh had shown mein the vision.

Ezekiel symbolizes what will happen when they are exiled

12 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, you are living among people who are very rebellious. They have eyes, but they do not seewhat I want them to see; they have ears, but they do not hearwhat I want them to hear, because they are rebellious/stubborn people.

3 Therefore, you human, pack your belongings as though you were ◄going into exile/being forced to go to another country►. Then, during the daytime, while people are watching, prepare to go to another place. Even though the people are rebellious, perhaps they will understandwhat you are symbolizing. 4 During the daytime, while they are watching, bring out the things that you want to take and pack them. Then in the evening, while they are watching, do what those who are preparing to go into exile do. 5 Dig through thecity wall and take your things through the hole. 6 Then put themin a sack on your shoulder while they are watching and leave at dusk. Cover your face in order that you cannot see the path. I want you to do this because I want you to warn the Israeli people.”

7 So I did what Yahweh told me to do. During the day I brought things out of my houseas though I was packing to go into exile. Then in the evening I dug through thecity wall. Then while people watched, I put my sack of belongings on my shoulder and left.

8 The next morning, Yahweh gave me this message: 9 “You human, the rebellious people [MTY] of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’

10 So go back and say to them, ‘What I did is about the king in Jerusalem and all the other people of Israel who are there.’ 11 Tell them, ‘What I did is a warning to you.’ What has happened to you will happen to them. They will be captured and forced to go to another country. 12 Their king will put his belongings on his shoulder at dusk and leave. His servants will dig a hole through the city wall, and he will take his belongings through it. He will cover his face in order thatothers will not recognize him. 13 Butit will be as though I will spread a net for himto be captured; enemy soldiers will capture him and take him to Babyloncity. But he will notbe able to see it; and there he will die. 14 I will scatter in all directions [IDM] all those who have been around him—his advisors and his soldiers—and I will cause his enemies to pursue them, with their swords ready to strike them.

15 Then, when I scatter them among many nations [DOU], they will know that I, Yahweh,have the power to do what I say that I will do. 16 But I will spare/save a few of them from being killed by swords and from dying from famines or plagues, with the result that in the nations to which they are forced to go, they will realize/admit that they have been doing disgusting things, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

17 Then Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 18 “You human, tremble while you eat your food, and shudder fearfully while you drink your water. 19 Tell this to the Israeli people: 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says about those who are still living in Jerusalem and inother places in Israel: They also will be very anxious/worried [DOU] while they eat their food and drink their water, because their country will soon have everything taken away. That will happen because the people who live there continually act very violently. 20 The towns where people live will be devastated, and the land will become barren/empty. Then you people will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.' ”

21 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 22 “You human, the people in Israel have this proverb/saying: ‘The days pass, and whatthe prophets predict never happens.’ 23 So say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: I am going to prove that ◄what they say/that proverb► is not correct, and then they will never say that again in Israel.’ Tell them, ‘It will soon be the time when everything that the prophets have predicted will happen. 24 No longer willfalse prophets tell to the Israeli people false visions, or prophecies that try to please people. 25 Instead, I, Yahweh, will say what I want to tell the people, and what I predict will quickly happen. You rebellious people, I will cause to happen everything that I say will happen. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.’ ”

26 Yahweh also gave me this message: 27 “You human, the Israeli people are constantly saying about you, ‘The things that he sees in visionswill not happen soon. They are aboutthings that will happen many years from now, far in the future.’

28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord [DOU] says: I will no longer delaycausing to happen any of the things that I have prophesied. Whatever I have predicted willvery soon happen.’ ”

Ezekiel condemned the false prophets

13 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, prophesya warning against the prophets in Israel who are prophesying. Some of them are prophesying things that they themselves have imagined/thought. Say to them: 'Listen to what Yahweh says! 3 He says, “Terrible things will happen to those wicked prophets who proclaim their own ideas and have not seen anyvisions from me. 4 You Israeli people, your prophets areas useless as [SIM] jackals/wolves that only dig through the ruinsof a city. 5 Those prophets have not helped you Israeli people [MTY] to repair the places where thecity walls have ◄been broken/crumbled►. That needs to be done in order that the walls will be strong at the time when I, Yahweh, allow your enemies to attack you. 6 The visions and prophecies of those prophets are false. They say, 'Yahweh told me this,' but I have not sent themto you to be my prophets. But they expect that what they prophesy will truly happen! 7 They say that they have seen visions, but those visions are false, and the things that they prophesy are lies [RHQ]. They say, 'Yahweh told me this,' but I have told them nothing!”

8 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: “Because you prophets have said what is false, and because your visions are lies, I am opposed to you. 9 I will strike/punish all you prophets who falsely say that you have seen visions and prophesy things that are lies. You will not have any place among my people, your names will not be listed in the records of the Israeli people, and you will never return to Israel. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

10 They deceive my people, saying “Things will go well for us,” when things will not go well. It as though [MET] the people have built a shaky/weak wall, and the prophets cover it with ◄whitewash/white paint► to make people think that it is a very strong wall. 11 So, tell those prophets who cover the wall with whitewash that the wall will surely fall down. It will rain very hard. I will send big hailstones to fall. Very strong winds will blow against it. 12 When the wall falls down, the people will certainly say to those prophets, “The white paint certainly did not [RHQ] make the wall strong!”

13 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: “Because I am very angry with you, I will send enemy armies to destroy Jerusalem. It will be as though [MET] I will send a very strong wind and hailstones and very heavy rains to destroy you.” 14 The false prophecies of your prophets are like [MET] a wall that they have covered with whitewash, but I will break it down, and shatter it down to the ground, with the result that people can see its foundations. When the wall collapses, you also will be killed, and everyone will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 15 In that way I will show that I am very angry withthe people who built the wall and those who covered it with ◄whitewash/white paint►. Then I will say to you, “The wall is destroyed/gone, and those prophets who put ◄whitewash/white paint► on it have been killed.” 16 Those are the prophets who prophesied that things would go well for the people in Jerusalem, when things would not go well for them.

17 So, you human, show that you are angry with [IDM] the women of Jerusalem who prophesy things that they themselves have imagined. 18 Tell them, “This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Terrible things will happen to you women who fasten magic charms on your wrists and make veils of various sizes to put on your heads in order to deceive the people. You think that [RHQ] you will deceive othersby telling them that you know what will happen in the future, and that you will save your own lives. 19 You dishonored meby telling lies in order to get from my people a few handfuls of barley and a few pieces of bread. My people listen to lies; and you women who are lying to them have caused to be killed people who did not deserve to die and have ◄spared/allowed to remain alive► those who should not continue to live.”

20 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, sayto those women: “I detest your magic charms by which you deceive people like [SIM] people trap birds. I will tear those charms off your wrists, and I will cause the people whom you have deceived to no longer be deceived by you. 21 I will also tear off your veils and rescue my people from continuing to be deceived by you, and they will no longer be under your control. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 22 You have discouraged righteous people by telling them lies when I did not do things to cause them to be sad. And you have encouraged wicked people to not turn away from their wicked behavior; if they had done that, they would have continued to remain alive. 23 Therefore, you will no longer falsely say that you have seen visions or tell people what will happen in the future in order to please them. I will rescue my people from being deceived by you. And then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.” ' ”

Ezekiel condemned the idol worshipers

14 One day some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then Yahweh gave me this message: 3 “You human, these men want to [IDM] worship idols, and they are allowing idols to induce them to sin [IDM]. So I will certainly [RHQ] answer them if they ask me for advice. 4 So say this to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: When any Israeli person wants to worship idols which will induce him to sin, and he goes to a prophetto get advice, I, Yahweh, will give him the answer that he deserves to receive because he worship idols. 5 I will do that in order that the Israeli people, who have abandoned me in order to worship their idols, will sincerely [IDM] worship me again.’

6 Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: ◄Repent/Stop sinning►! Stop worshiping your idols, and stop all your other detestable behavior!’

7 When any of you Israeli people or any foreigner living among you turns away from me and starts worshiping idols [IDM] that induce him to sin, and then goes to a prophet to find out what I want him to do, I myself will answer him. 8 I will show that I detest him, and causewhat happens to him to be a warning to others, and cause him to be someone whom people despise. I will cause him to no longer be allowed to associate with my people. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

9 And if a prophet is deceived and gives a false prophecy, even though I haveallowed him to give that message, I will get rid of him and remove him from among my Israeli people. 10 Both the prophet and the one who asks him for advice will be guilty, and I will punish both of them. 11 Then you Israeli people will no longer abandon me, and you will no longer become unacceptable to me because of your sins. You will be my people, and I will be your God. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.”

Yahweh will punish Jerusalem

12 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 13 “You human, ifthe people of some country sin against me by abandoning me, and I punish [IDM] them by cutting off their food supply and by sending a famine, with the result that people and animals die, 14 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they would save only themselves because of their being righteous. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

15 Or, if I send wild animals throughout the country, and they attack and killmany of [HYP] the people, with the result that travel in that country becomes very dangerous and no one travels through that country, 16 as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they could not save even their own sons or daughtersfrom being killed. Only those three would ◄be saved/remain alive►, and the country would become desolate. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

17 Or, if I bring enemy soldiers [MTY] to attack that country, and they kill [MTY] people and animals throughout that country with their swords, 18 as surely as I am alive, even if those three men were in that country, they would not be able to save even their own sons or daughtersfrom being killed. They would save only themselves. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

19 Or, if I send a plague into that land and cause the people and the animals to diefrom the plague because I am very angry with those people, 20 as surely as I am alive, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in that country, they would not be able to save even their sons and daughters. They would save only themselves because of their being righteous. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

21 So now this is what I,, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will cause four things to happen to the people of Jerusalem to punish them very severely. Some people and animals will be killed by swords, some will die from famines, others will be attacked and killed by wild animals, and others will die in plagues. 22 But some of your people will remain alive, both adults and children. They will come to you, Ezekiel, in Babylon. And when you see theirdisgusting behavior and actions, you will realize that I had good reasons for causing the people of Jerusalem to experience those many great disasters [DOU] that I have sent to them. 23 When you see those things that they do, you will know that there were very good reasons [LIT] for me to do everything that I caused to happen to them. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

The people of Jerusalem are like useless grapevines

15 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, the wood of a grapevine is certainly not [RHQ] more useful that the branches of the trees in a forest. 3 No one [RHQ] ever takes a branch of a grapevine and makes anything useful from it. No one [RHQ] even makes pegs from them to hang things on. 4 And after a branch of a grapevine is thrown into a fire, and the fire burns both ends and chars/scorches the branch in the middle, will it then be useful for anything? 5 No; if it was not useful for anything before it was burned, it certainly cannot bemade into something useful after the fire has burned and charred it.

6 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: The wood of grapevines is useful only for fuel in a fire. Similarly, the people who live in Jerusalemare useless. 7 I will reject [IDM] them. It will be as though they have escaped from a fire, but there will still be a fire that will burn them up. And when I punish [EUP] them, you people who remain alive will know that I, Yahweh, have done it. 8 I will cause your country to become a wasteland because your people have not been loyal to me. That is what I, Yahweh, the Lord, say.”

An illustration about Jerusalem being unfaithful

16 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, cause the people of Jerusalem to think about their detestable behavior. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you people of Jerusalem: It is as though you are a woman who [MET] was born in the country where the Canaan people-group lived. It is as though [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group. 4 It is as though [MET] on the day that you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and your body was not washed in water, and it was not rubbed with salt or wrapped in strips of cloth, like Israeli babies always are. 5 No one pitied you or acted kindly toward you by doing those things for you. Instead, it was as though [MET] you were thrown into a field, because on the day that you were born, you were despised {everyone despised you}.

6 Then it was as though [MET] I passed by and saw you lying in your own blood and kicking. And while you lay there kicking in your own blood, I said to you, “I want you to remain alive!” 7 It was as though I caused you to grow up, like plants in the field grow; you grew up and became tall and became like [MET] a very beautiful jewel. It was as though [MET] your breasts ◄formed/became large►, and your hair became long, although you were still naked [DOU].

8 When I saw you several years later, it was as though [MET] I saw that you were old enough to have sex [EUP]. So it was as though [MET] I spread the corner of my robe over youto symbolize that I would marry you, with the result that you were no longer naked. I solemnly promised that I would marry you and made a marriage agreement with you, and you became my wife. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.

9 And then it was as though [MET] I bathed you and washed the blood from you and put ointment on your body. 10 It was as though [MET] I put a fine linen robe on you and gave you other expensive clothes. I put an embroidered dress on you and put leather sandals on your feet. 11 It was as though [MET] I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck. Those things all had nice jewels fastened to them. 12 I put a gold ring in your nose and fastened earrings to your ears and put a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So it was as though you wore gold and silver ornaments. You had clothes made from fine ◄linen/white cloth► and other expensive embroidered material/cloth. You ate bread made from fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You became very beautiful, like [MET] a queen. 14 You were very beautiful, with the result that people in other nations heard about you, because they knew that I, Yahweh the Lord, am the one who had caused you to become very beautiful.

15 But it was as though [MET] you realized that because people knew that you were very beautiful, you could earn a lot of money by becoming a prostitute. It was as though you had sex with [EUP] every man who came along, and they all enjoyed your beauty. 16 It was as though you took some of your clothes to make beautifully decorated shrines, and that is where you had sex with those men. Those things should certainly never occur! 17 You took the fine gold and silver jewelry that I gave you, and you made male idols for yourself, in order to have sex with them. 18 You took some of your embroidered clothes to put on those idols, and you burned oil and incense in front of them to honor them. 19 And the bread that was made from fine flour and the olive oil and honey that I gave to you to eat, you offered to be a fragrant sacrifice to those idols. I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that is what happened.

20 And you even took your sons and daughters who were as though they were [MET] my children, and sacrificed them to be food for the idols. That was much worse [RHQ] than your becoming a prostitute. 21 You slaughtered those who were like [MET] my children, and offered them to be sacrifices to the gods! 22 All during the time when you were acting like a prostitute and doing other detestable things, you did not think about the time when it was as though you were very young, naked [DOU], lying in your own blood and kicking.

23 So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that terrible things will happen to you. In addition to all the other wicked things that you did, 24 you built a shrine to worship idols in every city square/plaza. 25 At the beginning of every street you built a shrine, and showed people your beautiful body, offering it to have sex with every man who walked by, becoming a better known prostitute every day. 26 It was as though [MET] you had sex with men from Egypt who were eager to have sex with you, men who lived near to Israel. You caused me to become very angry because you became more eager to have sex with more and more of them. 27 So I punished [IDM] you and caused your enemies to capture some of your country. I enabled your greedy enemies from Philistia to defeat you; and even they were shocked because of your disgraceful behavior. 28 It was as though you had sex with soldiers from Assyria, too, because you always wanted more sex. And after that, you still were not satisfied. 29 So you also had sex with soldiers from Babylonia, a country full of merchants/businessmen, but even that did not satisfy you.

30 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that when you did all those things, acting like [MET] a bold prostitute, you were showing that you were ready to do anything that you wanted to [IDM]. 31 When you built shrines to worship idols on every street corner and in every city square/plaza, you were not like a prostitute: Prostitutes charge money, but you refused to take money for what you did.

32 You are like [MET] a woman who commits adultery: You prefer to have sex with strangers rather than with your husband. 33 Prostitutes are paid, but it is as though you give gifts to all your lovers; you bribe them to come to you from everywhere to have sex with you. 34 So although you act like [MET] a prostitute, you are not like other prostitutes: No one needs to request you to have sex [EUP] with them. You are the opposite of other prostitutes; instead of them giving any money to you, you give men money to have sex with you.

35 Therefore, you people of Jerusalem, who are like a prostitute [MET], listen to what I, Yahweh the Lord, am saying about you! 36 I say that what you have done is as though [MET] you took off your clothes and acted like a prostitute and had sex with men who are not your husband. What I mean is that you have been worshiping detestable idols, and you have murdered [MTY] your own children to be sacrifices to them. 37 So what I am going to do is as though I will gather those who you think have loved you and those whom you hated. I will gather them around you to attack you, and what I will do is as though I will strip your clothes off you, and they will see you when you are completely naked. 38 I will punish you like women who commit adultery and who murder people [MTY] are punished. I will get revenge on you and get rid of you because I am extremely angry with you. 39 I will allow your enemies who you thought loved you [IRO] to defeat you, and they will tear down your shrines. It will be as though they will strip off your fancy clothes and take away your fine jewelry and cause you to be completely naked [DOU]. 40 They will bring a mob to attack you, and that mob will throw stones at you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses and punish you while many women are watching. I will cause your acting like a prostitute and paying your lovers to have sex with you to end. 42 Then I will no longer be angry [DOU] with you. I will stop being jealous because of your worshiping gods other than me only.

43 You have forgotten the wonderful things that I did for you in previous years [MET]. You have caused me to become extremely angry because of all the evil things that you have done. In addition to all the other detestable things that you did, you committed many sexual sins. So I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I will punish you [IDM] for doing those things.

44 People who like to quote proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Daughtersbehave like their mothers behave.” 45 You are like your mother; it was as though she detested her husband and her children. You are like your sisters, who also despised their husbands and their children. It was as though [MET] your father belonged to the Amor people-group and your mother belonged to the Heth people-group. 46 And it was as though [MET] your older sister was Samaria, and she and her daughters lived to the north of you, and it was as though your younger sister was Sodom, and she and her daughters lived to the south of you. 47 You not only imitated all [DOU] their detestable behavior, but you quickly became more sinful than they were. 48 I, Yahweh the Lord, solemnly declare that as surely as I am alive, the people who lived in [MTY] Sodom and other nearby cities never did the detestable things that you people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah have done.

49 These are the sins ofthe people who lived in Sodom, who were like your sister [MET]: The people who lived there and in nearby cities were arrogant. In spite of having more food to eat than they needed, they refused to help the poor and needy [DOU] people among them. 50 The people of Sodom and nearby cities [MET] were proud and did detestable things in my presence, so I got rid of them when I saw what they had been doing. 51 Also, the people of Samaria did not commit half as many sins as you have committed. You have done more disgusting things than they have done. You cause the people of Samaria to appear to be good, compared to you. 52 Your sins are worse than their sins, so they seem to be less wicked than you are. So I will punish you more than I punished them. As a result, you will be ashamed and disgraced [DOU].

53 However, some day I will causethe people of Sodom and Samaria and the cities near to them [MET] to prosper again. And I will cause you to prosper again, too. 54 You will be very ashamed [DOU] of the wicked things that you have done, and that will cause the people of those cities to be encouraged. 55 The people of Sodom and Samaria will prosper again, and you and the people in nearby cities will prosper also. 56 You ◄sneered at/despised► the people of Sodom when you were proud, 57 before it was revealed that you were very wicked. And now the people of Edom and the people of Philistia all insult you and despise you. 58 And you are being punished for all your immoral behavior and other detestable things that you do.

59 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will continue to punish you like you deserve to be punished, because by rejecting the agreement that I made with you, you have despised that solemn agreement that you promised to obey. 60 But I will not forget the agreement that I made with you long ago [MET], and I will make an agreement with you that will endure forever. 61 Then you will think about what you have done, and you will be ashamed about those things when you welcome the people of Sodom and Samaria, cities which are like [MET] older and younger sisters to you people of Jerusalem. I will put them under your control by causing them to become like [MET] your daughters, but they will not have the same agreement that I will make with you. 62 I will establish my agreement with you, and you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 63 Then when I have forgiven you for all your sins, you will think about all the sins that you committed and you will be ashamed, and you will never again boast about them, because you will be humiliated.’ ”

An illustration about two eagles and a vine

17 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, tell this story/parable [DOU] to the people [MTY] of Israel. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: A huge eagle that had strong wings and long beautiful feathers of many colors flew to Lebanon. It grasped the top of a cedar tree 4 and broke it off. Then the eagle carried it away to Babylonia, a country that had many merchants/businessmen, and planted it in one of the cities there.

5 Then that eagle took a seedling from your country and planted it in a fertile field. He planted it like people plant a willow tree, alongside a stream that had plenty of water. 6 It grew and became a low grapevine that spread along the ground. Its branches turned up towards the eagle, but its roots grew down into the ground. So it became a good vine and produced lots of branches and leaves.

7 But there was another huge eagle that had strong wings and beautiful feathers. And some of the roots of the vine grew toward that eagle, and its branches also turned toward it, hoping that the eagle would bring more water to it. 8 That happened in spite of the fact that the vine had already been planted in good soil, where there was plenty of water, with the result that it had produced branches and produced grapes and had become a very healthy/productive vine.’

9 Then after you have told that to the people, say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: That vine will certainly not [RHQ] remain healthy/productive. It will be [RHQ] pulled up by its roots by the eagle that planted it, and all its fruit will be stripped off and its leaves will wither. And it will not need someone with strong arms or many people to pull it out by its roots. 10 Even if that vine is transplanted, it certainly will not continue to grow [RHQ]. When the hot wind from the east blows against it, it will completely wither, there where it was planted! [RHQ]’ ”

11 Then Yahweh gave this message to me: 12 “Ask these rebellious Israeli people, ‘Do you know what this parable/story means?’ Tell them that it signifies that the King of Babylon went to Jerusalem with his army and captured the King of Judah and his officials, and took them back to Babylon. 13 Then he took one of the king’s close relatives and appointed him to be the king, and made an agreement with him, forcing him to solemnly promise to remain loyal. The King of Babylon also took to Babylon the other important citizens of Judah, 14 in order that the kingdom of Judah would not be able to become powerful again. The King of Babylon intended that the kingdom of Judah would not continue to exist if the people did not obey that agreement that he made with the King of Babylon. 15 But the King of Judah rebelled against the King of Babylon by sending officials to Egypt to request from them horses and a large army to fight against the army of Babylonia. But the King of Judah will certainly not [RHQ] be sucessful. Rulers who rebel like that and and refuse to obey solemn agreements will never [RHQ] escape.

16 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, the King of Judah will die in Babylon, in the city where the King of Babylon appointed him to be the King [MTY] of Judah. He will die because he despised the solemn agreement and refused to do what he promised to do. 17 The King of Egypt with all his very huge army [DOU] will not be able to help the King of Judah: The soldiers from Babylonia will build ramps up against the walls of Jerusalem and set up devices to batter the walls. They will enter Jerusalem and kill many of its people. 18 The King of Judah despised the solemn agreement by disregarding the treaty. Although he had solemnly promised to be under the control of the King of Babylon, he sent officials to request help from Egypt. Therefore he will not escape being punished by the King of Babylon.

19 Therefore this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: 'Just as surely as I am alive, I will cause the King of Judah to be punished [IDM] for ignoring the solemn agreement that he made with the King of Babylon and then refusing to obey it. 20 It will be as though I will spread a net to capture him, and he will be caught in it. He will be captured and taken to Babylon and punished because he rebelled against me. 21 Most [HYP] of his soldiers who try to escape will be killed by their enemies’ swords, and those who survive will be scattered in all directions. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.' ”

22 This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “It will be as though I will take a shoot from the top of a very tall cedar tree and plant it [DOU] in another place. I will plant it on a very high [DOU] mountain. 23 It will be as though I will plant it on a mountain in Israel, and it will grow and become a beautiful cedar tree. Many [HYP] kinds of birds will make their nests in the tree, and they will have shade in its branches. 24 And it will be as though all the trees in the field will know that I, Yahweh, get rid of tall trees and make little ones grow. I cause big green trees to wither, and I cause dry trees to become green.

I, Yahweh have said this, and I will certainly do what I have said that I will do.”

It is those who sin who will be punished

18 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You people quote [RHQ] this proverb and say that it is about Israel:

‘Parents/People eat sour grapes,

but it is their children who have a very sour taste in their mouths',

which means that you think that it is not fair for you to be punished for your ancestors’ sins.

3 But I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, you Israeli people will no longer quote that proverb. 4 Everyone who is alive belongs to me. That includes children and their parents; they all belong to me. And it is those who sin who will diebecause of their sins.

5 So, suppose there is a righteous person

whoalways does what is fair and right [DOU].

6 He does not eatmeat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops,

he does not request help from idols.

He does not have sex with someone else’s wife

or have sex with a woman during her monthly menstrual period.

7 He does not mistreat/oppress people;

if someoneborrows money from him and gives him his cloak to guarantee that he will pay the money back, he always gives the cloak back to that personbefore the sun goes down.

He does not rob people.

He gives food to hungry people.

He gives clothing to people who need clothes.

8 When he lends money to people,

he does not do it just to charge big interest.

He does not do [SYN] things that are evil.

He always decides things fairly.

9 He faithfully obeys all [DOU] my laws.

That man is truly righteous;

he will remain alive.

That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, promise.

10 But suppose that man has a son who acts violently, who murders people and does any of these other things, even though his father has not done any of them:

11 He eatsmeat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops.

He has sex with other people’s wives.

12 He mistreats/oppresses poor and needy people.

He robs people.

If someone gives him his cloak to guaranteethat he will pay the money back,

he never gives the cloak back to himbefore the sun goes down.

He seeks help from idols.

He does other detestable things.

13 When he lends money, he chargesvery big interest.

If you think that such a person willbe allowed to remain alive [RHQ], you are certainly wrong. Because he has done those detestable things, he will surely be executed, and it will be his own fault [IDM].

14 But suppose that man has a son who sees all the sins that his father commits, but he does not do those things:

15 He does not eatmeat sacrificed to idols on the hilltops.

He does not request help from idols.

He does not have sex with other people’s wives.

16 He does not mistreat/oppress people.

If he lends money to someone, he does not require that person to give him his cloak to guarantee that he will pay the money back.

He does not rob anyone.

He gives food to those who need it.

He gives clothes to those who need clothes.

17 He does not commit sins, like his father did,

and does not charge big interest [DOU] when he lends money.

He faithfully obeys all [DOU] my laws.

That person will not be executed for his father’s sins; he will surely remain alive. 18 But his father will be executed for the sins that he committed, because he cheated people and robbed people and did other things that are evil.

19 If you ask, ‘Why should the man’s son not ◄suffer/be punished► for the evil things that his father did?’, I will answer that the son has done what is fair and right [DOU] and has obeyed all my laws, so he will surely remain alive. 20 It is those who sin who will diebecause of their sins. People will not be punished for the sins of their parents, or for the sins of their children. Good/Righteous people will be rewarded for their being good/righteous, and evil people will be punished for theirdoing evil.

21 But if a wicked person ◄turns away from/quits► doing all the evil things that he did previously, and if he starts to obey faithfully all my laws, and does what is fair and right [DOU], he will surely remain alive; he will not be executed. 22 He will not be punished for the sins he committed previously. Because of the good/righteous things that he has done since that time, he willbe allowed to remain alive. 23 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I certainly am not [RHQ] happy about wicked people dying. Instead, I am happy when they turn away from their wicked behavior, andbecause of that, they remain alive.

24 But if a righteous person stops doing righteous things and starts to commit sins and does the same detestable things that wicked people do, he will certainly not [RHQ] be allowed to remain alive. I will not think about the righteous things that he did previously. Because he did not faithfullydo what pleases me, and because of all the sins that he has committed, he will be executed.

25 But you say, ‘Yahweh does not act fairly!’ You Israeli people, listen to what I say: It is certainly not [RHQ] what I do that is unfair, it is what you continually do that is not fair/right! 26 If a righteous person ◄turns away from/quits► doing what is righteous and commits sins, he will diefor committing those sins. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from doing wicked things and does what is just and right [DOU], he will save himselffrom being executed/punished. 28 Because he has thought about all the evil things that he did and has turned away from doing them, he will surelybe allowed to live. He will not be executed for having done evil things. 29 But you Israeli people [MTY] say, ‘Yahweh does not act fairly.’ You people of Israel, my behavior is certainly not [RHQ] unfair! It is your behavior that is not right.

30 Therefore, you Israeli people [MTY], I, Yahweh the Lord, will judge each of you according to what you have done. Repent! Turn away from all your wicked behavior! Then you will not be destroyed [PRS] because of your sins. 31 Get rid of all your wicked behavior, and get a new way of thinking [IDM, DOU]. You Israeli people [MTY], ◄do you really want to be executed for your sins?/you act as though you want to be executed for your sins► [RHQ]. 32 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I am not pleased about your dying. So repent, and remain alive!”

A funeral song for Israel’s leaders

19 Yahweh said to me, “Ezekiel, sing a sad funeral songa which will be a parable abouttwo of the kings of Israel. 2 Say to the Israeli people,

‘It is as though [MET] your mother was a brave female lion

who raised her cubs among other lions.

3 She taught one of them to huntfor other animals to kill,

and he even learned tokill and eat people.

4 When people from other nations heard about him,

they trapped him in a pit.

Then they used hooks

to drag him to Egypt.

5 His mother waited for him to return,

but soon she stopped hoping/expecting that he would return.

So she raised another cub

who also became very fierce.

6 He hunted along with other lionsfor animals to kill,

and he even learned tokill and eat people.

7 He destroyed forts,

and he ruined cities.

When he roared loudly,

everyone was terrified.

8 So people of other nations planned to kill him,

and men came from many places

to spread out a net for him,

and they caught him in a trap.

9 They tied him with chains

and took him to Babylonia.

And there he was locked in a prison,

with the result that no one on the hills of Israel ever heard him roar again.’

Also, say to the Israeli people,

10 ‘It is as though [SIM] your mother was a grapevine

that was planted along a stream.

There was plenty of water,

so it had lots of branches and produced a lot of grapes.

11 That grapevine grew and became taller than all the nearby trees;

everyone could see that it was very strong and healthy.

And those branches were good for making scepters

that symbolize the power/authorityof a king.

12 ButYahweh became very angry,

so he pulled up the vine by its roots

and threw it on the ground,

where the very hot winds from the desert dried up all its fruit.

The strong branches wilted

and were burned in a fire.

13 Now that vine has been planted in a hot, dry desert.

14 A fire started to burn its stem,

and then started to burn the branches

and burned all the grapes.

Now not even one strong branch remains;

they will never become scepters for a king.’

That funeral song must be sung very sadly.”

The people of Israel continued to rebel

20 Almost seven years afterKing Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been captured and taken to Babylonia, on the tenth day of the fifth monthof that year, some Israeli elders came to me to askif I had a message for them from Yahweh.

2 Then Yahweh gave me a message. He said, 3 “You human, speak to the Israeli elders and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Yousay that you have come to ask if there is any message from me [RHQ], but as surely as I am alive, I will notanswer you if you ask meto tell you anything.’

4 If you are [RHQ] willing to warn them, remind them of the detestable things that their ancestors did. 5 Then say to them, ‘On the day that I chose you Israeli peopleto belong to me, with my hand lifted up, I made a solemn promise to your ancestorswhile they were still in Egypt. I said to them, “I am Yahweh, your God. 6 I will bring you out of Egypt and lead you to a land that I have chosen for you. It is a very fertile [IDM] and ◄very beautiful/more beautiful than any other► land. 7 Each of you must get rid of the disgusting idols that you loved [IDM], and do not defile yourselves byworshiping those idolsthat you saw in Egypt. I, Yahweh your God, am saying this to you.” ’

8 But they rebelled against me. They would not pay attention to me. They did not get rid of the disgusting idols they loved, and they did not reject those idolsthat they saw in Egypt. So because I was angry with them, I said that I would punish [MTY] them in Egypt. 9 But for the sake of my own reputation, I decided to do something in order that I would not be dishonored by the people of the nations who would see it when I brought my people out of Egypt. 10 Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert. 11 I gave them all my laws and decrees [DOU], in order that they would obey them, and as a result they would live for a long time. 12 Also, I established the Sabbath/rest days to be a symbol between us to show that I, Yahweh, had caused them to be set apartfrom the other nations.

13 But the Israeli people rebelled against me in the desert. They did not obey my commands [DOU]; they rejected them, even though they tell people who obey them that they will live for a long time, and they profaned the Sabbath days. So I said that I would get rid of them in the desert, and that would show that I was very angry with them. 14 But again, for the sake of my own reputation, I decided to do something else in order that I would not be dishonored/despised by the people of the nations who had seen me bring my people out of Egypt. 15 I lifted up my hand and solemnly declared to them in the desert that I would not take them into the land that Ihad promised to give them, a land that was very fertile [IDM] and ◄very beautiful/more beautiful than any other► land. 16 The reason that I promised that was because they rejected and disobeyed all my laws [DOU] and ◄desecrated/refused to rest on► the Sabbath days. They did that because they [SYN] were devoted toworshiping their idols. 17 But, I still pitied them and did not get rid of all of them in the desert. 18 I said to their children, ‘Do not do the things that your parents continually did, or defile yourselves byworshiping their idols. 19 I am Yahweh your God. Carefully obey [DOU] my laws and commands. 20 Respect my Sabbath days, in order that by doing that [PRS], it will remind you that you belong to me, Yahweh your God.’

21 But their children also rebelled against me. They did not carefully obey my laws [DOU], even though the people who obey them will live for a long time; and they profaned the Sabbath days. So again I said that by getting rid of them in the desert, I would show that I was very angry with them. 22 But I did not do that [IDM]. Again, for the sake of my own reputation, I decided to do something in order that I would not be dishonored/despised by the people of the nations who had seen it when I brought my people out of Egypt. 23 I lifted up my hand and solemnly declared to them in the desert that I would cause them to be scattered among many nations [DOU], 24 because they had rejected and disobeyed all my laws [DOU] and desecrated the Sabbath days, and they had eagerly desiredto worship the idols that their parentshad worshiped. 25 I also allowed them to obey laws that were not good, and laws that would not enable them to live a long time if they obeyed them. 26 I allowed them to become unacceptable to me by their sacrificing their firstborn children in the fire. I did that in order that they would be horrified, and in order that they would know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

27 Therefore, you human, speak to the Israeli people. Say this to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you: This is one way that your ancestors dishonored me by turning away from me. 28 After I brought them into the land that I had solemnly promised to give to them, every time that they saw a high hill or a big green tree, they offered sacrificesto idols there. They made offerings to them, and that caused me to become angry. They presented to those idols their fragrant burning incense, and poured out wine offerings to them. 29 Then I asked them, “Who [RHQ] told you to worship at a shrine like this, here on this hilltop?” So they are still called “hilltop shrines”.’

Punishment and restoration

30 Therefore, say this to the Israeli people [MTY]: 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says: “You are going to [RHQ] defile yourselves like your ancestors did by strongly desiringto worship their disgusting statues of idols. 31 When you sacrifice your children in the fire, you are still continuing to make yourselves unacceptable to me byworshiping your many idols. You Israeli people, should I allow you to inquirewhat I want you to do? I, Yahweh the Lord, say that as surely as I am alive, I will not answer if you inquire.'

32 You say, ‘We want to be like the other nations, like the other people-groups in the world. We want to worshipidols made of wood and stonelike they do.’ But what you want will never happen. 33 I, Yahweh your Lord, say that as surely as I am alive, I will use my great power [DOU, MTY] to rule over you, and show that I am angry with you. 34 With my great power I will gather you from the places to which you have been scattered, 35 and I will bring you to a desertthat is surrounded by other nations. There, while I am looking at you, I will judge you. 36 I will punish you, like I punished your ancestors in the desert near Egypt. 37 I will count you [MTY] as you walk by, and I will force you to obey the agreement that I made with you. 38 I will get rid of those people among you who rebel [DOU] against me. Although I will bring them out ofBabylonia, where they are now living, they will not enter Israel. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

39 As for you Israeli people [MTY], this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: 'Go and worship your idols now [IRO], each of you. But afterwards, you will surely heed me and no longer dishonor me [MTY] by taking gifts to your idols. 40 I, Yahweh your Lord, declare that there on my sacred hill, Zion, that high hill in Israel, you will bring gifts to me, and I will accept them. I will require you to bring to me gifts and offerings there, and your sacrifices that are dedicated to me. 41 When I bring you out from the other nations [DOU] to which you have been scattered, I will accept youas though you were fragrant incense. By doing that, I will show the people of other nations that I have set you apart to belong to me. 42 Then, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I solemnly promised with my hand lifted up that I would give to your ancestors, you will know that I, Yahweh, have done it. 43 And therein Israel you will remember how you conducted your lives previously, you will remember the actions that caused you to become unacceptable to me, and you will hate/despise yourselves for all the evil things that you have done. 44 When I act toward you Israeli people to protect my reputation, and not just because of your evil deeds and corrupt behavior, you Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.' That is what Yahweh the Lord declares.”

Prophecy against the southern part of Israel

45 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 46 “You human, turn toward the south. Preach about what will happen to that dry land, to the forest there. 47 Say to the forest in the southpart of Israel: 'Listen to this message that Yahweh the Lord is saying about you: “I am about to start a fire in your midst, and it will burn up all your trees, both the green trees and the withered/dry trees. Nothing will extinguish the blazing flames. And the fire will scorch the faces of everyone who lives in that area, from the south to the north. 48 Everyone will see that it is I, Yahweh, who have lit this fire, and no one will be able to put it out.” ' ”

49 Then I said, “Yahweh, my Lord, when I tell things like this to people, they do not believe me. They say about me, ‘He is only telling parables.’ ”

Yahweh will punish Israel

21 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, turn toward Jerusalem. Preach about what will happen to the temple there. Preach about what will happen to the Israeli people. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I am opposed to you. 4 Sowhat I will do to you will be as though [MET] I will pull my sword from its sheath and strike you. I will kill everyone, including righteous people and wicked people [DOU]. I will get rid of everyone, from the south to the north. 5 Then everyone will know thatit is as though I, Yahweh, have struck people with my sword, and I will not put it back in its sheath again.’

6 Therefore, you human, groan! Groan in front of the Israeli people very sadly and sorrowfully [IDM, DOU]. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ tell them, ‘Because of the news that they soon will hear. Everyone will be very fearful [IDM], and their knees will become as weak as [SIM] water. A great disaster will soon occur. That is what Yahweh the Lord is promising.’ ”

8 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 9 “You human, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says:

I have sharpened my sword

and polished it.

10 It is sharpened in order that I can slaughtermany people with it;

it is polished so that it will flash like lightning.

The people of Judah will not celebratetheir being punished like this,

but they did not repent whenI only struck them with a stick.

11 A sword should be polished,

and be grasped in someone’s hand.

It should be sharpened and polished,

ready for someone to use it to kill people.

12 So, you human, cry and wail,

because I will use my sword to kill my people,

including the leaders of Israel.

They and all the other people, my people,

will be killed by swords,

so beat your chestto show that you are sad.

13 I am about to test my people,

and the kings [MTY] of Judah will not escape being punished.

That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.

14 So, you human, prophesy;

clap your handsto show that you are very happy about what is going to happen.

My sword will strike them again and again;

it is a sword for slaughtering many people,

while I attack them from every side.

15 In order that people will be very much afraid [IDM]

and many people will be killed,

I have placedsoldiers holding my swords at every city gate,

ready to slaughter people.

Those swords will flash like lightning,

as the soldiers grasp them to slaughter people.

16 Their swords [APO] will slash to the right

and then to the left,

whichever way they turn the blades.

17 Then I will clap my handstriumphantly;

and then I will no longer be angry.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

The sword of the King of Babylonia

18 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 19 “You human, makea map, and on it mark two roads for the King of Babylonia to march onalong with his army, carrying their swords. When they depart from their country, they will come to a sign post where the road divides. 20 If they continue on the one road, they will attack Rabbahcity, the capital of the Ammon people-group. If they continue on the other road, they will come to Judah and to Jerusalem, a city with walls around it. 21 When the army of Babylonia comes to where the road divides, they will stop, and the king will perform magic rituals to decide which road to go on. He will throw arrows; then consult his idolsabout which road to go on, and he will ◄examine/look at► the liverof a sheep. 22 With his right hand he will pick up the arrow marked ‘Jerusalem’. He will thencommand his soldiers to go to Jerusalem. When they arrive there, they will set up ◄rams/devices to batterdown the walls,► and then the king will give the command for them to slaughter the people. They will shout a battle-cry, and they will set up the rams against the city gates. They will build a dirt ramp against the walls around the city, and set up things to bash those walls. 23 The peoplein Jerusalem who had promised to be loyal to the King of Babylonia will think that those rituals must be wrong. They will think that his army should not be attacking them. But he will remind them of the sins [MTY] that they had committed, andhis army will capture them.

24 Therefore, tell the Israeli people that this is what Yahweh the Lord says: ‘You people have allowed everyone to see that you are openly rebellingagainst the King of Babylonia, and by doing that you have shown that everything that you do is sinful. Therefore you will be captured and takento Babylonia.’

25 Also, say, ‘You very wicked [DOU] king of Israel, it is your timeto die. It is the time for you to be punished.’ 26 And this is what Yahweh the Lord says to you soldiers from Babylonia: ‘Take off the king’s turban and his crown, because now things will be different than they were before. Thosein Jerusalem who had no authority will now be given authority, and those who had authority will have their authority taken from them. 27 Jerusalem will be completely ruined. I will cause it to be ruined, and it will not be rebuilt/restored until the king to whom the city truly belongs comes; I will give it to himto rule it.’ ”

A prophecy about Ammon

28 “And, you human, prophesy and say this: 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says about the Ammon people-group, and about what they have said to insult Israel:

“The King of Babylon says,

‘My soldiers have swords’ [APO];

they have pulled out those swords to slaughter many people.

They have polished them in order to kill people,

and to make those swords flash like lightning.

29 Your prophets have given you false visions about what will happen to you,

and they have given you messages that are not true.

So swords will strike the necks

of those wicked people;

it is time for them to be killed;

it is the day when they will be punishedfor their sins.

30 You must put your swords back in their sheaths

because the days for you to slaughter your enemies are ended.

I will judge those people in the country where they were born.

31 I will pour out my punishment [MTY] on them.

Because I am very angry with them,

my breath on them will scorch them likea fire [MET].

I will allow brutal men to capture them,

men who are experts in killing people.

32 You will be like fuel [MET] that is burned in a fire.

Your blood will be shed in your own land.

No one will remember you any more.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.” ' ”

The sins of the people of Jerusalem

22 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, are you ready to condemn the people of Jerusalem? It is [RHQ] a city full of murderers [MTY]. Remind them of all the detestable things that they have done. 3 Then say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: By your murdering people and by ◄defiling yourselves/making yourselves unacceptable to God► by making idols, you people of this city [APO] have brought to yourselves the time when you will be destroyed. 4 You have become guilty by doing both of those things [DOU]. You have brought to an end your time to remain alive [DOU]. Therefore I will cause you to become a group whom the people of other nations will scorn; they will all laugh at you [DOU]. 5 People in countries that are near you and people who live far from you will make fun of you, because your city is full of lawless people and full of confusion.

6 Think about how each of your Israeli kings have used their power to cause people to be murdered [MTY]. 7 Your people do not respect/honor their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows. 8 You despise my sacred places and ◄dishonor/do not respect► the Sabbath days. 9 Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed [MTY]. There are those who eatfood offered to idols at the hilltop shrines, and they perform disgusting sexual acts. 10 There are men who have sex with their father’s wives [EUP], and men who have sex with women during their monthly menstrual periods. 11 There are men who have sex with someone else’s wife. Some men have sex with their daughters-in-law or with their sisters or half-sisters. 12 There are among you men who accept bribes in order to cause someone to be executed [MTY]. You charge high interest when you lend people money. You become rich by forcing people to give you money. Andthe worst thing is that you have forgotten me, Yahweh the Lord.

13 So I will shake my fists at you to show that I am angry with you because of your stealing money from people and murdering [MTY] people who live among you. 14 When I finishpunishing you, you will no longer [RHQ] be courageous/brave [DOU]. I, Yahweh, have said what I will do to you, and I will do it. 15 I will cause you to be scattered among many nations [DOU], and I will cause you to stop your sinful behavior. 16 When the people of other nations see that you have been humiliated, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

The people of Jerusalem must be purified

17 Yahweh also said to me, 18 “You human, your Israeli people [MTY] have becomeuseless to me. They are like [MET] dross/slag to me. They are like [SIM] theworthless copper, tin, iron, and lead that remains after silver is melted in avery hot furnace. 19 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Because you have all become like dross/slag, I will gather you in Jerusalem. 20 People putore containing silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin in a very hot furnace and melt them in a blazing fireto burn up the impurities. Similarly [SIM], I will gather you togetherinside Jerusalem, and because I am very angry with you, what I will do will be as though I am melting you. 21 It will be as though I will blow on you with a hot breath that shows that I am very angry, andit will be as though you will be melted, 22 as though you will be melted like [SIM] silver is melted in a furnace, and then you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my punishment [MTY] on you.”

The sins of the leaders in Jerusalem

23 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 24 “You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘WhenYahweh is angry with you, there has been no rain or showers in your country.’ 25 Your leaders are like [SIM] lions that tear apart the animals that they have killed. Your leaders destroy their people. They steal treasures and other valuable things from people, and they cause many women to become widowsby murdering their husbands. 26 Their priests disobey my laws and disrespect my sacred things by saying that there is no difference between things that are sacred and those that are not sacred, and by ignoring my laws about honoring the Sabbath days. As a result, they no longer honor me. 27 Their officials are like [SIM] wolves that tear apart the animals that they have killed: They murder people [DOU] in order to get their money. 28 Their prophets, by falsely saying they have received visionsfrom God, and by giving false messages, try to ◄cover up [MET]/say that it is all right to commit► those sins. They say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says,’ when I have said nothing to them. 29 The Israeli people force others to give them money, and they rob people. They oppress poor [DOU] people, and they mistreat foreigners among them by not treating them fairlyin the courts.

30 I looked among them to find a man who would cause the people of the city to repent [MET] so that I would not need to get rid of them. But I did not find anyone. 31 So because I am very angry with them, I will severely punish them [MTY] for all the wicked things that they have done. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it.”

A parable about Jerusalem and Samaria

23 Yahweh said to me, 2 “You human, listen to this parable about Jerusalem and Samaria. Once there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3 They lived in Egypt. And from the time that they were young women, they became prostitutes. In that land, men fondled their breasts and caressed their bosoms [DOU]. 4 The older sister was Oholah, and her younger sister was Oholibah. It was as though they became my wives. Later they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah represents Samaria, and Oholibah represents Jerusalem.

5 Oholah acted like a prostitute while she was still my wife. She desired to have sex with those she loved—soldiers from Assyria. 6 Some of them were army officers and commanders. They wore beautiful blue uniforms. They were all handsome young men. Some of them rode horses. 7 She acted like a prostitute toward all the important Assyrian officials, and became unacceptable to me by worshiping all the idols of the men she wanted to have sex with. 8 When she was a young woman in Egypt, she started being a prostitute, and young men caressed her breasts and had sex with her; and when she became older, she did not quit acting like a prostitute.

9 So I allowed the Assyrian soldiers, whom she wanted to have sex with, to capture her. 10 They stripped all her clothes off her. They took away her sons and daughters. And then they killed her with a sword. Other women started talking about what had happened to her, about how she had been punished.

11 Heryounger sister Oholibah saw those thingsthat happened to Oholah, but she was a prostitute, and she desired to have sex with men more than herolder sister had desired. 12 Oholibah also wanted to have sex with the Assyrian soldiers. Some of them were army officers and commanders. They all wore beautiful blue uniforms. They were all handsome young men. Some of them rode horses. 13 I saw what she did that caused her to became unacceptable to me, just like herolder sister.

14 But she did even worse things. She saw drawings of men from Babylonia on the walls, painted in red. 15 The menin the drawings had belts around their waists and long turbans on their heads. They all resembled officers from Babylonia [DOU] who rode in chariots. 16 As soon as she saw those drawings, she wanted to have sex with those men, and she sent messages to them in Babylonia. 17 Then the soldiers from Babylonia came to her, they lay in bed with her, and they had sex with her. Then she became disgusted with them and turned away from them. 18 But when she continued to openly/boldly act like a prostitute [DOU], I became disgusted with her, and I rejected her like I had rejected herolder sister. 19 But she became even more immoral, as she remembered when she was a young woman who was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she wanted to have sex with those who loved her, whose genitals were very long, like [SIM] those of donkeys, and whose sexual emissions were huge, like those of horses. 21 So she desired to be immoral like she was when she was young, when men in Egypt caressed her bosom and fondled her breasts.”

Yahweh will punish Jerusalem

22 “Oholibahrepresents you people of Jerusalem. Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord say: ‘I will cause those soldiers who loved you but whom you turned away from because you became disgusted with them, to be angry with you. I will cause them to come and attack you from every side— 23 soldiers from Babylon and all the other places in Babylonia, andtheir allies from Pekod and Shoa and Koaregions, and all the army of Assyria. Yes, all of them are handsome young men, army officers and commanders, officers who ride in chariots, all riding on horses. 24 Their huge army will attack you with weapons, riding in chariots and pulling wagons that will carry their army supplies. They will surround you, carrying large and small shields, and wearing helmets. I will allow them to capture you and punish you in the way that they always punishtheir enemies. 25 Because I am very angry with you, I will cause them to act very furiously toward you. They will cut off your noses and your ears. Then, those who are still alive, they will kill with their swords. They will take away your sons and daughters, and a fire will burn up those who remain alive. 26 They will strip off your clothes and your fine jewelry and take them away. 27 In that way, I will stop all the immoral behavior that began when you became a prostitute in Egypt. You will no longer desire to do those things, or think aboutwhat you did in Egypt.’

28 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord say: ‘I am about to allow those whom you hate, those you became disgusted with and turned away from, to capture you. 29 They will be cruel and take away everything that you have worked hard to acquire. They will leave you completely naked [DOU], and everyone will see that you truly are a prostitute. 30 It is because of what you have done that you will be punished like that; you have been an immoral prostitute; you have had sex with men of other nations, and you have caused yourselves to become unacceptable to me byworshiping their idols. 31 You have behaved likethe people of Samaria, who are like your older sister. So I will cause you to be punished [MET] like they were punished.’

32 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘You will suffer like people suffer when they drink from a cup a lot of strong alcoholic drink:

It will be as though you will drink from the cup that the people of Samaria drank from;

a big and tall cup.

Because of your drinking what is in that cup,

many people will scorn you and make fun of you

because there is a lot of liquid in that cup.

33 When you become very drunk,

you will become very sad,

becausedrinking what is in that cup [MTY] will cause you to become ruined and deserted,

like what happened [MET] to the people of Samaria, who are like [MET] your sister.

34 You will drink all the liquid that is in that cup;

then you will break that cup into pieces

anduse those pieces to gash/cut your breastsbecause you will be very sad.’

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.

35 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘Because you have forgotten me and rejected me [IDM], you must be punished for your immoral behavior and for beinglike a prostitute.’ ”

God will punish Samaria and Jerusalem

36 Yahweh said to me, “You human, you must [RHQ] judgethe people of those two cities represented by Oholah and Oholibah. You must remind them of their detestable behavior: 37 It is as though the people of those cities have committed adultery and have murdered [MTY] people. They have been unfaithful to me by worshiping idols. They have even sacrificed their own children, who belonged to me, to be food for their idols. 38 They have done otherdisgraceful things: They have caused my temple to be an unacceptable place for worship, and have not respected the Sabbath days. 39 On the same day that they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my temple, which caused it to be an unacceptable place for worshiping me.

40 They sent messages to men in countries far away. And when those men arrived, the women of those two cities bathed themselves for them, painted their eyebrows, and put on jewelry. 41 They sat on a beautiful couch, with a table in front of it on which they had put incense and olive oil that belonged to me.

42 Soon there was a noisy crowd around them. Among the crowd there were men from Sheba who had come from the desertof Arabia. They put bracelets on the arms of the two sisters and put beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the woman who had become exhausted by her having sex with many men, ‘Now allow those men to act toward her as though she is a prostitute, because that is all that she is.’ 44 So they had sex [EUP] with those two women, Oholah and Oholibah, like men have sex with prostitutes. 45 But righteous men will condemn them to be punished, like women who commit adultery and who murder others are punished, because those women commit adultery and they murder [MTY] others.

46 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Bring a mob to attack Samaria and Jerusalem, and allow that mob to cause the people of those cities to be terrified, and to rob them. 47 The mob will throw stones at themto kill them; they will cut them into pieces with their swords, they will kill their sons and daughters, and burn down their houses.

48 In that way I will cause them to stop their immoral behavior. It will warn other women to not imitate/do what you people of Jerusalem are doing. 49 Youpeople of Jerusalem will be punished for your immoral behavior and for your worshiping idols. Then you will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

A parable about meat cooking in a pot

24 Almost nine yearsafter we had been taken to Babylonia, on the tenth day of the tenth month of that year, Yahweh gave me this message: 2 “You human, write down what day of the month this is. On this daythe army ofthe King of Babylon has surrounded Jerusalem. 3 Tell those rebellious Israeli people [MTY] in Babylon a parable. Say this to them: This is what Yahweh the Lord says:

‘Pour water into the cooking pot

and put the pot onthe fire.

4 Put into the pot some pieces of meatfrom one of your best sheep:

Put in the leg and shoulder, which are the best pieces.

Then fill the rest of the pot with the best bones.

5 Pile wood on the fire,

and cook the bones and the meat in the boiling water.’

6 Do that because this is what Yahweh the Lord says:

‘Terrible things will happen toJerusalem;

it is city that is full of murderers [MTY],

a city that is like [MET] a scorched pot

whose black residue inside cannot be removed.

Take the pieces of meat out of the pot,

but do not choose which pieces to take out.

7 The blood of the people who were murdered in Jerusalem is still there;

they were murdered on the bare rocks,

not on the soil, where their blood could be covered.

8 But I am the one who caused the blood of those who were murdered [MTY] to be smeared on the bare rock,

where their blood could not be covered;

I did that in order thatI could see it and

then be angry and get revenge.’

9 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord say:

‘Terrible things will happen to that city that is full of murderers [MTY]!

It will be as though I also will pile high the wood in the fire.

10 So, heap on the wood

and light the fire!

Cook the meat well,

and mix some spices with it;

cook it until the bones are charred.

11 Then set the empty pot on the coalsof the fire

until the pot becomes very hot and the copper glows,

with the result that the impurities and the rust will be burned up.

12 It is as though I tried to get rid of that rust,

but I was not able to do it,

not even by putting that pot in a fire.

13 The rustin the pot represents your immoral behavior. I tried to cleanse you from your wicked behavior, but you did not allow me to do that. So you will not be cleansedfrom the guilt of your sin untilI have punished you and I am no longer angry.

14 I, Yahweh, have said that I will surely punish you. And it is time for me to do that. I will not change my mind; I will not refrain from punishing you, and I will not pity you. I will judge you and punish you as you deserve to be punished for your sinful behavior. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it.” ’ ”

Ezekiel’s wife died

15 One day Yahweh gave me this message: 16 “You human, I am going to suddenly take from youyour wife, whom you love very much. Butwhen she dies, do notshow that you are sad or lament or cry. 17 Groan quietly; do not cry openly for her. Keep your turban wrapped around your head, andinstead of being barefoot, keep your sandals on your feet. Do not cover the lower part of your faceto show that you are sad. And do not eat the kind of food that people who are mourning usually eat.”

18 Soone morning I talked to the peopleas usual, and that evening my wife suddenly died. The next morning I did what Yahweh had told me to do.

19 Then the people asked me, “What do the things that you are doing signify to us?”

20 So I said to them, “This is what Yahweh told me: 21 ‘Tell the Israeli people [MTY] that I am about to destroy the temple, the building that you are very proud of, the building that you delight to look at. Your children whom you leftin Jerusalem when you were forced to come to Babylon will be killed bytheir enemies’ swords. 22 When that happens, you will do like I have done: You will not cover the lower part of your faces, or eat the kinds of food that people who are mourning usually eat. 23 You will keep your turbans wrapped around your heads and keep your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or cry, but your bodies will become very thin and slowly die because of your sins. And you will groan to each other. 24 Ezekiel will be a warning to you, and you must do what he has done. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh the Lordhave the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

25 Then Yahweh said to me, “You human, soon I will destroy their sacred temple, which they rejoice about and which they respect and delight to look at, and I will get rid of their sons and daughters also. 26 On that day, someone will escape from Jerusalem and come and tell you what has happened there. 27 When that happens, you will be able to speak again [MTY] without constraint. You two will talk together [DOU]. You will be a warning to the people; and they will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

A prophecy about the people of Ammon

25 Some time later, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, turn toward where the Ammon people-grouplives, and prophesy aboutwhat will happen to them. 3 Say about them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: “You shouted joyfully when my templein Jerusalem was destroyed, and when the country/land of Israel was ruined, and when the people of Judah were ◄exiled/forced to go► to Babylonia. 4 Therefore, I am going to allow you to be conquered by people who will come from the east. They will set up their tents in your country and live there. And they will eat the fruit from yourfruit trees and drink the milkfrom your cattle. 5 I will causeyour capital city Rabbah to become a pasture for camels, and the rest of Ammon to becomeonly a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.” 6 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: “You clapped your handsjoyfully and stomped your feet, and laughed because you despised the people in the land of Israel. 7 Therefore, I will use my power [MTY] against you, and I will enable other nations toconquer you and take away your valuable possessions. I will destroy you completely [DOU], with the result that you no longer will be a nation. When that happens, people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

A prophecy about the people of Moab

8 This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “The people of Moabsouth of Ammon and the people of Seirsouth of Moab despised Israel and said, ‘The people [MTY] of Israel have becomeas unimportant as all the other nations!’ 9 Therefore, I will destroy the cities that protect the borders of Moab, starting at Beth-Jeshimoth, Baal-Meon, and Kiriathaim, the finest cities in Moab. 10 I will enable people from the east to conquer Moab and also to conquer Ammon. As a result, I will cause that Ammon will no longer be remembered by other nations. 11 I will also punish the people of Moab. When that happens, they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

A prophecy about the people of Edom

12 This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “You people of Edom are guilty of getting revenge on the people [MTY] of Judah. 13 Therefore this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: 'I will use my power against the people of Edom and will get rid of their men and their animals. I will ruin the land from Teman region in central Edom to Dedan region in the south of Edom, and many of their men will be killed bytheir enemies swords.' 14 The Israeli people will use their power [MTY] to get revenge on the people of Edom. They will show the people of Edom that I have been angry with them, and I will punish [MTY] them. The people of Edom will experience my getting revenge on them. Then they will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

A prophecy about the people of Philistia

15 This is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “The Philistia people-group wanted very much to get revenge on the people of Judah. They very maliciously wanted to destroy Judah. 16 Therefore this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I am about to use my power [MTY] against the Philistia people. I will get rid of the Kereth people-group and all those who live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 17 By the way I punish them, I will get great revenge on them and show that I am angry with them. And when I get revenge on them, they will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.' ”

A prophecy about the people of Tyre

26 Almost twelve yearsafter we had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the month, Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me, 2 “You human, the people of Tyre city shouted joyfully and said about Jerusalem, ‘Jerusalem, the city from which many traders/merchants went to many nations, is now destroyed. And now people from all over the world will come to us to buy and sell things. Because Jerusalem has now been ruined, we will prosper!’ 3 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am now the enemy of you people of Tyre. I will causethe armies of many nations to come and attack your city, like the waves of the sea beat against the shores. 4 Their soldiers will destroy the walls around Tyre and tear down its towers. Tyre will become a place where people from many nations steal valuable things, and then the city will be completely destroyed. Then they will scrape away the rubble and cause the city to become a bare rock. 5 Out in the sea, Tyre will become an island where men spread their fishing nets to dry them. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have predicted it. 6 The people in small villages on the coast near Tyre will be killed bytheir enemies’ swords. Then people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’

7 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, sayis going to happen: ‘From the north, I am going to bring the most powerful king in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, with his army to attack Tyre. They will bring horses and chariots, and men who ride the horses and men who drive the chariots; it will be a huge army. 8 In the battles in the small villages on the coast, their soldiers will kill many people with their swords. Then they will set up devices to batter the wall around the city of Tyre, and they will build a dirt ramp up to the top of the wall, and they will all hold up shields to protect themselves from arrows being shot from the ground. 9 The king will direct the soldiers who operate the ◄rams/things► to batter the walls, and who will use their iron bars to tear down the towers in the wall. 10 The king will have a huge number of horses, andthe stamping of their hooves will result in the city being covered with dust. It will be as though the walls will tremble because of the noise made by the horses, the supply wagons, and the chariots when they enter the city where the walls have been broken down. 11 The horses will trample all of the streetsof the city with their hooves. The soldiers will kill the people with their swords; and they will cause your strong pillars to ◄collapse/fall to the ground►. 12 They will take away all the people’s valuable possessions and steal the things that the merchants sell. They will tear down the walls of the houses and destroy their fine houses. Then they will throw into the sea the stones from the walls of those houses and the timber and the rubble. 13 No longer will you sing noisy songs, and people will not play their harps any more. 14 The enemy soldiers will cause the city to become a bare rock and only a place where men spread their fishing nets. And the city will never be rebuilt. Those things will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have declaredthat they will happen.’

15 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say about the people of Tyre: ‘When the wounded people in Tyre groan and many people are slaughtered and the city is destroyed, it will surely be as though [RHQ] the areas along the coast will tremble. 16 Then all the kings in the cities along the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and their embroidered clothes. They will be terrified, and they will sit on the ground, trembling. They will be appalled because of what has happened to the city of Tyre. 17 Then they will sing a sad song about the city, and they will sing this:

“The famous city [APO], in which many menwho sailed on the seas lived,

is now destroyed!

The people of that city had great power because they had many ships that sailed on the seas;

they caused all the people who lived near them to be terrified.

18 Now on the day when that city is destroyed,

it is as though the people in the areas along the coast tremble

and the the people on the islands in the sea are terrified because of that city being ruined.” ’

19 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When I cause the city of Tyre to become desolate/empty, like other cities in which people no longer live, and when I cause the huge waves of the sea to cover it, 20 then I will bring the people of that city down to be with those who have gone down to where the dead people are, people who lived long ago. I will cause them to remain in the place below the earth that is like old/ancient ruins, with those who have gone down to that pit previously, and they will never return to the earth, to where people are alive. 21 I will cause them to die in a horrible way (OR, people will be very afraid because of what happens to that city), and that will be the end of ◄them/their lives►. People will search for that city but it will no longer exist. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare will happen.’ ”

The trade with Tyre

27 Yahweh said this to me: 2 “You human, sing a funeral song about Tyre. 3 The city of Tyre is located on an island at the edge of the sea, and their merchants ◄traded/bought and sold goods► with people-groups who live along many seacoasts. This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say that you should tell them:

‘You people of Tyre said that your city was very beautiful.

4 You controlled what was bought and sold by people who lived along the sea.

Those who built your city caused it to become very beautiful.

5 You were like [SIM] a huge ship

that was built from the from pine/cypress trees on Hermon Mountain.

Then they took cedar wood from Lebanon to make a mast for the ship.

6 They carved your oars from oak trees from the Bashan region.

They made the deck from cypress/pine wood from Cyprus island,

and they covered the decks with ivory.

7 The sails for the ship were made from fine embroidered linen from Egypt,

and those sails were like flags that people could see far away.

For shade they hung pieces of blue and purple cloth

brought from people living on Cyprus island.

8 Men from Sidon and Arvad cities pulled the oars;

the men who steered the boat were skilled men from Tyre.

9 Experienced craftsmen from Byblos city on the coast ◄did the caulking/filled the spaces between the planks in the sides► of the ship.

Sailors from many countries came in their ships to buy and sell goods there.

10 Men from as far away as Persia, Lydia, and Libya were soldiers in your army.

They hung their shields and helmets on the walls of your city,

and that caused people to admire your city.

11 Men from Arvad and Helech cities were watchmen on the walls of your city;

men from Gammad town were in your towers.

They also hung their shields on your walls;

they also caused your city to be very beautiful.

12 Because of the many things that you had to trade, men from Tarshish in Spain sent merchants who brought silver, iron, tin, and lead to trade for things that you had.

13 Merchants from Greece, Tubal, and Meshech brought slaves and things made from bronze to trade for things that you had.

14 Men from Beth-Togarmah in Armenia brought work horses, war horses, and mules to trade for things that you had.

15 Merchants came to you from Rhodes island.

People from nations along the coast traded with you; they brought ◄ivory/elephant tusks► and valuable black ebony wood to trade for things that you had.

16 Because you had very many things to trade, people from Syria brought to you valuable turquoise stones, purple cloth, embroidered cloth, fine linen cloth, and jewelry made from coral and rubies to trade for your things.

17 Men from Judah and Israel brought wheat from Minnith city in Ammon, and figs, honey, olive oil, and ointment to trade for your things.

18 Because you had very many things to trade, men from Damascus brought wine from Helbon town and white wool from the Zahar area to trade for many things that you had.

19 Greek men from the Uzal area brought things made of iron, and cassia spice, and fragrant calamus seeds to trade for things that you had.

20 Merchants came from Dedan in southern Edom bringing saddle blankets to trade for things that you had.

21 Men from Arabia and all the rulers of the Kedar region sent merchants to trade lambs and rams and male goats for things that you had.

22 Merchants from Sheba and Raamah in Arabia brought many kinds of very good spices and jewels and gold to exchange for things that you had.

23 Men came from Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad in Mesopotamia with their goods. 24 They brought pretty things to trade: Blue cloth, embroidered cloth, and rugs of many colors that were rolled up and tied with ropes.

25 Cargo ships from Tarshish carried all those things that you traded;

and the warehouses on your island were full of all those things.’ ”

The destruction of Tyre

26 “ ‘The men who row your boats took the ships full of cargo out on the stormy seas.

But the strong east wind wrecked those cargo boats.

27 Everything in the boats ◄was lost/sank to the bottom of the sea►—

all the valuable cargo [DOU] and many of [HYP] the sailors and ship pilots,

the ship workers and merchants and soldiers.

On the day that the ships were wrecked,

many of those on the ships sank to the bottom of the sea.

28 The people in cities along the coast trembled

when they heard your ship pilots cry out.

29 All the men who remained who pulled the oars left the ships;

the sailors and pilots go to the shore and stand on the beach.

30 They cry aloud because of what has happened to your wealth,

and they weep bitterly.

They throw dirt on their heads

and roll around in ashes.

31 They shave their heads to show that they are very sad because of what has happened to you,

and they put on rough sackcloth.

They weep for you very bitterly

and mourn for you.

32 While they wail and mourn because of what has happened to you,

they sing this sad funeral song:

“There was certainly never [RHQ] a city like Tyre

that now is silent,

covered by the waves of the sea.”

33 The goods that your merchants traded

were things that pleased the people of many countries.

Kings in very distant places became rich

from the wealth that they obtained from trading with you.

34 But now your city is like a ship [MET] that is wrecked in the sea,

and everything that was in it is broken, at the bottom of the sea.

All of your cargo and your sailors have sunk to the bottom of the sea along with the ships.

35 All the people who live along the seacoast are appalled/horrified

because of what has happened to you.

Their kings are very horrified,

causing their faces to be twisted as they watch.

36 The merchants of the other nations shake their heads

because it is difficult for them to believe what has happened;

your city has disappeared,

and it will not exist any more.’ ”

A message about the king of Tyre

28 Then Yahweh gave me another message. He said: 2 “You human, give to the king of Tyre this message from me, Yahweh the Lord:

‘You have very proudly claimed, “I am a god!

I sit on a throne of a god in a city on an island in the sea!”

You boast that you are a god;

but you are only a man, not a god.

3 You think that you are wiser than Daniel was,

and you think that you can understand every secret.

4 By being wise and understanding a lot, you have become very rich;

you have acquired much gold and silver for your treasuries.

5 Yes, it is true that by trading wisely, you have been enabled to become very rich,

and because you are rich, you have become very proud.

6 Therefore, this is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“Because you think that you are as wise as a god,

7 I will now bring a foreign army to attack your country,

an army that causes other nations to be terrified.

They will pull out their swords to strike you,

you who think that [IRO] you have marvelous/great wisdom,

and they will destroy all your beautiful things.

8 They will bring you down to your grave;

you will die violently

like [MET] those who died in the sea.

9 Then you will certainly not [RHQ] say to those who are killing you,

'I am a god!'

because they will know that you are not a god;

you are only a man.

10 You will die like other people who are unacceptable to me die,

killed by foreigners.”

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’ ”

11 Yahweh also gave me this message:

12 “You human, sing a sad/funeral song about the king of Tyre. Say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“You thought that [IRO] you were completely perfect,

extremely wise and handsome.

13 You had a wonderful life, as though you were in my beautiful garden in Eden.

Your clothes were decorated with many [HYP] kinds of very valuable stones—

ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, turquoise, and beryl stones.

Those stones were set/placed in gold mountings.

They were prepared for you on the day that you were born.

14 I appointed [DOU] you to be like [MET] a strong angel to guard the people.

It was as though I put you on my holy mountain,

and you walked among fiery stones.

15 You were completely good in all that you did,

from the day that you were created/born,

until you started to do wicked things.

16 Then you became busy trading things,

and you started to act violently,

and you sinned.

So I caused you to be disgraced;

and the angel who was guarding you forced you to leave my holy mountain,

forced you to leave your place among those fiery stones.

17 You were extremely proud

because you were very handsome.

Because you loved beautiful things,

you did things that wise people do not do.

So I threw you to the ground,

and allowed other kings who saw you to laugh at you.

18 By committing many sins

and by trading things dishonestly,

you caused your places of worship to become unacceptable to me.

So I caused a fire to burn down your city.

Your city was burned completely;

the people who were watching it saw

that only ashes remained on the ground.

19 All the people who knew what your city was like previously

were appalled.

Now your city has disappeared,

and it will not exist any more.” ’ ”

A message about Sidon

20 Then Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 21 “You human, turn toward Sidon city, and declare the terrible things that will happen to it. 22 Give the people of Sidon this message from me, Yahweh the Lord:

‘I am your enemy, you people of Sidon,

and by what I do to you,

I will reveal that I am very great/glorious.

When I punish you and reveal that I am holy,

everyone who is watching that will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.

23 I will send a plague upon you,

and I will send enemies to come and kill [MTY] you in your streets.

They will attack you from every direction,

and your people will be slaughtered inside the walls of your city.

Then everyone will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.'

24 No longer will those who live near you people of Israel hurt you like [MET] painful briers and sharp thorns hurt people. And then the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

Restoration for Israel

25 And this is also what Yahweh the Lord says: “Some day the people of Israel will live in their own land again, the land that I gave to Jacob, who also served me. I will gather them from distant countries where I have scattered them. And I will reveal to the nations that I am holy among my people. 26 My people will live safely in Israel; they will build houses and plant vineyards. And when I punish the nearby nations that despised them, they will know that it is I, Yahweh their God, who has done it.”

A message about Egypt

29 Almost ten yearsafter we had been taken to Babylonia, on the twelfth day of the tenth monthof that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me, 2 “You human, turn toward Egypt and proclaim the terrible things that will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people. 3 Give the king this message from me, Yahweh the Lord:

‘You king of Egypt, I am your enemy;

you are like [MET] a great monster/crocodile that lies in the streamsalong the Nile River.

You say, “The Nile River is mine;

I made it for myself.”

4 But it will be as though I will put hooks in your jaws

and drag you out from the river onto the land,

with fish sticking to your scales.

5 I will leave you and all those fish to die in the desert;

you will fall onto the ground,

and your corpse will not be picked up and buried,

because I have declared that your flesh will be food for the wild animals and birds.

6 When that happens, all the people of Egypt will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.

The Israeli people trusted that you would help them. But you have been like [MET] a reed pole in their hands. 7 And when they leaned on that pole, it splintered and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned on you, it was as though you were a pole that broke, and as a result you wrenched their backs.

8 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: “I will bring your enemies to attack you with their swords, and they will kill your people and your animals. 9 Egypt will become an empty desert. Then the people of Egypt will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.”

You proudly said, “The Nile River is mine; I made it!” 10 Therefore I am opposed to you and your streams, and I will cause Egypt to be ruined, and cause it to be an empty desert, from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, as far south as the border of Ethiopia. 11 For 40 years no one will walk through that area, and no one will live there. 12 Egypt will be barren/empty, and it will be surrounded by other desolate nations. The cities in Egypt will be empty and deserted for 40 years, surrounded by ruined cities in nearby nations. I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered to countries far away.

13 But this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, also say: “At the end of 40 years, I will enable the people of Egypt to return home again from the nations to which they were scattered. 14 I will bring back the people of Egypt who had been captured, and I will enable them to live again in the Pathros area in the south, where they lived previously. But Egypt will be a very unimportant [DOU] kingdom. 15 It will be the least important of all the nations; it will never again be greater than the nearby countries. I will cause Egypt to be very weak, with the result that it will never again rule over other nations. 16 When that happens, the leaders of Israel will no longer be tempted to ask Egypt to help them. Egypt will be punished, and that will cause the Israeli people to not forget that they previously sinned by trusting that Egypt could help them. And the people of Israel will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.” ' ”

Yahweh promises that the Babylonians will conquer Egypt

17 Almost twenty-seven years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the new year, Yahweh gave me this message: 18 “You human, the army of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought very hard against Tyre, with the result that their heads were rubbed bare and their shoulders became ◄raw/full of blisters►. But Nebuchadnezzar and his army did not get any valuable things from Tyre to reward them for their hard work to destroy Tyre. 19 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: 'I will enable King Nebuchadnezzar’s army to conquer Egypt. They will carry away from there all the valuable things, in order that the king can give them to his soldiers. 20 I will enable them to conquer Egypt as a reward for what they did to Tyre, because I, Yahweh say that it was as though his army was working for me, doing what I wanted them to do, when they destroyed Tyre.

21 And some day Israel will become a glorious nation [MET] again. When that happens, I will cause the Israeli people to respect what you say [MTY]. And then they will know that it has happened because I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.' ”

Yahweh will punish Egypt

30 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, prophesy about what will happen to Egypt. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“Weep and wail [DOU],

because terrible things will happen some day.

3 That day is near,

the day when I, Yahweh, will punish people;

it will be a day of dark clouds and disaster for many nations.

4 An enemy army [PRS] will come to attack Egypt with their swords,

and there will be great distress among the people in Ethiopia.

Many people will be killed in Egypt;

everything valuable will be taken away,

and even the foundations of the buildings will be torn down.

5 Soldiers of Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, and from all of Arabia, and all the other groups who are their allies, will be killed in the battles.”

6 This is what I, Yahweh say:

“The allies of Egypt will be defeated,

and the power that the people of Egypt are proud of will end.

From Migdol city in the north to Aswan city in the south, the soldiers of Egypt will be killed by their enemies’ swords”;

that is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

7 Egypt will become the most deserted country in the world,

and its cities will be ruined,

surrounded by ruined cities in nearby nations.

8 Then, when I cause everything in Egypt to be burned in fires,

and all their allies are defeated,

people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

9 At that time, I will send messengers to go swiftly up the Nile River in boats to cause the people of Ethiopia who ◄are complacent/confident/think that nothing terrible will happen to them► to become afraid. They will be terrified [PRS] when Egypt is destroyed; and it will soon be that time!”

10 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say:

“By the power of [MTY] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon

I will get rid of very many people in Egypt.

11 Nebuchadnezzar and his army, whose soldiers are extremely ruthless,

will come to destroy Egypt.

They will pull out their swords

and fill Egypt with the corpses of those whom they have killed.

12 I will cause the Nile River to become dry,

and I will sell the nation to evil men.

By the power [MTY] of foreigners

I will ruin the land and everything that is in it.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have predicted it.”

13 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say:

“I will cause the idols and statues of idols [DOU]

in Memphis city to be destroyed.

No longer will there be a king in Egypt,

and all over the land, people will be terrified.

I will cause the people of Egypt to be very afraid.

14 I will cause the Pathros area in southern Egypt to be abandoned.

I will start fires in Zoan city in northeast Egypt

and punish the people in Thebes, the capital of southern Egypt.

15 I will pour out my punishment [MTY] on the fortress in Pelusium at the eastern end of Egypt,

and I will get rid of very many people in Thebes.

16 I will burn Egypt by fires;

the people in Pelusium will suffer severe pain.

Enemies will conquer Thebes,

and the people in Memphis will constantly be terrified.

17 Many young men in Heliopolis and Bubastis cities in northern Egypt will be killed by their enemies swords,

and the others from those cities will be captured and taken to Babylon.

18 It will be a dark day of destruction at Tahpenes city in northeast Egypt

when I cause the power [MET] of Egypt to end;

that country will no longer be proud of being strong.

It will be as though a dark cloud will cover Egypt,

because the people of its villages will be captured and forced to go to Babylon.”

19 That is how I will punish Egypt,

and people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

The king of Egypt will be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar’s army

20 Almost eleven years after we had been taken to Babylon, on the seventh day of the first month of that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 21 “You human, I have enabled the army of Nebuchadnezzar to defeat the army of the King of Egypt. It is as though I have broken one of the arms of the King of Egypt, and it has not been bandaged in order that it could be healed, and it has not been put in splints in order that after it heals the arm will be strong enough to hold a sword. 22 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am the enemy of the King of Egypt. I will completely destroy the power of Egypt; it is as though now I will break both of the king’s arms, the good/strong one and the broken one, and cause the sword to fall from his hand. 23 I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered among the nations [DOU]. 24 It is as though I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon and put a sword in his hand, and as though I will break the arms of the king of Egypt, and he will groan in front of the King of Babylon like [SIM] a soldier who is wounded and about to die. 25 I will cause the power [MTY] of the King of Babylon to become greater, and the power of the king of Egypt will be useless [MET]. When that happens, when I give power to the army of the King of Babylon, they will use that power to attack Egypt. 26 I will cause the people of Egypt to be scattered among the nations [DOU]. And when that happens, the people of Egypt will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do [DOU].’ ”

Egypt is compared to defeated Assyria

31 Almost eleven years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the third month of that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, say to the King of Egypt and all of his people,

‘You think that there is [RHQ, IRO] no country whose power is as great as the power of your country.

3 You think that your country is as great as Assyria was:

Assyria was previously like [MET] a tall cedar tree in Lebanon;

it was as though it had big beautiful branches

that provided shade for other trees in the forest.

It was very tall;

its top was above the leaves of the other trees.

4 Water came from deep springs,

and as a result that cedar tree grew tall and very green.

Then water flowed around the base of the tree

into channels that took water to other nearby trees.

5 That huge tree grew very tall,

higher than all the other trees around it.

Its branches grew very thick and long [DOU]

because of the abundant water at the base of the tree.

6 Birds built their nests in the branches,

and wild animals gave birth to their babies under those branches.

And it was as though people of all the great nations lived in the shade of that tree.

7 It was majestic and beautiful;

its branches spread out widely

because the roots of the tree grew down into the ground where there was a plentiful supply of water.

8 The cedar trees in my garden in Eden were not as great as that tree,

and the branches of the pine/cypress trees were not as long and thick as the branches of that cedar tree.

And the branches of the plane trees were not as long and thick, either.

No tree in my garden was as beautiful as that cedar tree.

9 Because I caused that tree to become very beautiful

with its magnificent green branches,

all the leaders of other countries represented by [MET] those other trees in Eden envied the country represented by that tree.’

10 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘That tree, which represents Assyria, grew very tall, and its top was higher than the other trees, and it became very proud because of being very tall. 11 Therefore, I enabled another mighty nation to conquer it and to destroy it as it deserved to be destroyed. I have already discarded it. 12 A foreign army, one that has caused people of other nations to be terrified, cut it down and left it. Its branches fell on the mountains and in the valleys. Some of its branches lay broken in all the ravines in the land. All the people of other nations came out from being under its shade and left it. 13 Birds ◄settled/went to live► on the fallen tree, and wild animals lived among its branches. 14 The result of what I have done is that no other trees, even if they have plenty of water, will ever grow very high and become proud, and lift their tops above the branches of other trees. I do not want any other tree to grow high like that cedar tree did; trees will all certainly die and decay in the ground, like people die and go down to their graves.’

15 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘When that great tree was cut down, it was as though the springs that watered it mourned for it, because I caused the plentiful water from the springs to dry up. I caused the mountains in Lebanon to become black, and all the trees there to wither. 16 I caused the people of other nations to tremble when they heard that tree fall to the ground. They realized that it would decay, like all people who die and are buried decay. And all the leaders of other countries represented by other beautiful trees in my garden in Eden and in Lebanon, were like beautiful trees that were very proud. They were ones which had roots that grew down deep into the ground where there was plenty of water. They were comforted when the king represented by [MET] that cedar tree was there with them in the place where the dead people are. 17 The leaders of other countries represented by [MET] trees that grew in the shade of the huge tree, the allies of the great nation that the cedar tree represents, had also joined those who had been killed by the sword and gone down to where the dead people are.

18 This parable is about you people of Egypt. You think that [RHQ, IRO] there is no other nation that is as great and glorious as yours is. But your nation will also be destroyed, as Assyria was, along with those other nations. Your people will be there among the other people who are not fit to worship me, people who have been killed by their enemies’ swords. That is what will happen to the king of Egypt and all his people. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have predicted it.’ ”

A funeral song for the king of Egypt

32 Almost twelve years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the first day of the twelfth month of that year, Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, sing a sad/funeral song about the king of Egypt. Sing this to him:

‘You think that you [IRO] are like [SIM] a lion among the nations;

or like [SIM] a monster/crocodile in the river

thrashing around in the water,

churning/stirring up the water with your feet

and causing the water to become muddy.

3 But this is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“I will send many people to throw my net over you,

and they will haul/drag you up onto the land in my net.

4 They will throw you into a field [DOU] to die;

I will allow the birds to sit on you,

and all the wild animals will eat the flesh of your corpse until their stomachs are full.

5 I will cause them to scatter your flesh on the hills

and fill the valleys with your bones.

6 I will cause them to fill the land with your blood,

all the way to the mountains,

and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.

7 When I get rid of you,

I will cover the sky and not allow the stars to shine.

I will put a dark cloud in front of the sun,

and the moon will not shine.

8 I will cause the stars in the sky to be dark,

and there will be darkness over your entire land;

that will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said it.

9 And when the people of many nations hear about your being destroyed,

many of them will be afraid/worried—

people living in countries that you have never known about.

10 I will cause many people to be appalled because of what has happened to you,

and their kings will be horrified and shudder/shake because of your being destroyed,

when I swing my sword in front of them.

At the time that you will be destroyed,

all of them will tremble,

fearing that they also will be killed.”

11 This is what Yahweh the Lord says:

“The swords of the army of the King of Babylon will strike you.

12 I will cause very many of your people to be killed

by the swords of mighty soldiers from Babylonia,

who are more ruthless/cruel than the soldiers of all other nations.

They will cause the people of Egypt to quit being proud,

because very many [HYP] of their people will be killed.

13 I will destroy all the cattle in Egypt

that ◄graze/eat grass► alongside the streams.

As a result, the water in those streams will never again become muddy

because of people and cattle walking in them.

14 Then I will allow the streams in Egypt to become calm again

and flow as smoothly [SIM] as olive oil flows.

15 When I cause Egypt to become empty/desolate

and strip off everything that grows on the land,

and when I get rid of all the people who live there,

people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.” ’

16 That sad song about Egypt will also be sung by the people.

Women of many nations will sing it.

They will chant it about Egypt and all its people;

that will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said that it would happen.”

Egypt will be destroyed

17 On the fifteenth day of that same month, Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

18 “You human, wail about the many people of Egypt, because I will send them to the place under the earth, where they and people of other mighty nations will be. I will send them there, along with others, down to the place where the dead are. 19 Say to them, ‘You people of [APO] Egypt, you think that [IRO, RHQ] you are more beautiful than the people of other nations. But you also will descend to the place where the godless dead people are. 20 Your enemies will pull out their swords and kill many of you. A huge number of the people of Egypt who remain will be dragged away. 21 In the place where the dead people are, mighty leaders of other countries will make fun of the people of Egypt and say, “They have come here to lie with us godless people who were killed by our enemies’ swords!” ’

22 The corpses of the people of Assyria will be there. They will be surrounded by corpses of soldiers who were killed by their enemies’ swords. 23 The people’s graves are there in the deep pit, and corpses of soldiers of their army lie around their graves. Corpses of all those who had caused many others in other places to be terrified also will be there, having been killed by swords.

24 A great number of the people of Elam will be there. They also were killed by their enemies’ swords. They had caused people in many places [HYP] to be terrified. At that time they will lie there in that deep pit below the earth, and they, along with the others who have gone there, will be disgraced.

25 They will lie there among others who were slaughtered, surrounded by the graves of a huge crowd of other people. While they were alive, they caused people of other nations to be terrified; but they were godless, and now, having been killed by their enemies swords, they will lie with others in that deep pit, disgraced, all of them avoiding each other.

26 Corpses of soldiers of Meshech and Tubal will be there, surrounded by the graves of a huge crowd of their people. They were all godless people who were killed by swords because while they were alive, they also caused people in many places [HYP] to be terrified. 27 They will surely [RHQ] not be buried honorably like the soldiers who have died, whose shields were buried with their corpses, whose swords were placed on their skulls in the graves. While those godless people were alive, they had caused many people in the land to be terrified, so they were punished for their sins.

28 You king of Egypt, you also be killed and will lie there with other godless people who have been killed by their enemies’ swords.

29 People of the Edom people-group will be there, along with their kings and leaders. They were powerful, but they will be killed and lie there in the place where the other dead people are. They will lie there in that deep pit, with the other godless people.

30 All the rulers of countries north of Israel, including people from Sidon, will be there. Because of their power, they caused people to be terrified, but they will lie there. They were godless, and they will lie there along with others who were killed by their enemies’ swords. They, along with everyone else who descends into that deep pit, will be disgraced.

31 The king of Egypt and all his army will see them, and they will be comforted to know that there were other huge groups of people who were killed by their enemies’ swords. 32 While he was living, I allowed him to cause others in many countries to be terrified, but he and his huge army will be there among other godless people who had been killed by their enemies’ swords. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, am the one who has said that it would happen.”

Ezekiel was appointed to be a watchman

33 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, speak to your fellow Israelis and say this to them: ‘When I bring an enemy army [MTY] to attack a country, and the people of that country choose one of their men and appoint him to be a watchman, 3 if he sees the enemy army [MTY] coming to attack his country, and he blows a trumpet to warn the people, 4 if anyone hears the trumpet and does not heed the warning, and as a result he is killed by the sword of one of his enemies, he will be responsible for his own death [MTY]. 5 If he had heeded the warning, he would have ◄have saved his life/still be alive►. But because he heard the sound of the trumpet and did not heed that warning, his death will be his own fault. 6 But if the watchman sees the enemy army [MTY] coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, and one of his people is killed by an enemy sword, that person will die because of his sin, but I will consider that the watchman is responsible for that man’s death.’

7 So, you human, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the Israeli people [MTY]. So always listen to what I say and warn the people for me. 8 When I say to some wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die because of your sins,’ you must tell him that. If you do not speak to that person to warn him that he should turn away from his sins, that wicked person will die because of his sins, but I will say that you are responsible for his death [MTY]. 9 But if you warn that wicked person that he should turn away from his sins, and he does not do that, he will die because of his sins, but you will have saved your life.

10 You human, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what you all are saying: “The guilt that we have for disobeying God’s laws and sinning is like a heavy weight on us, and it is hurting us, and we are slowly dying. So what can we do to continue to remain alive?” ’ 11 Say to them, ‘Yahweh the Lord says, “As surely as I am alive, I am not happy when wicked people die; I would prefer that they turn away from their wicked behavior and continue to live. So repent! Turn away from your evil behavior! You Israeli people, do you really want to die [RHQ]?” ’

12 Therefore, you human, say to your fellow Israelis, ‘If righteous people start to disobey me, their being righteous previously will not save them from being punished. And if wicked people turn away from their wicked behavior, they will not die because of the sins that they committed previously. And if righteous people start to sin, they will not be allowed to remain alive because of their formerly being righteous.’ 13 If I tell righteous people that they will surely remain alive, but then they trust/think that because they have been righteous previously, they can start to do evil and not be punished, I will not think about the righteous things that they did previously; they will die because of the evil things that they are doing. 14 And if I say to some wicked person, ‘You will surely die because of your sins,’ that person may turn away from his sinful behavior and do what is just and right [DOU]. 15 For example, he may return what he took from another person to guarantee that that person would pay back what he owes, or he may return things that he has stolen, and he may obey the laws that will enable those who obey them to remain alive, and he will not continue to do evil things. If that happens, he will surely remain alive; he will not die because of the sins that he committed previously. 16 I will not think about the sins that he has committed; he will surely remain alive.

17 Your fellow Israelis say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But it is your behavior that is not fair. 18 If a righteous person turns away from doing what is righteous and starts to do what is evil, it is fair that he die because of his sins. 19 And if a wicked person turns away from his wicked behavior and does what is right and fair [DOU], it is fair for him to remain alive because of doing that. 20 But you Israeli people still say, ‘What Yahweh does is not fair.’ But I will judge each of you for what you do.”

What will happen to those who remained in Israel

21 Almost twelve years after we had been taken to Babylonia, on the fifth day of the tenth month of that year, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon and said, “Jerusalem has been captured!” 22 The evening before that man arrived, Yahweh took control [MTY] of me, and when that man arrived, Yahweh enabled me to speak again; I was no longer forced to be silent.

23 Then Yahweh gave a message to me. He said, 24 “You human, the people who are living in the ruins in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, but Yahweh promised him that he and his descendants would possess this land. But we are many; so surely this land has been given to us by Yahweh to continue to possess.’ 25 So send a message to them. Say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You eat meat that still has the animal’s blood in it. You still worship idols. And you still murder others [MTY]. So, ◄should this land belong to you?/this land should certainly not belong to you!► [RHQ] 26 You rely on using your swords to obtain things that you want. You do many detestable things. Each of you has sex with other men’s wives. So ◄why should you continue to possess the land of Israel?/you should not continue to possess this land!► [RHQ]’

27 Send this message to them: ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: As surely as I am alive, those who are left in the ruins in Jerusalem will also be killed by their enemies’ swords, and those who are living in the countryside will be killed by wild animals, and those who are living in forts and caves will die from a plague. 28 I will cause your country to become a desolate wasteland. You will no longer be proud of being a strong country. The mountains of Israel will become very desolate, with the result that no one will walk across them. 29 Then, when I have caused your country to become a desolate wasteland because of all the detestable things that you have done, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’

30 As for you, you human, your fellow Israelis here in Babylon are talking about you along the city walls and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, ‘Come and listen to the message that has come from Yahweh!’ 31 My people come to you as they often have done, and they sit in front of you to listen to what you say. But they do not do what you tell them that they must do. With their mouths they say that they love me, but in their inner beings they are eager to acquire things by doing what is unjust. 32 To them, you are only a man who sings love songs with a beautiful voice, and you play a musical instrument well. They hear what you say, but they do not do what you tell them to do.

33 The terrible things that I have said will happen to them will surely happen. And then they will know that a prophet has been among them, and that you are that prophet.”

A parable about the leaders of Israel

34 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, prophesy about theleaders of Israel. They should be taking care of my people like [MET] shepherds take care of their sheep. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Terrible things will happen to you leaders [MET] of Israel who only take care of yourselves! You should certainly [RHQ] take care of your people like [MET] a shepherd takes care of his flock of sheep! 3 It is as though you eat the curds, you slaughter the very good animals and wear clothes made from their wool. But you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not enabled those who are weak to become strong. You have not healed those who were sick. You have not bandaged those who were wounded/injured. You have not brought back those who went astray. You have not searched for those who became lost. You have ruled your people harshly and cruelly. 5 So they were scattered, because you did not take care of them like [MET] a shepherd takes care of his sheep. And when they were scattered, it was as though wild animals attacked and killed them and ate their flesh. 6 My people wandered like sheep all over the high hills and mountains. They were scattered all over the earth, and no one searched for them [DOU].

7 Therefore, you who should be acting like shepherds, listen to what I, Yahweh the Lord say: 8 As surely as I am alive, my people are like a flock of sheep that has no shepherd, and as a result it is as though wild animals have attacked my people and eaten them. You did not search for them; instead, you only wanted to provide food for yourselves. 9 Therefore, you who should be like [MET] shepherds, listen to what I, Yahweh say: 10 I am opposed to you leaders who should be like [MET] shepherds for my people. I will remove you from taking care of my people, with the result that you will no longer feed yourselves instead of feeding them. I will rescue my people from you, with the result that you will longer be able to butcher them and eat them.

11 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to you leaders: I myself will search for my sheep and take care of them. 12 Like a shepherd finds his scattered sheep, I will rescue my people from all the places to which they have been scattered, at a time when things were very gloomy and they experienced disasters. 13 I will bring them back from many countries and gather them together again in their own land. Because my people are like sheep [MET], it is as though I will enable them to find good pastureland on the hills of Israel, and in the ravines, and in the villages of Israel. 14 It is as though I will allow them to graze in good pastures on the mountaintops. They will lie down in good ◄grazing areas/grassy fields► there [DOU]. 15 I myself will take care of my people and enable them to lie down and rest. 16 I will search for those who are lost and bring back the ones who have strayed away. I will bandage those who have been injured and strengthen those who are weak. But I will get rid of those who are fat and powerful. I will act fairly toward the people who are like [MET] my sheep. That is what I, Yahweh, promise.

17 And as for you who are like [MET] my sheep, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will judge between each of you; and I will separate those that are peaceful like sheep from those that are always trying to dominate others like goats. 18 It is bad that [RHQ] some of you keep the best pastures for yourselves. It is even worse that [RHQ] you trample the good grass with your feet. You yourselves drink the clear water [RHQ]. But with your feet you cause the other water to become muddy [RHQ]. 19 It is as though you [RHQ] are forcing my flock to eat the grass that you have trampled and to drink the water that you have caused to become muddy!

20 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to you: I myself will judge between those of you who are like [MET] the fat sheep and those of you who are like the thin sheep. 21 Youwho are like strong sheep, it is as though with your shoulders and buttocks you have shoved away those who are like thin sheep, and you have butted them with your horns, until you have chased them all away from the good pastureland. 22 But I will rescue my people, and they no longer will be ◄harassed/treated cruelly►. I will judge between one person and another. 23 And I will appoint one leader [MET] for them, someone who will be like King David, who served me very well. That leader will take care of them and be like their shepherd. 24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and the one who is like [MET] King David will be their king. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.

25 I will make a peace agreement with the people of Israel. In this agreement I will promise to get rid of all the wild animals in Israel, in order that my people may live safely, even in the desert and in the forests. 26 I will bless them, and I will bless the places close to my sacred hill. I will bless them by sending them rain showers at the right season; they will be showers to bless them. 27 The fruit trees will produce fruit and the ground will produce crops. And my people will live safely in their land. When I rescue them from people who caused them to be slaves [MET, DOU], they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 28 Soldiers from other nations will no longer take away their valuable possessions, and wild animals will no longer attack them. They will live safely, and no one will cause them to be afraid. 29 I will cause their land to be famous/well-known for its good crops. There will no longer be famines in the land, and people in other nations will no longer ridicule them. 30 Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am helping them, and they will know that they, the Israeli people, are my people. 31 It will be as though [MET] my people are my sheep whom I will take care of, and I will be their God. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.’ ”

A prophecy about the destruction of Edom

35 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “You human, turn toward Edom and prophesy what will happen to its people. Say that this is what Yahweh says to them: 3 ‘You who live near Seir Mountain in Edom, I am opposed to you, and I will use my power [MTY] to strike you and cause your country to become a wasteland. 4 I will cause your country to be ruined and desolate. When that happens, people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

5 You have always been enemies of the Israeli people. You rejoiced when they experienced a great disaster: their enemies attacked them with swords, when I punished them for the sins that they had committed. 6 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, I will allow your enemies to slaughter [MTY] you and continue to slaughter you. You were happy when [LIT] others were slaughtered; 7 so I will cause Seir Mountain to be abandoned/deserted, and I will get rid of anyone who enters it or leaves it. 8 I will cause your mountains to be filled with the corpses of those who have been killed. The corpses of those who have been killed by your enemies’ swords will lie on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. 9 I will cause your land to be deserted forever. No one will live in your towns again. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

10 You people said, “Israel and Judah will become ours. We will take over their territory!” You said that even though I, Yahweh, was still there and protecting them. 11 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, I will punish [MTY] you for being angry with my people, envying them, and hating them. 12 Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all the disgusting things that you have said about the mountains in Israel. You said that they have been ruined/devastated, and that they have been given to you to occupy [MET]. 13 When you insulted me, I heard all that you said about me. 14 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You people who live on Seir Mountain and in all the other places in Edom, when I cause your land to become desolate, everyone in the entire world will rejoice. 15 You were happy when the land [MTY] of the Israeli people became desolate, so I will cause your land to become desolate. When that happens, people will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

A prophecy about Yahweh bringing his people back to Israel

36 You human, prophesy about the mountains in Israel. Say to them, “You mountains in Israel, listen to what Yahweh says. 2 This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Your enemies happily said about you, ‘Aha! The mountains in Israel that have existed for a long time have become ours!’ ” 3 Therefore prophesy about those mountains and say, “This is what Yahweh the Lord declares: Armies of other nations attacked you [DOU] from every direction, with the result that your land became abandoned, and people of other nations occupied you, and they spoke maliciously about you and slandered you. 4-6 4-6Therefore, you mountains in Israel, listen to this message from me. I, Yahweh the Lord, have something to say to the hills and mountains, to the ravines and valleys, to the deserted ruins and towns whose valuable possessions have been taken and their people ridiculed by the people of other nations around them. This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: I am very angry [DOU] with the people of Edom and other nations; they have forced you Israeli people to endure them insulting you. 7 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Lifting up my arm, I solemnly declare that the people of the nations that are around you will also endure being insulted.

8 But I say to you mountains in Israel that huge crops of fruit will grow on your trees for my Israeli people, because they will soon return home from Babylonia. 9 I ◄am concerned about/will take care of► you, and I will bless you. I will enable farmers to plow the ground and plant seed there. 10 I will cause the number of people who live on you mountains and everywhere else in Israel to greatly increase. People will live in the towns and rebuild houses where there are now only ruins. 11 I will cause the number of people and domestic animals to increase. People will have many children [IDM, DOU]. I will enable people to live there like they did previously, and I will enable them to prosper like they did before. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do. 12 I will enable my Israeli people to walk through your mountains. They will own you; you will be their permanent possession. Never again will their children die.

13 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to you: People say that only a small amount of food is produced on your mountains, and as a result the people of Israel die from hunger. 14 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that no longer will that happen. 15 No longer will the people of other nations ridicule you; no longer will they laugh at you; no longer will the armies of other nations conquer you. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have declared that it will happen.”

16 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 17 “You human, when the Israeli people were living in their own land, they ◄defiled it/caused it to become unacceptable to me► by the things that they did. I considered that their behavior was disgusting, like [SIM] the rags/cloths that women use during their monthly menstrual periods. 18 So I severely punished [MTY] them, because they had murdered [MTY] many people and because they had defiled the land by worshiping idols there. 19 I caused them to be scattered among many nations [DOU]. I punished [MTY] them like they deserved to be punished because of their very evil behavior [DOU]. 20 And wherever they went among those nations, they caused my reputation [MTY] to be disgraced. What has happened is that the people in those countries said about the Israeli people, ‘They belong to Yahweh, but they were forced to leave the land that he gave to them.’ 21 But I was concerned about my reputation, which the people of Israel had disgraced among the nations to which they were forced to go.

22 Therefore, say to the Israeli people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: You Israeli people, it is not for your sake that I am going to do these things. Instead, it is for the sake of my sacred reputation, which you have disgraced among the nations to which you were forced to go. 23 I will show that my reputation is sacred, a reputation which you have disgraced among the nations to which you were forced to go. And when I show the nations that I am holy, the people of those nations will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.

24 What I will do is to bring you back from those nations. I will gather you from all the countries to which you were forced to go, and bring you back to your own land. 25 It will be as though [MET] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and then you will be clean. I will cause you to be cleansed from everything that has defiled you, and I will cause you to stop worshiping idols. 26 I will give you a completely new way of thinking [IDM]. I will enable you to stop being stubborn [IDM], and I will enable you to obey me from your inner beings [IDM]. 27 I will put my Spirit within you and enable you to carefully obey all my laws [DOU]. 28 You will again live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will free you from all your disgraceful behavior. I will cause your grain to be plentiful, and I will not send a famine to you again. 30 I will cause your fruit trees to produce plenty of fruit and your ground to produce plenty of good crops, with the result that you will no longer be ridiculed by the people of other nations because of your not having enough food. 31 When that happens, you will think about your previous evil behavior and wicked deeds, and you will ◄be very displeased with/hate► yourselves for your sins and the detestable things that you did. 32 But I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that I want you to know that it is not for your sake that I will do those things. You Israeli people ought to be ashamed of your behavior.

33 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: At the time that I forgive you for all the sins that you have committed, I will enable you to live in your towns again and to build houses where there are now only ruins. 34 People who walk through your country will see that your land is again cultivated instead of ◄being desolate/having nothing growing in it►. 35 They will say, “This land that was ruined has become very fertile/productive like [SIM] the garden of Eden! The cities that were piles of ruins, empty and destroyed, now have walls around them, and people live in those cities.” 36 When that happens, the people in the nations that are around you that still exist will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have enabled you to rebuild what was destroyed, and to again plant crops in the fields that had nothing growing in them. I, Yahweh, have said that it will happen, and I will cause it to happen.

37 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Again I will heed what you Israeli people are pleading for me to do for you. I will cause your people to be as numerous as your sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks of sheep that will be needed for offerings in Jerusalem during your regular festivals. The cities that are now ruined will be filled with people, and then you will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

The vision about the valley of dry bones

37 One day Yahweh gave me another vision. In the vision I felt the power [MTY] of God on me, and by his Spirit he took me to the middle of a valley. It was full of bones of people who had been killed. 2 He led me to walk back and forth among those bones. I saw that there were very many bones there, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “You human, do you think that these bones can become living people again?”

I replied, “Yahweh my Lord, only you know if that can happen.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones. Say to them, ‘You dry bones, listen to what Yahweh says. 5 This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you bones: I will put my breath into each of you, and you will become alive again. 6 I will fasten tendons to your bones, and cause your bones to be covered with flesh. I will cover the flesh with skin. Then I will breathe into you, and you will become alive. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do what I say that I will do.’ ”

7 So I spoke to the bones what Yahweh commanded me to speak. As I was speaking, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bones joining to each other. 8 While I was looking, I saw tendons fastening to them and flesh covering them, and then skin covered the flesh, but they did not breathe.

9 Then he said to me, “You human, prophesy to the wind. Say to the wind, ‘Wind [APO], Yahweh says to you, blow from all four directions. Breathe into these people who have been killed, in order that they can become alive again!’ ” 10 So I said what he commanded me to say, and then breath entered them. They became alive and stood up, like a huge army.

11 Then he said to me, “You human, these bones represent all the Israeli people [MTY]. The people say, ‘It is as though our bones are dried up; there are no more good things that we can ◄hope for/confidently expect to happen to us►; our nation is destroyed/finished.’ 12 So prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: My people, it will be as though I will open your graves and cause your corpses to become alive again. I will bring you back to Israel. 13 Then, what that happens, you my people will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and it will be as though you will become alive again, and I will enable you to live in your own land again. Then you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who said that it would happen and who has caused it to happen. That is what I, Yahweh, declare.’ ”

A prophecy about being one nation with one king

15 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 16 “You human, take a piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Judah and all the tribes of Judah.’ Then take another piece of wood and write on it, ‘This represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel.’ 17 Then join them together to become as though they were one piece of wood in your hand.

18 When your fellow Israelis ask you, ‘What does ◄this action/what you just did► mean?’, 19 tell them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: One of the pieces of wood in my hand represents Israel and all the tribes of Israel. I am joining it to the piece of wood that represents Judah, to form one piece of wood in his hand.’ 20 Then, you human, hold up the pieces of wood that you have written on, in order that the people can see them. 21 Say to the people, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: I will take you Israeli people out of the countries to which you have been forced to go. I will gather you from all those nations and bring you back to your own land. 22 And I will cause you to again be one nation in that land, on the mountains in Israel. And there will be one king to rule over all of you. Never again will you be two nations or divided into two kingdoms. 23 No longer will you ◄defile yourselves/make yourselves unacceptable to me► by worshiping idols and disgusting statues of your gods, because I will enable you to quit your sinful behavior and to stop rejecting me. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

24 Someone who will be like [MET] King David who served me well will be the king of your descendants, and it will be as though [MET] he will be their shepherd. They will carefully obey all my laws [DOU]. 25 They will live in the land that I gave to Jacob, who also served me well; they will live in the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and the one who will be like [MET] King David will be their king forever. 26 I will make a peace agreement with them; it will be an agreement that will endure forever. I will again give them that land and cause their population to increase. And I will put my temple among them forever. 27 The place where I will live will be among them; I will be their God and they will be my people. 28 Then, when my temple is forever there among them, the people of other nations will know that I, Yahweh, have caused the Israeli people to be set apart to belong to me.’ ”

A prophecy about Gog

38 Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me, 2 “You human, turn and face Magog, the country where Gog is the king. He is also the ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy about the terrible things that will happen to him, 3 and say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Gog, you who rule Meshech and Tubal, I am opposed to you. 4 It will be as though I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you to Israel—you and all of your army, including your horses and men carrying weapons who ride the horses, and many other soldiers carrying large shields and small shields, all of them carrying swords. 5 Armies from Persia, Ethiopia, and Put/Libya will also come, all of them with shields and helmets. 6 An army from Gomer north of Israel will come, and an army from Togarmah far north of Israel will come. Armies of many nations will accompany you.’

7 Tell Gog, ‘Get ready and be prepared to be the commander of all those groups of soldiers. 8 At some future time, I will command you to lead those armies to attack Israel, a country whose buildings have been rebuilt after they were destroyed in wars. Their people will have been brought back from many nations to live again on the hills of Israel, which had been deserted for a long time. They had been brought back from other nations and will be living peacefully. 9 You and all those armies from many nations will go up to Israel, advancing like [SIM] a big storm. Your army will be like a huge cloud that covers the land.

10 But this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: On that day, you will have an idea about [DOU] doing an evil thing. 11 You will say to yourself, “My army will invade a country where the villages do not have walls around them. We will attack people who are peaceful and do not suspect/think that they will be attacked. Their towns and villages do not have walls with gates and bars. 12 So it will be easy for us to attack the people who are living again in those towns that were previously destroyed. They are people who have been gathered from many countries where they had lived for many years, people who now live safely in their land with all their livestock and other possessions. They are living in the country that is in the middle of the most important countries (OR, that they think is [IRO] the most important country) in the world. Our soldiers will take away [DOU] all their valuable possessions.” 13 Then people of Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and nearby villages will come and say to you, “Are you gathering all your soldiers in order to attack Israel and take away all their silver and gold? Do you plan to take away their livestock and all their other valuable possessions [DOU]?” ’

14 Therefore, you human, prophesy about Gog and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: At that time, when my people of Israel are living safely, you will certainly think about that. 15 So you will come from your place far north of Israel, with the armies of many other nations, all riding horses, a huge army. 16 You will march toward my Israeli people, and your soldiers will cover the land like a huge cloud. Gog, I will bring your army to attack the country that belongs to me, but what I do for you will show the people of other nations that I am holy.

17 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say to Gog: In past years, when I gave messages to my servants, the prophets in Israel, there were messages [RHQ] about you. At that time, they prophesied for many years that I would bring your armies to attack my people. 18 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say will happen: When your army attacks Israel, I will be very angry with you. 19 I will be very furious, and to show that I am angry, there will be a great earthquake in Israel, where your armies will be. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds, the wild animals, and the animals/creatures that crawl on the ground, and all the people on the earth will tremble because of what I am doing. Mountains will fall down, cliffs will crumble, and walls everywhere will fall to the ground. 21 Gog, on all the mountains in the country that belongs to me I will cause your soldiers to fight against each other with their swords. 22 I will punish [MTY] you and your soldiers with plagues and murders [MTY]. And I will send down from the sky, on you and your troops that have come from many nations, huge amounts of rain and hail and burning sulfur. 23 By doing that, I will cause the people of many nations to know that I am very great and holy, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have the power to do the things that I say that I will do.’ ”

39 Yahweh said to me, “You human, prophesy about more terrible things that will happen to Gog, and say this to him: ‘Gog, I am opposed to you who rule Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you and your armies from far north of Israel and send you to fight on the mountains in Israel. 3 When you are there, I will snatch your bows from your left hands and cause your arrows to fall from your right hands. 4 You and all the soldiers that are with you will die on the mountains in Israel. I will give your corpses to be food for the birds that eat dead flesh, and to the wild animals. 5 You will die in the open fields. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh the Lord, have said that it will happen. 6 I will cause many fires to burn in Magog and among all those who live safely in the areas along their coasts, and they will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.

7 I will enable my Israeli people to know that I am holy. I will no longer allow people to damage my reputation, and people in other nations will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, am the Holy One in Israel. 8 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that it will soon be the day that those things will happen. It will be the day that I have spoken to you about.

9 At that time, those Israelis who live in the towns will go out and gather the weapons from your dead soldiers, and use them to make fires to cook their food. They will burn the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs, and spears. There will be enough weapons to use as firewood for seven years. 10 They will not need to gather firewood in the fields or cut wood from trees in the forests, because those weapons will be all the firewood that they will need. And they will take valuable things from those who took valuable things from them, and steal things from people who stole things from them. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare will happen.

11 At that time I will create a graveyard for you, Gog, and your soldiers, in the valley east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will block the road that travelers usually walk on, because you, Gog and all the soldiers of your huge army will be buried there. So it will be named ‘the Valley of Gog’s Huge Army’.

12 For seven months the people of Israel will be burying those corpses. It will be necessary to bury all of them, in order that the land will not be ◄defiled/considered unacceptable to me► because of any unburied corpses. 13 All the people of Israel will do the work of burying them. The day when I win that victory they will honor me.

14 After those seven months are ended, the Israeli people will appoint men to go throughout the land to bury corpses, in order that the land will not remain defiled. 15 When they go through the land, when one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it. When the gravediggers see the markers, they will pick up the bones and bury them in the Valley of Gog’s Huge Army. 16 There will be a city there named Hamonah, which means ‘huge army’. And by doing this work of burying the corpses, they will ◄cleanse the land/cause the land to be acceptable to me again►.’ ”

17 Yahweh said to me, “You human, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: Summon every kind of bird and wild animal. Say to them, ‘Gather together from everywhere and come to the feast that Yahweh is preparing for you. It will be a great feast on the mountains in Israel. There you will eat men’s flesh and drink their blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of strong soldiers and drink the blood of kings as if they were fat animals—rams and lambs, goats and bulls—from the Bashan region. 19 At that feast that Yahweh is preparing for you, you will eat fat until your stomachs are full, and you will drink blood until it is as though you are drunk. 20 It will be as though you are eating at a table that I have set up for you. You will eat all you want of the flesh of horses and their riders, strong soldiers [DOU] of every kind.’ That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

21 I will show people of many nations that I am glorious, and all those nations will see how I punish them [DOU]. 22 After that time, the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh their God, have the power to do what I say that I will do. 23 And the people of other nations will know that the Israeli people had been forced to go to other countries because they sinned by not being faithful to me. I ◄turned away from/abandoned► them, and allowed their enemies to capture them [IDM], and many [HYP] of them were killed by their enemies’ swords. 24 I punished them like they deserved to be punished because of their disgusting behavior and sins, and I turned away from them [MTY].

25 Therefore, this is now what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will now bring back from exile/Babylonia the descendants of Jacob; I will pity all the Israeli people, and I will also jealously protect my reputation. 26 When the Israeli people are back in their own country, they will live safely in their land, with no one to cause them to be afraid, but they will be ashamed when they think about the disgraceful and unfaithful things that they did previously. 27 When I have brought them back from their enemies’ countries and gathered them together in Israel, the people of many nations will know that I am holy. 28 And the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh their Lord, have the power to do what I say that I will do. They will know that because even though I forced them to go to other countries, I will gather them together in their own country. I will not leave any of them in those countries. 29 I will no longer turn away from them; I will pour out my Spirit on the Israeli people. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

In a vision, Ezekiel was taken to Jerusalem

40 Almost 25 years after we had been takento Babylonia, on the tenth day of the first month of that year, almost 14years after Jerusalem had been destroyed, in a vision I felt the power [MTY] of Yahweh on me, and he took me to Israel. 2 He set me on a very high mountain. On the south side of that mountain there were some buildings that appeared to be part of a city. 3 When he took there, I saw a man whose face was like [SIM] bronze. He was standing in the entrance of a building. He had a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. 4 He said to me, “You human, look carefully at everything that I am going to show you, and pay attention to everything that I say and everything that I will show you, because that is why you have been brought here. And then later you must tell the Israeli people everything that you have seen here.”

The east entryway to the outer courtyard

5 In the vision I saw that there was a wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► long. He measured the wall: It was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► thick and ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► high.

6 Then he went to the entryway on the east side of the temple. He climbed the steps and measured the outer threshold/opening for the entryway: It was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► deep. 7 Next, there was an entry hallway with three ◄alcoves/very small rooms► along each side where the guards stood. Each of the alcoves was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► on each side. There was a dividing wall between each alcove that was ◄8-3/4 feet/2.7 meters► wide. At the end of the entry hallway was the inner threshold/opening for the entryway, ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► deep. It led to the entry room to the inner courtyard and faced the temple.

8 Then he measured the entry room at the end of the entry hallway. 9 It was about ◄14 feet/4.2 meters► long, and its supporting columns were ◄3-1/2 feet/1.1 meters► thick. The entry room of the entryway was at the end of the entry hallway that faced the temple and extended into the courtyard. 10 Inside the east entryway there were three alcoves on each side of the entry hallway. They each had the same length and width. And the measurements of the walls that divided the alcoves were all identical.

11 Then he measured the threshold/opening for the entryway: It was ◄17-1/2 feet/5.3 meters► wide, and the entry hallway between the alcoves was ◄22-3/4 feet/6.9 meters► wide. 12 In front of each alcove was a low wall about ◄21 inches/53 cm.► high, and the alcoves were ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► on each side. 13 Then he measured the width of the roof of the entrance hallway, the distance between the rear wall of one alcove to the rear wall of the opposite alcove, including the supporting walls along each side. It was ◄43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters►. 14 Then he measured all along the dividing walls between the alcoves all along the inside of the entry hallway: It was ◄105 feet/31.8 meters►. He measured as far as the entry room of the entryway. 15 The length from theouter opening of the entryway to the far end of the entry room was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters►. 16 There were small windows in the outside walls of all the alcoves, and also in the inner dividing walls between the alcoves. There were also small windows in the entry room. The dividing walls were decorated with carvings of palm trees.

The outer courtyard

17 Then in the vision he brought me to the outer courtyard. There I saw some rooms, and a stone path/pavement along the walls around the courtyard. There were thirty rooms along the path. 18 The stone path was all around the courtyard, and it extended out from the walls into the courtyard for the same distance as the entry room of the entryway. That was the lower path. 19 Then the man measured the distance across the outer courtyard of the temple, between the inner entrance of the entryway and the wall surrounding the inner courtyard: It was ◄175 feet/53 meters► on the east side and on the north side of the courtyard.

The north entryway

20 Then he measured how long and how wide was the entryway that was on the north side, the entrance into the outer courtyard of the temple. 21 There were three alcoves on each side of the entryway hall. The measurements of the alcoves, the dividing walls between the alcoves, and the entry room were the same as as those in the first entryway. The length from theouter opening of the entryway to the far end of the entry room was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters►. The entryway was ◄43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters► wide. 22 Its windows and the entry room and the palm tree decorations all measured the same as the ones on the east side. There were seven steps up to the outer threshold/opening for the entryway, and an entry room was at the other end of the entryway. 23 There was an entryway to the inner courtyard that faces the north entryway, like there was on the east side. The man measured the distance from the north entryway to the entryway on the other side; it was ◄175 feet/53 meters►.

The south entryway

24 Then he brought me through the south entryway into the outer courtyard, and he measured it. It measured the same as the other entryways. Its alcoves, its dividing walls between the alcoves, and its entry room measured the same as the ones on the other sides. 25 The alcoves and the entry room had narrow windows along the walls, like on the other sides. The length of the outer opening of the entryway to the far end of the entry room was was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► and the entryway was ◄43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters► wide. 26 There were seven steps up to the outer threshold/opening for the entryway, and an entry room was ◄opposite it/at the end of the entryway facing the courtyard►. It also had carvings of palm trees on the dividing walls that were between the alcoves. 27 The inner courtyard also had an entryway on the south side. He measured from that entryway to the entrance on the south side of the outer courtyard; it was also ◄175 feet/53 meters►.

Entryways to the inner courtyard

28 Then in the vision he brought me through the south entryway into the inner courtyard, and he measured the south entryway. It measured the same as the other entryways. 29 Its alcoves along the entry hallway, its dividing walls between the alcoves, and its entry room measured the same as the ones on the other sides. The alcoves and the entry room had windows. The length of the outer opening of the entryway to the far end of the entry room was was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► and the entryway was ◄43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters► wide. 30 The entry rooms around the inner courtyard were ◄43-3/4 feet/13.3 meters► wide and ◄8.7 feet/2.6 meters► long. 31 The entry room faced the outer courtyard. There were carvings of palm trees that decorated the columns, and there were eight steps up to the entryway.

32 Then he led me to the east side of the inner courtyard, and he measured the entrance. It had the same measurements as the other entrances 33 Its alcoves and dividing walls and entry room measured the same as the others. 34 Its entry room faced the outer courtyard. It also had carvings of palm trees that decorated the walls, and it had eight steps up to it.

35 Then he led me to the entrance on the north side and measured it. It measured the same as the other entrances. 36 And its alcoves and walls between them and the entry room all had small windows in the walls. It was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► long and ◄43.7 feet/13.3 meters► wide. 37 Its entry room faced the outer courtyard. There were carvings of palm trees that decorated its walls, and there were eight steps up to the entryway.

The rooms for preparing sacrifices

38 In the vision, I saw that in the inner entry room of the north entryway there was a door to a side room. That side room was where the carcasses of the animals that would be burned completely on the altar were washed. 39 In the entry room, there were two tables on each side of the room. On those tables would be slaughtered the animals that would be completely burned, and the animals for offerings for sins that people had committed, and offerings to cause people to longer be guilty for having sinned. 40 Along the outside wall of the entry room, on each side of the steps at the opening to the entryway on the north side, were two tables. 41 So there were four tables outside the entrance and four tables inside the entry room, on which the animals to be sacrificed were slaughtered. 42 There were also four tables of cut stone for the offerings to be completely burned, ◄31-1/2 in./80 cm.► on each side and ◄21 in./53 cm.► high. On those stone tables would be placed the tools for slaughtering all the animals for the sacrifices. 43 The meat for the offerings would be placed on stone tables. There were hooks on which the meat was hung, each with two prongs, each ◄3 in./8 cm.► long, fastened to the walls of the entry room.

Rooms for the priests

44 Outside the inner entryway, inside the inner courtyard, were two rooms, one on the north side and one on the south side. 45 The man said to me, “The room whose door faces south is for the priests who are in charge of the work in the temple. 46 The room whose door faces north is for the priests who are in charge of the work at the altar. They are the descendants of Zadok; they are the only descendants of Levi who are permitted to approach Yahweh while they work for him.”

47 Then he measured the courtyard: It was square, ◄175 feet/53 meters► long and ◄175 feet/53 meters► wide. The altar was in front of the temple.

The temple

48 Then in the vision he brought me to the entry room of the temple, and measured the walls on each side of the entrance: They were ◄8-3/4 feet/2.6 meters► thick. The entrance was ◄24-1/2 feet/7.4 meters► wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were ◄5-1/4 feet/1.6 meters► long. 49 The entry room was ◄35 feet/10.6 meters► wide on each side. There were ten steps up to it, and there were pillars on each side of the entrance.

41 Thenin the vision the man brought me to into the Holy Place in the temple and measured the walls on each side of the doorway of that room: They were about ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► thick. 2 The entrance was ◄17-1/2 feet/5.3 meters► wide, and the walls of each side of it were ◄8-3/4 feet/2.6 meters► wide. He also measured the Holy Place, it was ◄70 feet/21.4 meters► long and ◄35 feet/10.7 meters► wide.

3 Then he entered the inner room of the temple and measured the walls of the entrance; each was ◄3-1/2 feet/1.1 meter► thick. The doorway was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► wide, and the walls on each side of the entrance were ◄12-1/4 feet/3.7 meters► long. 4 Then he measured the inner room: It was ◄35 feet/10.7 meters► long and ◄35 feet/10.7 meters► wide. He said to me, “This is the Very Holy Place.”

5 Then he measured the wall of the temple: It was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► thick.There was a row of rooms along the outside wall of the temple. Each of those rooms was ◄7 feet/2.1 meters► wide. 6 There were three levels of rooms, one above the other. There were thirty rooms on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple that were supports for those side rooms; so those supports were not built into the wall of the temple. 7 Each of those side rooms was wider than the one below it. The most narrow rooms were built first, at the bottom. Then a wider set of rooms was built over it, and the widest set was at the top. A set of stairs was built from the lowest level through the middle level to the highest level.

8 I saw that there was a terrace (OR, raised platform) around the temple. The terrace was the foundation for those side rooms; it was ◄10-1/2 feet/3.3 meters► high. 9 The outer wall of those side rooms was ◄8-3/4 feet/2.6 meters► thick. All around those side rooms there was an open area that was ◄35 feet/10.6 meters► wide. 10 There was a row of rooms for the priests on each side of the outer wall of the inner courtyard. 11 There were two doors from those side rooms into another open area; one faced north and one faced south. That open area was ◄8-3/4 feet/2.6 meters► wide.

12 There was a large building on the west side of the temple area. It was ◄122-1/2 feet/37.1 meters► wide and ◄157-1/2 feet/47.7 meters► long. And its walls were also ◄8-3/4 feet/2.6 meters► thick.

13 Then the man measured the temple. It was ◄175 feet/53 meters► long, and the temple courtyard, where the large building was, including its walls was also ◄175 feet/53 meters► wide. 14 The courtyard on the east side of the temple, across the front of the temple, was also ◄175 feet/53 meters► wide.

15 Then he measured the building on the west side. Including its walls it was also ◄175 feet/53 meters► wide.

The outer walls of the Holy Place, the Very Holy Place, and the entry room, 16 the inner walls above and below the windows, and the frames of the windows were all covered with thin panels of wood. 17 All the walls inside the temple were decorated withcarvings of winged creatures and palm trees: Between each figure of a winged creature was a carving of a palm tree. Each winged creature had two faces: 18-19 18-19One was a face of a human, and one was the face of a lion. Those figures were carved on the walls all around the inside of the temple. 20 They covered all the walls, from the floor to the top of the walls.

21 At the entrance to the Holy Place of the temple there were square doorposts. In front of the Very Holy Place there was something that resembled 22 a wooden altar. It was ◄5.2 feet/1.6 meters► high and ◄3-1/2 feet/1.1 meters► wide on all four sides. Its corners and base and sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is in the presence of Yahweh.” 23 The Holy Place and the Very Holy Place had double doors. 24 Each doorway had two doors that swungon hinges. 25 On the doors of the Holy Place there were carvings of winged creatures and palm trees, like those on the walls of the Holy Place. There was also a wooden roof over the front of the entry room of the temple. 26 On the side walls of the entry room were narrow windows with figures of palm trees carved on the sides of the windows. The side rooms around the temple also had roofs.

Rooms for the priests

42 Thenin the vision the man led me out of the inner courtyard, through the entrance on the north side. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a building that was built against the north wallof the inner courtyard. 2 That building was ◄175 feet/53 meters► long and ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► wide. Its doorway faced north. 3 In that building were two rows of rooms, built on three levels, that faced each other. One row of rooms was built against the wall of the inner courtyard, and the other row was built against the wall facing the outer courtyard. The building was 34 feet from the temple. 4 Between the two rows of rooms there was a walkway that was ◄17-1/2 feet/5.3 meters► wide and ◄175 feet/53 meters► long. All its doors were on the north side. 5 Each of the upper rows of rooms was narrower than the row of rooms below them, because the upper rows needed to have a walkway in front of them. 6 The rooms on the upper levels had no pillars to support them like the ones in the courtyard. Instead, each of those row of rooms were supported by the walls of the row of rooms on the level below. 7 The wall of the building extended ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► past the set of rooms built along the outer courtyard, separating all the rooms from the outer courtyard. 8 The row of rooms that were along the outer courtyard was ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► long, and the set of rooms that faced the temple was ◄175 feet/53 meters► long. 9 The lowest row of rooms had an entrance from the outer courtyard, on the east side.

10 On the south side, along the wall of the outer courtyard, next to the temple courtyard, was a a building with two rows of rooms, 11 with a walkway between them. Those rooms were like the rooms on the north side: they were the same length and width, and had the same kind of entrances. 12 The doorways on the south side were similar to the doorways on the north side. There was an entrance in the wall that faced the doors of the set of rooms, and there was an entrance on the east side, at the end of the inside walkway.

13 Then the man said to me, “These rooms that overlook the temple on the north and south sides are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to Yahweh will eattheir portions of the sacred offerings. Because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings: the grain for the grain offerings, the offerings for the sins that people have committed, and offerings in order that people will no longer be guilty for having sinned. 14 When the priests leave the temple, they will not be allowed to immediately enter the outer courtyard. First, they must remove the clothes that they had been wearing inside the temple, because those clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before they enter the parts of the temple area where the other people gather.”

15 When the man had finished measuring the inside of the temple area, he led me out through the east entrance of the outer courtyard and measured all the way around the temple area. 16-19 16-19He measured the four sides of the area. There was a wall around the area that was ◄875 feet/265 meters► long on each side. 20 That wall separated the area which was sacred/holy from the areas that were not sacred.

Yahweh’s glory returned to the temple

43 Then in the vision the man brought me to the entrance on the east side. 2 Suddenly I saw the glory/brightness of the God of Israel coming from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of a rushing river, and all that area shone with his glory. 3 What I saw in this vision was like what I saw in the visions that I had seen previously, first by the Kebar River and later when God came to destroy Jerusalem. I prostrated myself on the ground. 4 The glory of Yahweh entered the temple through the east entrance. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of Yahweh filled the temple.

6 Then while the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speak to me from inside the temple. 7 He said, “You human, this is my temple, the place whereI sit on my throne and where I rest my feet. This is where I will live with the Israeli people forever. The Israeli people and their kings will never again disgrace me [SYN] by worshiping other gods [MET] at the shrines on their hilltops, or by building monuments to honor their kings who have died. 8 They placed their altars near mine, and the doorposts of their temples were next to the doorposts of my temple. There was only a wall between them. And they disgraced me by the detestable things that they did. So, being very angry with them, I got rid of them. 9 Now they must stop this disgusting worship of idols and these rituals to honor their kings who have died. If they stop doing those things, I will live among them forever.

10 You human, describe to the Israeli people what this temple that I have shown you in a vision is like, in order that they will be ashamed of the sins that they have committed which resulted in their temple in Jerusalem being destroyed. 11 If they are ashamed of all the evil things that they have done, tell them all about the temple that I showed you: its design/shape, the exits and entrances, and everything else about it. And tell them all my laws and regulations about worshiping me there. Write all these things down while they watch you, in order that they will be able to faithfully obey those laws.

12 And this is the supreme law about the temple [DOU]: All of the area on top of the hill where the temple will be built must be kept sacred and holy.”

The altar

13 These are the measurements of the altar, using the same kind of measuring stick that was used for the temple area: There is a gutter around the altar that is ◄21 in./53 cm.► deep and ◄21 in./53 cm.► wide. There is a rim around it that is ◄9 in./23 cm.► wide. 14 The lower part of the gutter is ◄3-1/2 feet/1.1 meters► high to the lower ledge/rim that surrounds the altar. The lower ledge is ◄21 in./53 cm.► wide. The upper part of the altar is ◄7 feet/2.1 meters► high, up to the upper ledge. That ledge is also ◄21 in./53 cm.► wide. 15 The ◄hearth/place where the sacrifices are burned► at the top of the altar is another ◄7 feet/2.2 meters► high, and there is a projection that juts/extends up from each of the four corners. 16 That place at the top of the altar is square, ◄21 feet/6.4 meters► on each side. 17 The upper ledge is also a square, ◄24-1/2 feet/7.4 meters► on each side. There is a ◄21 in./53 cm.► gutter at the bottom of the altar, and a ◄10.5 in./26.6 cm.► rim all around it. There are steps up to the east side of the altar.”

18 Then the man said to me, “You human, this is what Yahweh the Lord says: These are the regulations for sacrificing offerings that will be completely burned and for sprinkling the blood against the sides of the altar when it is built: 19 You must present to the priests a young bull to be an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. The priests are descendants of Levi, from the clan of Zadok, who come near to the altar to serve me. 20 You must take some of the blood from the bull that is sacrificed, and smear it on the four projections of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge, and all around the rim, to cause the altar to be acceptable to me, and to consecrate it. 21 You must burn that bull outside the temple in the part of the temple area that I have designated for that.

22 The next day, you must offer a male goat that has no defects, to be an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. Then you must purify the altar again, like you did with the bull that was sacrificed. 23 When you have finished doing all that, you must offer a young bull and a ram, both of them without any defects. 24 You must offer them to me, Yahweh, and the priests must sprinkle salt on them and completely burn them on the altar for a sacrifice to me.

25 Then, each day for seven days, you must bring to the priest a male goat to be sacrificed for an offering to cause the altar to be acceptable to me. You must also sacrifice a young bull and a ram, each without any defect. 26 For seven days the priests will consecrate the altar and cause it to be acceptable to me. By doing that they will dedicate it to me. 27 At the end of those seven days, starting on the following day, the priests will continue to put on the altar offerings to be completely burned and offerings to maintain fellowship with me. Then I will accept you. That it what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

The king, the Levites, and the priests.

44 Then in the vision the man brought me back to the outer entryway to the temple area, the one on the east side, but the outer entrance was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This entrance must remain shut. It must not be opened by anyone; no one will be permitted to enter it. It must remain shut because I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, have caused it to be sacred by entering through it. 3 Only the king of Israel will be permitted to sit inside this entryway to eat food in the presence of Yahweh. But he will must enter and leave the temple area through the entry room of this entryway.”

4 Then the man brought me through the north entryway to the front of the temple. I looked and saw that the glory of Yahweh filled his temple, and I prostrated myself on the ground.

5 Yahweh said to me, “You human, look carefully, and listen carefully to everything that I tell you about all the regulations concerning the temple. Note carefully the temple entrance and all the exits. 6 Say this to the rebellious Israeli people: ‘This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You Israeli people, I will no longer endure the detestable things that you do! 7 In addition to all the other detestable things that you do, you brought into my temple foreign men who had not been circumcised and who were godless [IDM]. By doing that, you caused my temple to be an unacceptable place to worship me, while you offered food and fat and blood, and you disobeyed my agreement with you. 8 Instead of doing what I commanded you to do in regard to my holy things, you appointed foreigners to be in charge of my temple. 9 But this is what I, Yahweh, have said: No foreigners, no men who are not circumcised, no godless people are permitted to enter my temple, not even foreigners who live among you Israelis permanently.

10 Most of the descendants of Levi abandoned me along with most of the Israeli people, and started to worship idols. They must be punished for their sin. 11 They are still permitted to work in my temple and to be in charge of the entrances of the temple, and they are permitted to slaughter the animals that will be completely burned on the altar, and to burn other sacrifices for the people, and they will be able to help the people. 12 But because they helped the people to worship idols and caused many of the Israeli people [MTY] to sin by worshiping idols, I have lifted up my arm and solemnly declared that they must be punished for their sin. 13 They must not come near me to serve as priests. They must not come near any sacred things or the holy offerings. They must be ashamed of the shameful things that they did. 14 But I will still put them in charge of the work in the temple and allow them to do all the work that needs to be done there.

15 But most of the priests who are descendants of Levi and from the clan of Zadok worked in my temple when the other Israelis abandoned me. So they are permitted to come near to me to work for me. They will stand in my presence to offer sacrifices of animals’ fat and blood. 16 They are the only ones who are permitted to enter my temple. They are the only ones who are permitted to come near my altar to serve me and do what I tell them to do.

17 When they enter one of the entrances into the inner courtyard, they must wear linen clothes. They must not wear any clothes made of wool while they do their work at the entrances of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. 18 They must have linen turbans wrapped around their heads and wrap linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire. 19 Before they go out into the outer courtyard where other people are, they must take off the clothes that they have been wearing and leave them in the sacred rooms, and they must put on other clothes, in order that the other people are not punished because of their touching the sacred clothes.

20 The priests must not shave their heads or allow their hair to become long; but they must regularly trim the edges of their hair. 21 Priests must not drink wine before they enter the inner courtyard. 22 Also, priests must not marry widows of men who were not priests or women who have been divorced. Priests are permitted to marry only Israeli [MTY] virgins or widows of other priests. 23 Priests must teach the people the difference between things that are holy/sacred and things that are not, and they must teach them the difference between things that are acceptable to me and things that are not.

24 When there are disputes between people, the priests are the ones who must be the judges and decide according to my laws what must be done. They must obey all my laws and decrees concerning the sacred festivals, and they must keep my Sabbath days ◄holy/set apart►.

25 A priest is permitted to go near the corpse of his father or his mother or his son or his daughter or his brother or his unmarried sister; but he is still defiled by doing that. But a priest must not defile himself by going near a corpse of anyone else. 26 But even if a priest touches the corpse of a close relative, he must perform the rituals to become acceptable to serve me again. After he performs those rituals, he must wait seven days. 27 Then, on the day that he enters the inner courtyard again to serve me in the temple, he must give an offering to remove his guilt for his sin. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.

28 The priests are not permitted to own any property. They will have only what I provide for them. 29 They will eat the offerings other people make from grain, offerings to remove people’s guilt for having sinned, and offerings made when people fail to give to Yahweh the things that they are required to give. Everything else in Israel that is completely dedicated to me, Yahweh, will belong to the priests. 30 The best fruits of the first part of each harvest and all the other special gifts that are given to me will belong to the priests. You must give them the first part of your finely-ground flour, in order that I will bless the people who live in [MTY] your houses. 31 Priests must not eat the flesh of any bird or animal that was found dead or that has been killed by wild animals.’ ”

The division of the land

45 “ ‘When the land of Israel is divided among the twelve tribes, you must present to me, Yahweh, one part of the land to be a sacred district. It will be ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄6.7 miles/10.6 km.► wide. That entire area will be ◄holy/set apart for me►. 2 Part of that area, ◄875 feet/265 meters► on each side, will be for the temple area. An additional strip of ground, ◄87-1/2 feet/26.5 meters► wide, will be left empty all around the temple area. 3 Inside that sacred district, measure a section ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄3.5 miles/5.3 km.► wide. 4 That section will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests who work in the temple and who come near to me to serve me. It will be a place for their houses as well as being a holy place for the temple. 5 An area ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄3.5 miles/5.3 km.► wide will be for the descendants of Levi who work in the temple. That area will belong to them, and they will be permitted to build cities there to live in.

6 Alongside that sacred area will be a section of land that is ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄1.7 miles/2.65 km.► wide. It will be for a city where anyone in Israel [MTY] will be permitted to live.

7 The king will have two sections of land; one will be on the western side of the sacred district and other will be on the eastern side of the sacred district. The one on the western side will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea. The one on the eastern side will extend east to the eastern end of the country. The eastern and western borders of the king’s land will be next to the areas allotted to the tribes. 8 That land will be the land in Israel that belongs to the king. So, because the kings will have their own land, they will no longer need to oppress my people and steal land from them. They will assign the remaining parts of the land to the people, giving a part to each tribe.

9 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You kings of Israel must stop acting violently and oppressing the people! You must do what is fair and right [DOU]. Stop taking land from the people! 10 And you must use accurate scales, and accurate containers for measuring things. 11 The baskets for measuring dry things and containers for measuring liquids must be the same size; each must hold 175 quarts/liters. 12 When you weigh things, you must use weights that everyone accepts as being correct [MTY].’ ”

Special offerings and holy days

13 “ ‘You must present to the king one bushel of wheat or barley for every 60 that you harvest. 14 And you must give him one quart/liter of olive oil for every 100 quarts/liters that you make. 15 Also, I, Yahweh, declare that you must take one sheep from each 200 sheep in your flocks in the pastures of Israel. Those things that you take to the king will be used with the offerings of things made from grain and for the offerings that will be completely burned and the offerings to maintain fellowship with me, offerings in order for me to forgive you for the sins that you have committed. 16 All the Israeli people must join in bringing those offerings to the king of Israel. 17 The king must provide the animals to be completely burned on the altar, grain for the grain offerings, and wine for the wine offerings for the sacred festivals that I have appointed for the people of Israel—including the festivals to celebrate each new moon and the Sabbaths. He must provide the animals for the offerings for the people to become acceptable to me, grain for the grain offerings, animals to be completely burned on the altar, and offerings to maintain fellowship with me, Yahweh, in order that I will forgive the Israeli people for their sins.

18 This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: On the first day of the first month of each year you must take one young bull that has no defects and sacrifice it to cause the temple to be acceptable to me. 19 The Supreme Priest must take some of the blood of the offering to cause people to become acceptable to me, and smear it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar, and on the entry posts of the inner courtyard. 20 He must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for any people who sin without intending to sin or without realizing that what they did is sinful. By doing that you will purify the temple.

21 In the first month of each year, on the 14th day of the month, you must start to celebrate the Passover Festival. The festival will last for seven days. During that time you must not eat bread made with yeast. 22 On the first day, the king must provide a bull to be an offering for himself and for the all the other people of the country. 23 And every day during those seven days he must provide seven young bulls and seven rams that have no defects, to be an offering for the people’s sins. 24 He must also provide a half bushel of grain to be an offering, and also four quarts of olive oil, for each bill and ram.

25 During the seven days of the festival of Living in Temporary Shelters, which starts on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of each year, the king must provide the same things for offerings for the people’s sins, for offerings to be completely burned, for grain offerings, and the same amount of olive oil that he provided each day during the Passover Festival.’ ”

46 “ ‘This is also what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: The east entryway of the inner courtyard must be shut during the six days in which people work each week, but on the Sabbath days and on the days when there is a new moon, that entryway must remain open until that evening. 2 The king must enter the courtyard through the entry room of the entryway, and stand alongside the entry post. Then the priests must sacrifice the animal that the king brought to be completely burnedon the altar, and also his offering to maintain fellowship with me. The king must worship me at the entrance of the entryway, and then he must go out. After he leaves, the entryway will not be shut until that evening. 3 On the Sabbath days and on the days when there is a new moon, the people must worship me at the entrance of the entryway. 4 The offering that the king brings to be completely burned on the Sabbath day must be six lambs and one ram, all with no defects. 5 The offering that he gives with the ram must be a bushel of grain, and the grain that he offers with the lambs should be as much as he desires to offer, along with ◄1 gallon/3.8 liters► of olive oil for each bushel of grain. 6 Then each day that there is a new moon, he must offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all with no defects. 7 He must also provide one bushel of grain with the bull, one bushel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he wants with the lambs, along with one quart/liter of olive oil with each bushel of grain. 8 When the king enters the temple area, he must enter through the entry room of the entryway, and he must go out through that same entry room when he leaves.

9 When the Israeli people come to worship me at the festivals that I have appointed, those who enter the temple area through the north entryway must go out through the south entryway. And those who enter through the south entryway must go out through the north entryway. People must not go out through the entryway through which they entered; they must go out through the opposite entryway. 10 The king must go in when the other people go in, and go out when the people go out.

11 During the festivals and sacred feasts, the king must present a bushel of grain along with each bull or ram, and as much grain as he wants to bring, along with the lambs and ◄1 gallon/3.8 liters► of olive oil with each bushel of grain. 12 When the king gives an offering that is not required, either one to be completely burned on the altar or an offering to maintain fellowship with me, Yahweh, the entryway on the east side of the courtyard must be opened for him. Then he must present those offerings like he does on the Sabbath days. Then he must go out, and after he goes out, the entryway must be shut.

13 Every day, during the morning, someone must provide a one-year-old lamb with no defects to be an offering to me that will be completely burned. 14 Someone must also provide each morning an offering of flour. It must be one sixth of a bushel of flour mixed with one quart/liter of olive oil. These offerings of flour and olive oil to must be presented to me, Yahweh, each day. 15 The lamb and the offering of flour and olive oil must be presented to me every morning, to be completely burned on the altar.

16 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: If the king gives some of his land to one of his sons, to belong to him permanently, it will then belong to his son’s descendants forever. 17 However, if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, the servant is allowed to keep that land until the Year of Celebration. Then the king will own it again; the king’s land must belong to his descendants forever. 18 The king must not take any land that the people own and force them to live somewhere else. The land that he gives to his sons must be from his own property, not from anyone else’s property, in order that none of my people will be forced to leave his own property.’ ”

19 Then, in the vision, the man who was showing the temple area to me brought me through the entrance alongside the entryway and led me to the sacred rooms on the north side, the rooms that the priests used, and he showed me a place at the western end of those rooms. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must cook the meat of the offerings that people bring in order to no longer be guilty for having sinned, and offerings for their sins, and where they will bake bread made with the flour brought to be offerings. They will cook those things in their rooms in order to avoid bringing them into the outer courtyard to cook them there, lest someone be punished because of touching them.”

21 Then the man brought me to the outer courtyard and led me to its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosed area; 22 each of those areas was ◄70 feet/21.2 meters► long and ◄52-1/2 feet/15.9 meters► wide. 23 Around the inside of each of those enclosed areas was a stone ledge, with places to make fires all around under each ledge. 24 The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where the descendants of Levi who work in the temple must cook the sacrifices that the people bring.”

The stream that flowed from the temple

47 Then, in the vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple. There I saw water flowing out from under the entrance, flowing toward the east. The water was flowing from under the south side of the entrance, south of the altar. 2 Then the man brought me out of the inner courtyard through the north entryway, and then he led me around to the outer entryway on the east side of the inner courtyard.

3 As the man continued walking toward the east, he had a measuring line in his hand. He measured off ◄1,750 feet/530 meters►, and then led me through water that covered my ankles. 4 Then he measured off another ◄1,750 feet/530 meters► and led me through water that was up to my knees. Then he measured off another ◄1,750 feet/530 meters► and led me through water that was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured off another ◄1,750 feet/530 meters► and led me through water that had become a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen very high, with the result that it would be necessary to swim across it. It was a river that no one could cross by walking across it. 6 Then he said to me, “You human, think carefully about what you have seen.”

7 Then he led me to the bank of that river. There I saw many trees growing on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows east and down into the Dead Sea. And when it flows into the Dead Sea, its salty water becomes fresh. 9 Wherever the river flows, there will be lots of animals and fish. And there will be lots of fish in the Dead Sea, because the water that flows into it will cause the salt water to become ◄fresh water/water that people can drink►. Wherever the river flows, everything alongside it will flourish. 10 Fishermen will stand along the bank of the Dead Sea to catch fish. From En-Gedi on the western side to En-Eglaim on the eastern side there will be places for fishermen to spread their fishing nets. There will be many kinds of fish, like there are in the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes along the shore will not become fresh; they will be left to the people to use make salt. 12 Many kinds of fruit trees will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and they will always have fruit. They will bear fruit every month, because they will continually get water from the water that comes from the temple. Their fruit will be good to eat and their leaves will be good for healing.”

The division of the land

13 In the vision, Yahweh also said this to me: “Here is a list of the twelve tribes of Israel and the territory that each tribe must receive. The descendants of Joseph will receive two portions; the tribe of Levi will not receive any. 14 I lifted up my arm and solemnly declared to your ancestors that I would give you this land to own permanently. So divide the land equally among all of the other tribes.

15 These will be the boundaries of the land:

• On the north side, it will extend from the Mediterranean Sea east along the road to Hethlon, past Lebo-Hamath to Zedad, 16 to the cities of Berothah and Sibraim, which are on the border between Damascus and Hamath. From there the boundary will extend as far asthe city of Hazer-Hatticon, which is on the border of the Hauran region. 17 So the boundary will extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Hazar-Enan on the border between Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south. That will be the northern boundary.
• 18 On the east side, the boundary will extend between Hauran and Damascus, south along the Jordan River between the Gilead region and the land of Israel, along the Dead Sea as far as the town of Tamar. That will be the eastern boundary.
• 19 On the south side, the boundary will extend from Tamar southwest to the springs near the town of Meribah-Kadesh. Then the boundary will extend west along the dry riverbed at the border of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. That will be the southern boundary.
• 20 On the west side, the boundary will be the Mediterranean Sea, north to near Lebo-Hamath.

21 You must distribute this land among yourselves, among the tribes of Israel. 22 You must allot the land to be a permanent possession for yourselves, and also to be a permanent possession of any foreigners who are living among you and raising their children. You must consider those people to be like you who were born Israelis, and they must be allotted land among the tribes of Israel. 23 Wherever foreigners are living, you must give them some land to belong to them permanently. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

The division of the land

48 “Here is a list of the tribes of Israel and the territory that each tribe is to receive: The tribe of Dan will be allotted land at the northern boundary of Israel: It will extend east from the Mediterranean Sea east to Hethlon city, then from there to Hamath Pass, and on to the town of Hazar-Enan south of Damascus, between Damascus and Hamath.

The tribe of Dan will receive land on the northern border of Israel from the eastern end of the country west to the Mediterranean Sea.

2 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Asher.

3 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Naphtali.

4 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Manasseh.

5 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Ephraim.

6 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Reuben.

7 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Judah.

8 South of their land will be an area set apart for special use. The temple will be in the center of that area.

9 It must be ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄6.7 miles/10.6 km.► wide. 10 For the priests, there must be a strip of land ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄3.3 miles/5.3 km.► wide. The temple will be in the center of that area. 11 That area is for the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They are ones who served me faithfully and did not turn away from me, like most of the descendants of Levi and the other Israeli people did. 12 When the land is distributed, that area must be given to the priests; it is land that is very sacred. It will be next to the land that will be given to the other descendants of Levi.

13 The land that will be allotted to the other descendants of Levi will be the same size as the land allotted to the priests. So together, those two portions of land will be ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄6.6 miles/10.6 km.► wide. 14 None of this special land will ever be permitted to be sold or traded or used by other people, because it belongs to me, Yahweh. It is set apart for me.

15 The rest of that sacred area, a strip of land ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► long and ◄1.7 miles/2.65 km.► wide will be allotted for other people to use. It will be land where they will be permitted to build homes and have pasturelands. There will be a city at the center. 16 The city will be square, ◄1.5 miles/2.4 km.► on each side. 17 Around the city there will be an area for farming, that will be ◄150 yards/135 meters► in each direction. 18 Outside the city, to the east and to the west, there will be a farming area. It will extend ◄3 miles/4.8 km.► to the east and ◄3 miles/4.8 km.► to the west. Men who work there will produce food for the people who work in the city. 19 Some of those who come from the various Israeli tribes to work in the city may also work on the farmland. 20 That entire special area, including the sacred lands and the city, will be a square that is ◄8.3 miles/13.3 km.► on each side.

21 The areas to the east and to the west of the sacred area and the city will belong to the king. One area will extend east to the eastern boundary of Israel and the other will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea. The sacred area in which the temple is located will be in the middle. 22 The area that belongs to the king will be between the land of the tribe of Judahto the north and the land of the tribe of Benjamin to the south.

23 South of that special area, each of the other tribes must be allotted one portion of land that extends from the eastern boundary of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea.

Beginning at the north will be land for the tribe of Benjamin.

24 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Simeon.

25 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Issachar.

26 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Zebulun.

27 South of their land will be the territory for the tribe of Gad.

28 The southern boundary of the tribe of Gad will extend south from Tamar to the springs at Meribah-Kadesh, and from there to the west along the dry riverbed at the border of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

29 That is the land that you must allot to the tribes of Israel, to belong to them permanently. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare.”

The gates of the city

30 These will be the exits from the city: On the north side, which will be ◄1.5 miles/2.4 km.► long, 31 there must be three gates; each one will have the name of one of the tribes of Israel. The first one will be named for Reuben, the next for Judah, the next for Levi.

32 On the east side, also ◄1.5 miles/2.4 km.► long, will be gates named for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan.

33 On the south side, also ◄1.5 miles/2.4 km.► long, will be gates named for Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun.

34 On the west side, also ◄1.5 miles/2.4 km.► long, will be gates named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.

35 So the distance around the city will thus be ◄6 miles/9.6 km.►.

And from that time on, the name of the city will be ‘Yahweh Is There’.’