ULT EZE book

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EZK EN_ULT en_English_ltr Wed Dec 16 2020 07:34:35 GMT-0600 (Central Standard Time) tc

1 And it was, in the thirtieth year—on the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month—and I, was among the exiles along the river of Kebar. The heavens opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month—it, was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—3 the word of Yahweh was surely to Ezekiel, son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans on the river of Kebar. And it was, on him there, was the hand of Yahweh.

4 Then I saw, and look!—a wind of storm, coming from the north, a great cloud and fire, taking itself. And brightness, was to it all around, and from the midst of it, was like the eye of metal from the midst of the fire. 5 And in the midst of it, was the likeness of four beings. And this, was their appearance: The likeness of a man, belonged to them, 6 but four faces, belonged to each one, and four wings, belonged to each one of them. 7 And their two feet, were straight feet, but a palm of their two feet, were like a palm of a foot of a calf and gleaming like an eye of polished bronze. 8 And his hand, was a man, from under their wings on four of their four sides. And their faces and their wings of the four of them—9 their wings were each joining to its sister; they did not turn as they went; each went toward his faces.

10 And the likeness of their faces: the face of a man, and the face of a lion to the right, belonged to the four of them, and the face of an ox from the left, belonged to the four of them, and the face of an eagle, belonged to the four of them. 11 So, their faces. And their wings were spread from above. Of each one, two were joining each, and two were covering their bodies. 12 And each one, its face went forward. Toward wherever the breath was there to go, they went; they did not turn as they went. 13 And the likeness of the beings: Their appearance, was like coals of burning fire, like the appearance of torches. It, was moving about between the beings and was a brightness of the fire, and, from the fire, lightning was coming forth. 14 And the beings, by running and returning, were like the appearance of the lightning strike.

15 Then, I saw the beings, and look!—one wheel on the ground beside the beings, of four of its faces. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their work, was like an eye of topaz, and the likeness of one, belonged to the four of them. And their appearance and their works—it was just like the wheel in the midst of the wheel. 17 Toward four of their sides, when they went, they went; they did not turn when they went. 18 And their fellies: And height, belonged to them, and fear, belonged to them. And the fellies, were full of eyes all around of the four of them.

19 And when the beings went, the wheels went beside them. And when the beings rose from on the ground, the wheels rose. 20 Toward wherever the breath was there to go, they went—the breath, was there to go. And the wheels rose beside them, for the breath of the beings, was in the wheels. 21 When they went, they went; and when they stood, they stood; and when they rose from on the ground, the wheels rose beside them, because the breath of the beings, was in the wheels.

22 And the likeness over the heads of the beings, was a vault, like the eye of the fearsome ice, being stretched over their heads from above. 23 And under the vault, their wings, were straight, each to its sister. Of each, two were covering themselves; and of each, two were covering themselves, their bodies. 24 Then, I heard the sound of their wings—like a sound of many waters, like a sound of the Almighty when they moved, like a sound of a crowd, like a sound of an army. When they stood, their wings slackened.

25 And it was, a voice from above the dome that, was over their head; when they stood, their wings slackened. 26 And from above the vault that, was over their head, like the appearance of a stone of sapphire, was the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne, was a likeness, like the appearance of a man on it from above. 27 And I saw, something like the eye of metal, like the appearance of fire—a house, belonged to it all around—from the appearance of his waist and upwards. And from the appearance of his waist and downward, I saw, something like the appearance of fire. And brightness, belonged to it all around, 28 like the appearance of a rainbow that is in a cloud on a day of the rain. Thus, was the appearance of the brightness all around. It, was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

2 Then he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, so that I might speak to you.” 2 And a wind entered into me when he spoke to me, and it made me stand on my feet. Then I heard, one speaking to me.

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to rebellious nations that have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have revolted against me up to the bone of this day. 4 And the sons, are hard of face and strong of heart. I am sending you to them, and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh.’ 5 But they—whether they listen or whether they refrain, for a house of rebellion, are they—but they will know that a prophet is in their midst.

6 But you, son of man—you shall not fear because of them, and because of their words, you shall not fear. Even though briers and thorns, are to you, and with scorpions you are dwelling—because of their words, you shall not fear; and because of their faces, you shall not be dismayed, for they, are a house of rebellion. 7 But you will speak my words to them—whether they listen or whether they refuse, because they are a rebellion.

8 But you, son of man, listen to that which I am speaking to you: You shall not be rebellious, like the house of rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat that which I am giving to you.”

9 And I saw, and look!—a hand was being sent to me. And look!—in it, a scroll of writing. 10 And he spread it out before me, and it was written, face and back, and written on it were laments and mourning and woe.

3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, that which you have found, eat. Eat that scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he made me eat that scroll.

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, you shall make your belly eat, and you shall fill your stomach, with that scroll that I am giving to you.” So I ate it, and it was, in my mouth, like honey—sweet.

4 And he said to me, “Son of man, come; go to the house of Israel, and you shall speak with my words to them, 5 for not to a people deep of lip and heavy of tongue are you being sent, but to the house of Israel—6 not to many peoples, deep of lip or heavy of tongue, that you do not hear their words. If not to them I had sent you, they themselves would have heard you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, for all the house of Israel—they, are strong of forehead and hard of heart. 8 Look! I have made your face strong as beside their faces and your forehead hard as beside their foreheads. 9 As a thorn harder than flint, I have made your forehead. You shall not fear them, and you shall not be dismayed because of their faces, for they, are a house of rebellion.”

10 And he said to me, “Son of man, all the words that I am speaking to you—take them into your heart, and, in your ears, listen to them. 11 And come, go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and you shall speak to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ whether they will listen or whether they will refuse.”

12 Then a wind lifted me, and I heard behind me a sound of a great earthquake—“Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place!”—13 and the sound of the wings of the living beings, each brushing its sister, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and a sound of a great earthquake. 14 And a wind lifted me and took me, and I went bitterly in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15 So I came to the exiles, at Tel Aviv, the ones dwelling along the river of Kebar, and who were sitting there. And I sat there, for seven days, appalled in their midst.

16 And it was, at the end of seven days, and it was, the word of Yahweh, was to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, a watchman I have made you for the house of Israel. So you shall hear a word from my mouth, and you shall warn them from it. 18 When I say to the wicked person, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so that he might live—he, wicked, will die in his iniquity, but his blood from your hand I will seek. 19 But you—when you warn a wicked person, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he himself will die in his iniquity; but you—your life you will have rescued.

20 But when a righteous person turns from his righteousness and does injustice, and I put an obstacle before him, he himself will die. If you did not warn him, in his sin he will die, and his righteousness that he did will not be remember, but his blood from your hand I will seek. 21 But you—when you warn him, the righteous person—without sinning, is the rightous person, and he himself does not sin, his life will be, because he was warned. But you—your life you will have rescued.”

22 So, on me there was the hand of Yahweh. And he said to me, “Rise! Go out to the valley, and there I will speak, to you.” 23 I arose, and I went out to the valley, and look!—there, the glory of Yahweh was standing, like the glory that I saw along the river of Kebar. And I fell on my face.

24 Then a wind came into me, and it made me stand on my feet. And he spoke, to me, and he said to me, “Go, shut yourself in the midst of your house. 25 But you, son of man—look! They will put on you ropes, and they will bind you with them, and you will not go out in their midst. 26 And your tongue, I will make cling to your palate, and you will be mute, and you will not be to them, to each, a reprover, for they themselves, are a house of rebellion. 27 And when I speak, to you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh!’ The one hearing will hear; the one refusing will refuse, for they are a rebellious house!”

4 “But you, son of man, take for yourself a brick, and you shall put it before you. Then, you shall inscribe on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 Then, you shall place a siege against it, and you shall build a siege wall against it, and you shall pour out a mound against it. And you shall place camps against it, and you shall put battering rams against it, all around. 3 But you—take for yourself a griddle of iron, and you shall put it, as a wall of iron, between you and between the city. Then you shall make firm your face to it, and it will be in the siege, and you shall lay siege against it. A sign is this for the house of Israel.

4 But you—lie on your left side, and you shall put the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days that you shall lie on it, you will carry their iniquity. 5 And I myself will give to you the years of their iniquity, as the number of days: 390 days. And you shall carry the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 And when you have completed these days, then you shall lie on your right side a second time, and you shall carry the iniquity of the house of Judah: Forty days—a day for a year, a day for a year, I give to you. 7 And to the siege of Jerusalem, you shall make firm your face, and your arm bared. And you shall prophesy against it. 8 And look!—I am putting on you ropes, and you will not turn from your side to your side until you have completed the days of your siege.

9 But you—take for yourself wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and rye, and you shall put them in one vessel, and you shall make them for yourself into bread, for the number of the days that you are lying on your side—390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you will eat, shall be, by weight, twenty shekels per day. From time to time, you shall eat it. 11 And water—by measure, you shall drink a sixth of a hin. From time to time, you shall drink. 12 And a cake of barley, you shall eat it. But it—in the dung of the excrement of man, you shall bake it to their eyes.” 13 And Yahweh said, “Like thus, the sons of Israel will eat their unclean bread among the nations that I will banish them there.”

14 But I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look! My life has not been made unclean, and carcass or carrion I have not eaten, from my youth until now, and meat of defilement has not entered into my mouth!”

15 And he said to me, “Look—I am giving to you the droppings of cattle instead of the excrement of man. And you shall make your bread over them.”

16 And he said to me, “Son of man—look at me, breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety; and water, by measure and in horror, they will drink, 17 because they will lack bread and water. A man and his brother will be dismayed, and they will rot in their iniquity.”

5 “But you, son of man—take for yourself a sharp sword. As a knife of the barbers, you shall take it for yourself, and you shall pass it over your head and over your beard. And you shall take for yourself balances of weight, and you shall divide them. 2 A third, you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are full. And you shall take the third, and you shall strike it with the sword all around it, and the third you shall scatter to the wind, and a sword I will empty after them. 3 But you shall take from there a small amount in number, and you shall bind them on your two edges. 4 And some of them you shall again take, and you shall throw them into the midst of the fire, and you shall burn them in the fire. From it, a fire will go out to all the house of Israel.”

5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This, is Jerusalem; in the midst of the nations, I have placed her, and all around her are lands. 6 But she has rebelled, against my judgments with wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the lands that, are all around her. For they have rejected my judgments, and my statutes—they have not walked in them.

7 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your arrogance, more than the nations that, are all around you—in my statutes, you have not walked, and my judgments you have not done, and according to the customs of the nations that, are all around you, you have not done—8 therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look at me, against you—even me! And I will do judgments in your midst to the eyes of the nations. 9 And I will do with you that which I have not done and that which I will not do like it again, on account of all your abominations. 10 Therefore, fathers will eat sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers. And I will do with you judgments, and I will sow all your remainder to every wind.

11 Therefore, the life of me—a declaration of the Lord Yahweh—certainly because my sanctuary you have made unclean with all your abhorrences and with all your abominations, and so I myself will reduce, and my eye will not have pity, and even I myself will not spare. 12 A third of you by the plague will die, or by the famine they will be finished in your midst. And a third by the sword will fall all around you. And a third to every wind I will scatter, and a sword I will empty after them.

13 Then my nose will be finished, and I will pacify my heat among them, and I will soothe myself. Then they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my jealousy when I have completed my heat among them. 14 And I will make you into a desolation and into a reproach among the nations that, are all around you, to the eyes of everyone passing by. 15 So it will become a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations that, are all around you, when I do among you my judgments with nose and with heat and with reprimands of heat. I, Yahweh, have spoken! 16 When I send out the disastrous arrows of the famine among them—which will become destruction, which I will send them to destroy you—then I will increase the famine against you, and I will break for you, the staff of bread. 17 So I will send against you famine and disastrous creatures, and they will bereave you, and plague and blood will pass through you, and a sword I will bring against you. I, Yahweh, have spoken!”

6 And the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy to them. 3 And you shall say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the streambeds and to the valleys: Look at me! I am bringing against you a sword, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Then your sacrificial altars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be broken. And I will throw down your slain in front of your idols. 5 I will place the corpses of the sons of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your sacrificial altars. 6 In all your dwellings, the cities will dry up, and the high places will be desolate, so that your sacrificial altars will be dried up and desolate. Then your idols will be broken and disappear, and your incense altars will be hewn, and your works will be annihilated. 7 And the slain will fall in your midst, and you will know that I, am Yahweh.

8 But I will reserve some, when you become survivors of a sword among the nations, when you are scattered among the lands. 9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they were deported there—that I was shattered, by their heart, the prostituting one, which turned away from me, and by their eyes, the ones prostituting after their idols. Then they will feel disgust on their faces toward the evils that they did by all their abominations. 10 And they will know that I, am Yahweh. It was not for nothing, that I spoke to do to them this disaster.

11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Strike with your palms and stomp with your foot! And say, ‘Ah!’ toward all the abominations of the evils of the house of Israel! For by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, they will fall. 12 The remote one—by the plague, he will die; and the near one—by the sword, he will fall; and the remaining one and the spared one—by the famine, he will die. So I will complete my heat among them. 13 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when their slain are in the midst of their idols, all around their sacrificial altars, on every high hill—on all the tops of the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place where they gave there a scent of pleasing to all of their idols. 14 And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a devastation—from the wilderness to Diblah, throughout every dwelling. And they will know that I, am Yahweh.” [fn]

7 And the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man—thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel:

8 And it was, in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting to my face. And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there. 2 And I looked, and look!—a likeness like the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his waist and downward, was fire, and from his waist and upward, was like the appearance of brightness, like the eye of the metal. 3 And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of my head. Then a wind lifted me between the earth and between the heavens, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God, to the entrance of the gate of the inner court, the one opening northward, where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, the one provoking jealousy. 4 And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel, like the appearance that I saw in the valley.

5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, now lift your eyes, to the way of the north.” So I lifted my eyes, to the way of the north, and look!—from the north of the gate of the altar, was this image of jealousy at the entrance.

6 Then he said to me, “Son of man, are you seeing what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is doing here, to make me far from upon my sanctuary? But you will yet return; you will see great abominations.”

7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard. And I looked, and look!—one hole in the wall. 8 And he said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall, and look!—one entrance.

9 Then he said to me, “Enter, and see the evil abominations that they are doing here.” 10 So I entered, and I looked, and look!—every form of crawling thing and detestable animal and all of the idols of the house of Israel, carved on the wall all around, all around.

And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel (and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing in their midst) were standing to their faces, and each man—his censer in his hand. And the smell of the cloud of incense was ascending.

12 Then he said to me, “Are you seeing, son of man, that which the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark—each man in the chambers of his picture? For they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’ ” 13 And he said to me, “You will yet return; you will see, the great abominations that they are doing.”

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the house of Yahweh that, was toward the north, and look! There, the women were sitting, weeping the Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Are you seeing, son of man? Still, you will return; you will see greater abominations than these.”

16 So he brought me to the court of the house of Yahweh, the inner one, and look! At the entrance of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and between the altar—about 25 men, their backs toward the temple of Yahweh and their faces eastward, and they were prostrating themselves eastward to the sun.

17 Then he said to me, “Are you seeing, son of man? Is it too light for the house of Judah, doing the abominations that they have done here? For they have filled the land, with violence, and they have returned to make me angry. And look! They are sending the branch out to their nose! 18 And so I—I will act in heat. My eye will not pity, and I will not have compassion. And they will call out in my ears, with a great voice, but I will not hear them.”

9 And he called in my ears, with a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, executioners of the city, and each, with the weapon of his destruction in his hand.” 2 And look! Six men were coming from the way of the upper gate that faces northward, and each, with the weapon of his smashing in his hand. But one man, was in their midst, clothed in linen, and the equipment of the scribe, was on his waist. And they came, and they stood beside the altar of bronze.

3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from over the cherub that it had been over it, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man, the one clothed in linen, whose equipment of the scribe, was on his waist. 4 Then Yahweh said to him, “Cross through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem. And you shall mark a mark on the foreheads of the men, the ones groaning and the ones sighing over all the abominations that are being done in her midst.”

5 And to these, he said in my ears, “Cross through the city after him and strike. Do not let your eye pity, and do not spare! 6 Old men, young man and young woman and children and women you shall kill to destruction, but, to any man who on him, is the mark, do not draw near. And from my sanctuary, you shall begin.” So they began with the elderly men who, were to the face of the house.

7 And he said to them, “Make unclean the house, and fill the courts, with the slain. Go out.” And they went out, and they struck in the city. 8 And it was, as they struck, that I myself remained. And I fell on my face, and I cried out, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Are you destroying the whole remnant of Israel when you pour out your heat against Jerusalem?”

9 Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled, with blood, and the city, is full of corruption. For they say, ‘Yahweh has abandoned the land,’ and, ‘Yahweh is not seeing.’ 10 And so I—my eye will not pity, and I will not have compassion. Their way I have placed on their head.”

11 And look! The man clothed in linen, whose equipment, was on his waist, was returning a word, saying, “I have done just as you commanded me.”

10 And I looked, and look! To the vault that, was over the head of the cherubim, like a stone of sapphire, something like the appearance of the likeness of a throne appeared over them. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, and he said, “Go to between the wheelwork, to under the cherub, and fill your handfuls, with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and sow them over the city.” And he went to my eyes.

3 (And the cherubim were standing from the right of the house when the man went. And the cloud filled the inner courtyard.) 4 Then the glory of Yahweh arose from over the cherub to the threshold of the house. And the house was filled, with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled, with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer courtyard, like the sound of the Almighty when he speaks.

6 And it was, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the wheelwork, from between the cherubim,” that he went, and he stood beside the wheel. 7 Then the cherub sent his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that, was between the cherubim, and he lifted it, and he gave it to the two handfuls of, the one clothed in linen. Then he took it, and he went out. 8 (And of the cherubim was seen the form of a hand of a man under their wings.)

9 So I looked, and look! Four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside the one cherub, and one wheel beside the one cherub. And the appearance of the wheels, was like the eye of a stone of topaz. 10 And their appearance was one likeness for the four of them, as when the wheel is in the midst of the wheel. 11 When they went, toward four of their sides they went; they did not turn when they went. For the place where the head faced, after it they went; they did not turn when they went. 12 And all their flesh and their backs and their hands and their wings and the wheels, were full of eyes all around for the four of them, their wheels. 13 Of the wheels—of them was called, “The wheelwork” in my ears. 14 And four of the faces, belonged to each: The face of the first, was the face of the cherub, and the face of the second, was the face of a man, and the third, was the face of a lion, and the fourth, was the face of an eagle.

15 Then the cherubim arose. It, was the beings that I saw by the river of Kebar. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise from over the earth—they did not turn—the wheels, also they, were from beside them. 17 When they stood, they would stand; and when they arose, they would arise, with them, for the spirit of the beings, was in them.

18 Then the glory of Yahweh went out from over the threshold of the house, and it stood over the cherubim. 19 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they arose from the earth to my eyes (when they went out, and the wheels, were beside them). And it stood, at the entrance of the gate of the house of Yahweh, the easternly one, and the glory of the God of Israel, was over them from above.

20 (It, was the being that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Four, four faces, belonged to one, and four wings, belonged to one, and the likeness of the hands of a man, was under their wings. 22 And the likeness of their faces—they were the faces that I saw along the river of Kebar, their appearances and themselves. Each went toward his faces.

11 Then a wind lifted me, and it brought me to the gate of the house of Yahweh, the easternly one, the one facing eastward, and look! At the entrance of the gate, were 25 men. Then I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, officials of the people.

2 And he said to me, “Son of man, these, are the men, the ones plotting iniquity and the ones counseling counsel of evil in this city, 3 the ones saying, ‘Not near, is building houses. She, is the pot, but we, are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”

5 Then the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say: ‘Thus says Yahweh: Thus you have said, house of Israel, and the steps of your spirit—I, I know it. 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled her streets, with the slain.

7 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Your slain whom you have placed in her midst, they, are the flesh and she, is the pot; but you—he has brought out from her midst. 8 A sword you have feared, and a sword I will bring on you—a declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 9 So I will bring you out from her midst, and I will give you into the hand of strangers. And I will do judgments among you. 10 By the sword, you will fall. On the territory of Israel, I will judge you. And you will know that I am Yahweh. 11 She will not be for you as a pot, that you—you would be in her midst as flesh. On the territory of Israel, I will judge you, 12 and you will know that I am Yahweh, who my statutes you have not walked and my judgments you have not done, but according to the judgments of the nations that, are all around you, you have done.’ ”

13 And it was, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. So I fell on my face, and I cried out, with a great voice, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Are you making an end with the remnant of Israel?”

14 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, are those who the inhabitants of Jerusalem say of them, ‘Be far from Yahweh; to us it has been given, the land, as a property.’

16 Therefore say: ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Though I have made them far among the nations, and though I have dispersed them among the lands, yet I have become for them as a little sanctuary in the lands that they have come there.’

17 Therefore, say: ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the lands that you have been dispersed among them. Then I will give to you the land of Israel.’

18 And they will come to there, and they will remove all of her detestations and all of her abominations from her. 19 Then I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, 20 so that in my statutes they will walk, and my judgments they will keep and do them. And they will be to me as a people, and I—I will be to them as God. 21 But, toward the heart of their detestations and their abominations, their heart is going—their way, on their head, I have put; the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.”

22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings and the wheels alongside them, and the glory of the God of Israel, was over them from above. 23 Then the glory of Yahweh ascended from over the midst of the city, and it stood over the mountain that is from the east of the city. 24 And a wind lifted me, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles, in the vision by the Spirit of God.

And the vision that I had seen ascended from over me. 25 And I spoke to the exiles all of the words of Yahweh that he had made me see.

12 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, in the midst of the house of rebellion, you are dwelling—who, eyes, belong to them to see, but they do not see; ears, belong to them to hear, but they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion.

3 But you, son of man—make for yourself, the bag of an exile, and go into exile by day to their eyes. And you shall go into exile from your place to another place to their eyes. Perhaps they will see, though they are a house of rebellion. 4 And you shall bring out your bag like the bag of an exile by day to their eyes. But you yourself shall go out in the evening to their eyes like the going out of an exile. 5 To their eyes, dig for yourself in the wall, and you shall bring it out through it. 6 To their eyes, on a shoulder, you shall lift it up; in the twilight, you shall bring it out. Your face you shall cover so you will not see the land, for I have given you as a sign for the house of Israel.”

7 And I did so, just as I was commanded. My bag I brought out, like the bag of an exile, by day, and, in the evening, I dug for myself in the wall by hand. In the twilight, I brought it out; on a shoulder, I lifted it up to their eyes.

8 Then the word of Yahweh was to me in the morning, saying, 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The prince, is this burden in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who they, are in the midst of them.’ 11 Say, ‘I, am your sign. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; into exile, into captivity, they will go.’

12 And the prince who, is in the midst of them—to a shoulder, he will lift it in the twilight, and he will go out. Through the wall, they will dig to bring him out through it. His face he will cover, so that he will not see with the eye—he, the land. 13 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be seized in my snare. And I will bring him into Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but her he will not see, and there he will die. 14 And all who, are all around him, his help and all his troops—I will scatter to every wind, and a sword I will empty after them.

15 And they will know that I am Yahweh, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the lands. 16 But I will retain from them men of a number from sword, from famine, and from plague, so that they may recount all their abominations among the nations that they have come there. And they will know that I am Yahweh.”

17 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, your bread you shall eat with trembling, and your water you shall drink with shaking and with anxiety. 19 And you shall say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the dwellers of Jerusalem, concerning the land of Israel: Their bread they will eat with anxiety, and their water they will drink with horror, because her land will be desolate from her fullness, from the violence of all who dwell in her. 20 And the inhabited cities will be ruinous, and the land will become a desolation. And you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

21 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what, is this proverb of yours concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days lengthen, and every vision passes’? 23 Therefore, say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I am ceasing this proverb, and they will not recite it anymore in Israel.’ Except, speak to them, ‘The days are drawing near, and the word of every vision. 24 For there will no longer be any vision of falsehood or divination of flattering in the midst of the house of Israel. 25 For I, Yahweh—I will speak; the word that I will speak, then it will be done. It will not be delayed any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word, and I will do it—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

26 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, look! The house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he is envisioning, is for many days, and for distant times he is prophesying.’

28 Therefore, say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: All of my words will not be delayed any longer; the word that I speak, then it will be done—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

13 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying, and you shall say to the prophets from their heart, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the foolish prophets, who are walking after their spirit but without seeing! 4 Like jackals in the ruins, your prophets have become, Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, nor have you built a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle on the day of Yahweh. 6 They have envisioned falsehood and a divination of a lie, the ones saying, “The declaration of Yahweh,” but Yahweh—he has not sent them, and they have hoped to confirm, the word. 7 Have you not envisioned a vision of falsehood and spoken a divination of a lie, and you are saying, “The declaration of Yahweh,” though I, I have not spoken?

8 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have spoken falsehood and have envisioned a lie, therefore, look at me, against you—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 9 And my hand will be toward the prophets, the ones envisioning falsehood and the ones divining a lie:

10 Because, and because, they have led my people astray, saying, “Peace!” but there is no peace, and he is building a mortarless wall, and look at them!—smearing it, with plaster.’ 11 Say to the ones smearing, with plaster, and it will fall! There will be a gushing rain, and you, stones of hailstone—you will fall, and a wind of storms will break forth. 12 And look! The wall falls. Will it not be said to you, “Where is the coating that you smeared?”

13 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: So I will break out a wind of storms in my heat, and a gushing rain in my nose will be, and stones of hailstones in heat, to completion. 14 And I will tear down the wall that you smeared, with plaster, and I will make it touch to the ground, and its base will be uncovered. And it will fall, and you will end in the midst of it. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 15 And I will end my heat on the wall and on the ones smearing it, with plaster, and I will say to you, “There is no wall, and there are none smearing it—16 the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying to Jerusalem and the ones envisioning for her a vision of peace, but there is no peace”—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’

17 But you, son of man—set your face to the daughters of your people, the ones prophesying from their own heart, and prophesy against them. 18 And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the ones sewing bands on all the joints of my two hands, and the ones making the amulets over the head of every height to hunt lives! Will you hunt the lives of my people but keep alive the lives of yourselves? 19 And you have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for crumbs of bread, to kill lives that should not die and to keep alive lives that should not live, by your lying to my people, the ones hearing, the lie.

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look at me!—against your bands with which you are hunting there the lives like flying ones, and I will tear them from upon your arms, and I will send out the lives that you are hunting—the lives, like flying ones. 21 And I will tear off your amulets, and I will rescue my people from your hand, and they will no longer be in your hand as prey. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. 22 Because of disheartening the heart of a righteous person with falsehood—but I, I have not pained him—and strengthening the hands of a wicked person without turning from his evil way, to keep him alive, 23 therefore, you will no longer envision falsehood, and you will no longer divine a divination! And I will rescue my people from your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

14 And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat to my face. 2 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have brought up their idols on their heart, and the obstacle of their iniquity they have put opposite their faces. Being sought, will I be sought by them? 4 Therefore, speak to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A man, a man from the house of Israel who brings up his idols to his heart and places the obstacle of his iniquity opposite his face, and then comes to the prophet—I, Yahweh, I will answer him with it, in the multitude of his idols, 5 in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart, who have become estranged from me by their idols—all of them.’

6 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Return! And turn away from your idols, and, from all your abominations, turn your faces! 7 For a man, a man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourner who sojourns in Israel, and he consecrates himself from after me, and he brings up his idols to his heart, and he places the obstacle of his iniquity opposite his face, and then he comes to the prophet to inquire through him of me—I, Yahweh, I will answer through him of me. 8 Then I will set my face against that man, and I will make him into a sign and into proverbs, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

9 And the prophet, if he is deceived and speaks a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they will carry their iniquity—the iniquity of the one inquiring will be like the iniquity of the prophet, 11 so that the house of Israel will no longer wander away from after me, and they will no longer make themselves unclean with all their rebellions. And they will belong to me as a people, and I, I will belong to them as God—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

12 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 13 Son of man, a land, if it sinned against me by violating a violation, and I stretched out my hand against it, and I broke for it a staff of bread, and I sent famine against it, and I cut off from it man and animal, 14 and three of these men were in its midst—Noah, Daniel, and Job—themselves, by their righteousness, they would rescue their lives—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

15 If I made an evil creature pass through the land, and it bereaves, and it becomes a desolation, without passing through from the face of the creature, 16 and three of these men, were in its midst—the life of me, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—neither sons nor daughters would they rescue; they by themselves—they would be rescued, but the land would become a desolation.

17 Or if I brought a sword against that land, and I said, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I cut off from it man and animal, 18 and three of these men, were in its midst—the life of me, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—they would not rescue sons or daughters, for they by themselves, they would be rescued.

19 Or, if I sent a plague to that land, and I poured out my heat against it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal, 20 and Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in its midst—the life of me, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—neither son nor daughter would they rescue; they, by their righteousness, they would rescue their lives.

21 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four disastrous judgments—a sword and a famine and a disastrous creature and a plague—to Jerusalem, to cut off from her man and animal! 22 But look! Survivors will be left in her, those being brought out, sons and daughters. Look at them!—going out to you, and you will see their way and their deeds, and you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem, everything that I brought on her. 23 And they will comfort you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not without cause have I done all that I have done in her—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

15 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, what will be of the wood of the vine from every tree, of the branch that was among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood be taken from it to make for work? Or do they take from it a peg to hang on it any vessel? 4 Look! To the fire it is given as food. Two of its ends the fire consumes, and its middle is burned. Will it succeed for work? 5 Look! When it was whole, it was not made for work. How much more so when the fire has consumed it and it is burned? Will it still be made for work?

6 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Just like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given it to the fire as food, so I have given the dwellers of Jerusalem. 7 So I will put my face against them. From the fire, they went out, but the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land a desolation, because they violated a violation”—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

16 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, make Jerusalem know her abominations, 3 and you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origins and your birth, are from the land of the Canaanites; your father was the Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 And your birth—on the day of your being born, your navel cord was not cut, and with water you were not washed for cleansing. And, being salted, you were not salted, and, being swathed, you were not swathed. 5 An eye did not have pity on you, to do for you one of these things, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown to the face of the field with the disdain of your life, on the day of your being born.

6 Then I passed by you, and I saw you kicking about in your blood. So I said to you in your blood, “Live!” And I said to you in your blood, “Live!” 7 Ten thousand, like a sprout of the field, I made you, and you multiplied, and you grew up, and you came to the jewelry of jewelry. Your breasts were established, and your hair sprouted, but you, were naked and bare.

8 Then I passed by you, and I saw you, and look!—your time, was the time of lovers. So I spread my wing over you, and I covered your nakedness; and I swore to you, and I entered into a covenant with you—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—and you became mine.

9 Then I washed you with the water, and I rinsed your blood from on you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 And I clothed you, with embroidery and fastened you, with leather, and I wrapped you, with linen, and I covered you, with silk. 11 And I bejeweled you, with jewelry, and I placed bracelets on your hands and a chain on your neck. 12 And I placed a ring on your nose and earrings on your ears and a crown of beauty on your head. 13 And you were bejeweled, with gold and silver, and your clothing, was linen and silk and embroidery. Flour and honey and oil you ate, and you became beautiful—very, very!—and you prospered to royalty. 14 And a name went out for you among the nations of your beauty, for it was complete by my majesty that I had put on you—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

15 But you trusted in your beauty, so you prostituted yourself on account of your name. And you poured out your prostitutions onto everyone passing by—and of him it would become. 16 And you took some of your garments, and you made for yourself spotted high places, and you prostituted yourself on them. To him, you went, and of him, it became. 17 And you took the ornaments of your beauty from my gold and from my silver that I gave you, and you made for yourself images of a male, and you prostituted yourself with them. 18 And you took the clothing of your embroidery, and you covered them. And my oil and my incense you placed to their face. 19 And my bread that I gave to you—flour and oil and honey I fed you— you placed it to their face as a scent of pleasing. And it was—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to me, and you sacrificed them to them to eat. Was it little of your prostitutions, 21 that you slaughtered my sons, and you gave them by making them pass through for them? 22 And with all your abominations and your prostitutions, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare; you were kicking about in your blood.

23 And it was, after all your evil—woe, woe to you!—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—24 that you built yourself a mound, and you made yourself a platform in every plaza. 25 At the head of every road, you built your platform, and you desecrated your beauty, and you spread your legs to everyone passing by, and you multiplied your prostitutions. 26 Then you prostituted yourself to the sons of Egypt, your neighbors great of flesh, and you multiplied your prostitution to anger me. 27 And look! I stretched out my hand against you, and I reduced your portion, and I gave you to the appetite of the ones hating you, the daughters of the Philistines, the ones ashamed from your way of obscenity. 28 And you prostituted yourself to the sons of Assyria without your satiation, and you prostituted yourself with them, and yet you were not satisfied. 29 And you multiplied your prostitution toward the land of merchants, toward Chaldea; and even in this you were not satisfied.

30 How sick, is your heart—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—when you did all these, the deed of a woman of a brazen prostitute! 31 When you built your mound at the head of every road, and your platform you made at every plaza, but you were not like the prostitute, by scorning wages.

32 The adulterous woman—instead of her husband, she takes strangers! 33 To all prostitutes, they give a gift, but you—you gave your gifts to all your lovers, and you bribed them to come to you from all around in exchange for your prostitutions. 34 And it was with you the opposite from the women in your prostitutions; and after you, one did not prostitute. So, when you gave payment, and payment was not given to you, you became the opposite.

35 Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh! 36 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your passion was poured out, and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitutions with your lovers, and because of all the idols of your abominations, and like the blood of your sons whom you gave to them, 37 therefore, look at me!—gathering all your lovers, whom you were pleasing to them, and all whom you loved, along with all whom you hated. And I will gather them against you from all around, and I will uncover your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you with the judgments of adulteresses and shedders of blood, and I will make you the blood of heat and jealousy. 39 So I will give you into their hand, and they will tear down your mound and break down your platforms, and they will strip you of your clothing, and they will take the vessels of your beauty, and they will leave you naked and bare. 40 And they will bring up against you an assembly, and they will stone you with stones, and they will slaughter you with their swords. 41 And they will burn your houses with fire, and they will do judgments against you to the eyes of many women; and I will make you cease from prostituting yourself, and also you will no longer give wages. 42 And I will pacify my heat against you, and my jealousy will turn aside from you, and I will be quiet, and no longer will I be angry.

43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but you agitated me with all these, so I—behold!—I have placed your way on your head—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. And have you not done this obscenity alongside all your abominations?

44 Look! Everyone who uses a proverb against you—they will use a proverb, saying, “As the mother is her daughter.” 45 The daughter of your mother, are you, the one loathing her husband and her sons, and the sister of your sisters, are you, who loathed their husbands and their sons. Your mother, was a Hittite, and your father, was an Amorite. 46 And your sister, the greater one, is Samaria, she and her daughters, the one dwelling on your left; and your sister, the one smaller than you, the one dwelling on your right, is Sodom and her daughters. 47 And in their ways did you not walk, and according to their abominations did you not act? In very little time, so you were corrupt, more than them, in all your ways. 48 The life of me—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—if Sodom your sister, she and her daughters, did just as you have done—you and your daughters!

49 Look! This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: Pride, abundance of bread, and quiet ease belonged to her and to her daughters, but the hand of the poor and needy she did not strengthen. 50 And they were haughty, and they did an abomination to my face, so I removed them, just as I saw. 51 And Samaria—as half of your sins she did not sin, but you multiplied your abominations more than they, and you made your sister righteous by all your abominations that you did. 52 Also you—carry your humiliation that you have adjudged for your sister. In your sins—in which you acted more abominably than they—they are more righteous than you. So you also, be ashamed and carry your humiliation of your making your sisters righteous.

53 And I will restore their fortune—the fortune of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortune of Samaria and her daughters—and the fortunes of your fortunes in their midst, 54 so that you may carry your humiliation and be humiliated because of all that you did, when you comforted them. 55 And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters—they will return to their former state; and Samaria and her daughters—they will return to their former state; and you and your daughters—you will return to your former state. 56 And did not Sodom your sister become a report in your mouth in the day of your pride, 57 before your evil was uncovered? Like her, you are the reproach of the daughters of Aram and all, those all around her, the daughters of the Philistines, the ones despising you from all around. 58 Your obscenity and your abominations, you yourself have carried them—the declaration of Yahweh.

59 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: So I will do to you just as you have done, when you despised an oath by breaking a covenant. 60 But I myself will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 Then you will remember your ways, and you will be humiliated when you take your sisters, the ones greater than you, along with the ones smaller than you; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not from your covenant. 62 And I myself will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am Yahweh, 63 so that you may remember and you may be ashamed, and no longer will an opening of the mouth be for you from the face of your humiliation, when I make atonement for you for all that you have done—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

17 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, propose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel. 3 And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

11 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 12 “Say now to the house of rebellion, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ Say, ‘Look! The king of Babylon came, to Jerusalem, and he took her king and her princes, and he brought them to him, to Babylon. 13 And he took some of the seed of the kingdom, and he cut a covenant with him, and he caused him to enter into an oath. And the rams of the land he took 14 to become a lowly kingdom, without lifting itself up, to keep his covenant for her to stand. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers, to Egypt, to give to him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? And he broke a covenant, but will he escape?

16 The life of me—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—if not in the place of the king who made him king, who he despised his oath and who he broke his covenant, with him in the midst of Babylon, he will die. 17 And not with a large army and with a great assembly, Pharaoh will act for him in the war, when a mound is poured out, and a siege wall is built, to cut off many lives. 18 And he forsook an oath by breaking a covenant, and look! He gave his hand, but he did all these things. He will not escape!

19 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: The life of me, if not my oath that he forsook and my covenant that he broke—I will bring it on his head. 20 And I will spread over him my net, and he will be caught in my snare. And I will cause him to come to Babylon, and I will judge him there, for his violation that he violated against me. 21 And all his refugees among all his troops will fall by the sword, and the ones remaining to every wind will be scattered. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken.’

22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And I will take, I, from the top of the high cedar, and I will place it; from the head of its shoots, I will pluck off a tender one, and I will plant it, I, on a high and tall mountain. 23 On the mountain of the height of Israel, I will plant it, and it will carry a branch, and it will make fruit, and it will become a mighty cedar. And under it will dwell every bird; every wing, in the shade of its branches, they will dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field will know that I am Yahweh. I have brought low the high tree; I have raised high the low tree; I have withered the fresh tree, and I have made the dry tree sprout. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I have acted.’ ”

18 Then the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “What, is to you, you using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,

3 The life of me—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—if using this proverb will yet be for you in Israel. 4 Look! All the lives—they, belong to me; as the life of the father so as the life of the son, they, belong to me. The life, the sinning one, it will die.

Then he begets a violent son, one pouring out blood, and he does, to a brother from one of these things[fn]—11 But he, all of these he did not do—

14 And look! He begets a son, and he sees all the sins of his father that he did, and he sees, and he does not do like them.

18 His father, because he oppressed an oppression, robbed the robbery of a brother, and what, is not good he did in the midst of his people—look! He dies in his iniquity.

19 But you say, ‘Why does the son not carry the iniquity of the father?’ And the son does justice and righteousness; all my statutes, he keeps, and he does them—living, he will live! 20 The life, the one sinning—it will die. A son will not carry the iniquity of the father, and a father will not carry the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon him.

21 But the wicked, if he turns from all his sins that he did, and he keeps all my statutes, and he does justice and righteousness—living, he will live; he will not die. 22 All his rebellions that he did—they will not be remembered of him; in his righteousness that he did, he will live. 23 Delighting, do I delight in the death of, the wicked—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh? Is it not when he turns from his ways that he will live? 24 But when, the righteous turns from his righteousness and does iniquity; as all the abominations that the wicked does, he does—and shall he live? All his righteous deeds that he did—they will not be remembered; in his violation that he violated, and in his sin that he sinned—in them, he will die.

25 But you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not correct.’ Listen, now, house of Israel! My way—is it not correct? Is it not your ways—they are not correct? 26 When, the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does iniquity, then he dies because of them; in his injustice that he did he dies. 27 And when, the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did, and does justice and righteousness, he, his life he will keep alive 28 And if he sees, and he turns from all his rebellions that he did— living he will live; he will not die. 29 But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not correct.’ My ways—are they not correct, house of Israel? Is it not your ways—they are not correct? 30 Therefore, a man—according to his ways, I will judge you, house of Israel—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. Turn and turn from all your rebellions, and it will not be for you as an obstacle of iniquity. 31 Throw from upon you all your rebellions that you rebelled with them, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. And why should you die, house of Israel? 32 For I do not delight in the death of the dying one—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—so turn back and live!”

19 “And you, take up a lament against the princes of Israel, 2 and you shall say,

20 Now it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and they sat to my face. 2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you are coming? As I live, I will surely not be inquired of by you— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’

4 Will you judge them? Will you judge, son of man? Make them know the abominations of their fathers. 5 And say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day of my choosing Israel, I lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt; and I lifted up my hand to them, saying, “I am Yahweh your God.” 6 In that day I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey; it is a splendor for all the lands. 7 And I said to them, “Each man, throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and with the idols of Egypt may you not defile yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.” 8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. Each man did not throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and the idols of Egypt they did not forsake. So I said, I would pour out my wrath upon them, to bring my nose to an end against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were, to whom I made myself known before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt.

10 So I brought them out from the land of Egypt and brought them to the wilderness. 11 And I gave to them my statutes, and my judgments I made known to them, which, if the man does them, then he will live by them. 12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them, to be for a sign between me and between them, to know that I am Yahweh, the one sanctifying them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. In my statutes they did not walk, and my judgments they rejected, which, if the man does them, then he will live by them; and my Sabbaths they profaned exceedingly. So I said, I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to bring them to an end. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I brought them out. 15 And also I, I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness, so as not to bring them into the land that I had given, flowing with milk and honey— it is a splendor for all the lands—16 because they rejected my judgments, and in my statutes they did not walk, and my Sabbaths they profaned; for after their idols their heart was walking. 17 But my eye had pity on them, from destroying them, and I did not make them a complete end in the wilderness.

18 And I said to their sons in the wilderness, “In the statutes of your fathers may you not walk, and their judgments may you not keep, and with their idols may you not defile yourselves. 19 I am Yahweh your God. In my statutes walk, and my judgments keep and do them. 20 And my Sabbaths sanctify, and they will be for a sign between me and between you, to know that I am Yahweh your God.” 21 But the sons rebelled against me. In my statutes they did not walk, and my judgments they did not keep, to do them, which, if the man does them, then he will live by them; my Sabbaths they profaned. So I said, I, would pour out my wrath upon them, to bring my nose to an end against them in the wilderness. 22 But I turned back my hand and acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I brought them out. 23 Also I, I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them among the lands, 24 because my judgments they did not do, and my statutes they rejected, and my Sabbaths they profaned, and after the idols of their fathers their eyes were. 25 And also I, I gave to them statutes not good, and judgments, by, which they would not live. 26 And I defiled them by their gifts, in making every opener of the womb pass over, so that I might make them desolate, so that they would know that I am Yahweh.’

27 Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Still in this your fathers blasphemed me, in their committing unfaithfulness against me. 28 And I brought them into the land that I lifted up my hand to give it to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they sacrificed there their sacrifices, and they gave there the provocation of their offering, and they placed there the aroma of their pleasing offerings, and they poured out there their drink offerings. 29 And I said to them, “What is the high place to which you are coming there?” And its name was called Bamah until this day.’

30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it in the way of your fathers that you are defiling yourselves, and after their detestable things that you are prostituting yourselves? 31 And in the lifting up of your gifts, in making your sons pass over in the fire, you are defiling yourselves for all your idols until today. And I, shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— I will surely not be inquired of by you. 32 And what is coming up on your spirit will surely not be, that you are saying, “We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, to serve wood and stone.”

33 As I live— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— surely with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will reign over you. 34 And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you were scattered, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out. 35 And I will bring you to the wilderness of the peoples, and I will enter into judgment with you there, face to face. 36 Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 37 And I will make you pass over under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 And I will purge out from you the rebels and the ones transgressing against me. From the land of their sojournings I will bring them out, but to the land of Israel he will not come. And you will know that I am Yahweh. 39 And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Each man, go, serve his idols; and afterward, if you are not listening to me. But the name of my holiness you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

40 For on the mountain of my holiness, on the mountain of the height of Israel— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— there all the house of Israel, all of it, will serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will seek your contributions and the first of your gifts, with all your holy things. 41 With a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you were scattered; and I will be sanctified among you before the eyes of the nations. 42 And you will know that I am Yahweh, when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land that I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And there you will remember your ways and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves in your own faces because of all your evils that you did. 44 And you will know that I am Yahweh, when I act with you for the sake of my name, not according to your evil ways and not according to your corrupt deeds, house of Israel— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

45 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 46 “Son of man, set your face the way of the south, and drip words against the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field of the Negev. 47 And say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am kindling in you a fire, and it will devour in you every fresh tree and every dry tree. The flame of the blaze will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 48 And all flesh will see that I, Yahweh, have burned it. It will not be quenched.’ ” 49 And I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! They are saying to me, ‘Is he not a speaker of parables?’ ”

21 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drip words against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 And say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you! And I will bring out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you righteous and wicked. 4 Because I have cut off from you righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south, to the north. 5 And all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have brought out my sword from its sheath. It will not return again.’

6 And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness you will groan before their eyes. 7 And it will happen that when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you will say, ‘Because of a report, for it is coming. And every heart will melt, and all hands will grow slack, and every spirit will grow dim, and all knees will go, with water. Behold, it is coming, and it will come to pass’— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.”

8 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Say,

10 For the sake of slaughtering a slaughter it has been sharpened; for the sake of being lightning to it, it has been polished.

It, the sword, has been sharpened; and it, it has been polished, to give it into the hand of a killer.

12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all the leaders of Israel.

Ones cast to the sword they are, along with my people. Therefore, slap your hand on the thigh!

13 For it has been tested. And what if even the rejecting scepter will not be?— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.” ’

14 And you, son of man, prophesy and strike palm to palm, and may the sword be doubled a third time.

It is the sword of the slain; it is the sword of the great slain one, the one surrounding them,

15 for the sake of the melting of the heart and the multiplying of the stumbling blocks. At all their gates I have put the flashing of a sword. Ah! It is made for lightning, it is wrapped for slaughter.

16 Gather yourself! Go to the right! Set yourself! Go to the left! Wherever your face is appointed!

17 And also I, I will strike my palm to my palm, and I will bring my wrath to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

18 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 19 “And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; from one land the two of them will go out. And carve a hand; at the head of the way to a city carve it. 20 You will set a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah, in fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the mother of the way, at the head of the two ways, to divine a divination. He shakes the arrows, he inquires of the teraphim, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination, for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with a shout, to set battering rams against the gates, to pour out a siege mound, to build a siege wall. 23 And it will be to them like a divination of emptiness in their eyes— sworn oaths, are to them— but he is making iniquity remembered, so that they may be seized.

24 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your making your iniquity remembered, in the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins are seen in all your deeds— because of your being remembered, by the palm you will be seized.’

25 And you, profane wicked one, leader of Israel, whose day has come at the time of the iniquity of the end, 26 thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Remove the turban and lift off the crown! This will not, be this. Make high the low, and make low the high. 27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also this will not be, until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.’

28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach.’ And you will say, ‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, for the sake of lightning, 29 in their seeing emptiness for you, in their divining a lie for you, to put you on the necks of the profane wicked ones, whose day has come at the time of the iniquity of the end. 30 Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origins, I will judge you. 31 And I will pour out on you my indignation. With the fire of my wrath I will blow against you, and I will give you into the hand of brutish men, craftsmen of destruction. 32 You will be for the fire as food. Your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.’ ”

22 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make her know all her abominations. 3 And you will say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city pouring out blood in her midst, for her time to come, and she has made idols against herself, to become unclean. 4 By your blood that you have poured out you have become guilty, and by your idols that you have made you have become unclean. And you have brought your days near, and you have come to your years. Therefore I have given you, as a reproach to the nations and as a mockery to all the lands. 5 The ones near and the ones far from you will mock you, unclean of name, great of tumult.

6 Behold, the leaders of Israel, each man to his arm, have been in you for the sake of pouring out blood. 7 Father and mother they have made light of in you; to the foreigner they have acted with oppression in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have mistreated in you. 8 My holy things you have despised, and my Sabbaths you have profaned. 9 Men of slander have been in you for the sake of pouring out blood; and on the mountains they have eaten in you; depravity they have done in your midst. 10 The nakedness of a father he has uncovered in you; the unclean one of menstruation they have violated in you. 11 And a man has done an abomination with the wife of his neighbor; and a man has defiled his daughter-in-law with depravity; and a man has violated his sister, the daughter of his father, in you. 12 A bribe they have taken in you for the sake of pouring out blood. Interest and increase you have taken, and you have made gain, from your neighbors with oppression. And me you have forgotten— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

13 And behold, I have struck my palm at your gain that you have made and at your blood that has been in your midst. 14 Will your heart stand, or will your hands be strong, for the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it. 15 And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and I will bring your uncleanness to an end from you. 16 And you will be profaned in yourself before the eyes of the nations. And you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

17 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become to me as dross. All of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace; dross of silver they have become. 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because all of you have become as dross, therefore, behold, I am gathering you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As a gathering of silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it— thus I will gather, you in my nose and in my fury, and I will set you down and melt you. 21 And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in her midst. 22 Like the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, thus you will be melted in her midst. And you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my fury on you.’ ”

23 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed; her rain is not in the day of indignation. 25 A conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst, like a lion roaring, tearing prey. A soul they have eaten; treasure and precious thing they take; her widows they have multiplied in her midst. 26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and they have profaned my holy things. Between holy and common they have not separated, and between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, and from my Sabbaths they have hidden their eyes; and I was profaned in their midst. 27 Her princes within her are like wolves tearing prey, to pour out blood, to destroy souls, for the sake of gaining gain. 28 And her prophets have plastered for them, with whitewash, ones seeing emptiness and ones divining a lie for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh,” but Yahweh has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have oppressed an oppression and robbed a robbery, and the poor and the needy they have mistreated, and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice. 30 And I sought from them a man walling up a wall and standing in the breach to my face on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy her; but I did not find one. 31 So I have poured out my indignation on them; with the fire of my wrath I have consumed them. Their way on their head I have given— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

23 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother. 3 And they whored in Egypt; in their youth they whored. There their breasts were squeezed, and there they handled the nipples of their virginity. 4 And their names were Oholah the older and Oholibah her sister. And they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah. 5 And Oholah whored under me, and she lusted after her lovers, toward Assyria, near ones, 6 clothed in blue, governors and prefects, all of them young men of desire, horsemen, riders of horses. 7 And she gave her prostitutions to them, the choicest of the sons of Assyria, all of them; and with everyone after whom she lusted, with all their idols, she became unclean. 8 And her prostitutions from Egypt she did not forsake, for they had lain with her in her youth, and they, they handled the nipples of her virginity and poured out their prostitution on her. 9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria, after whom she lusted. 10 They, they uncovered her nakedness; her sons and her daughters they took, and her they killed with the sword. And she became a name for women, and they executed judgments on her.

11 And her sister Oholibah saw, and she made her lusting more corrupt than she, and her prostitutions more than the prostitutions of her sister. 12 She lusted after the sons of Assyria, governors and prefects, near ones, clothed in perfection, horsemen, riders of horses, all of them young men of desire. 13 And I saw that she had become unclean; one way was for the two of them. 14 And she added to her prostitutions. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans engraved in vermilion, 15 girded with a belt on their loins, with hanging turbans on their heads, the appearance of captains all of them, the likeness of the sons of Babylon, Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 And she lusted after them at the sight of her eyes, and she sent messengers to them, to Chaldea. 17 And the sons of Babylon came to her, to the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution; and she became unclean by them, and her soul turned away from them. 18 And she uncovered her prostitutions and uncovered her nakedness, and my soul turned away from her, just as my soul had turned away from her sister. 19 And she multiplied her prostitutions, to remember the days of her youth when she whored in the land of Egypt. 20 And she lusted after their concubines, whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys and whose emission was the emission of horses. 21 And you longed for the depravity of your youth, when they from Egypt handled your nipples, for the sake of the breasts of your youth.

22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am rousing your lovers against you, those from whom your soul turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: 23 the sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all the sons of Assyria with them, young men of desire, governors and prefects, all of them captains and ones called, riders of horses, all of them. 24 And they will come against you with weaponry of chariot and wheel, and with an assembly of peoples. Large shield and shield and helmet they will set against you all around. And I will give judgment to their face, and they will judge you by their judgments. 25 And I will set my jealousy against you, and they will deal with you in fury. Your nose and your ears they will remove, and your remnant will fall by the sword. They, they will take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant will be devoured by fire. 26 And they will strip you of your garments and take the articles of your beauty. 27 And I will make your depravity cease from you and your prostitution from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them, and Egypt you will not remember any longer.

28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am giving you into the hand of those whom you hated, into the hand of those from whom your soul turned away. 29 And they will deal with you in hatred and take all your labor and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitutions will be uncovered, and your depravity and your prostitutions. 30 They will do these things to you because of your whoring after the nations, because you became unclean with their idols. 31 In the way of your sister you have walked, so I will give her cup into your hand.

32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The cup of your sister you will drink, the deep and the wide one; it will be for laughter and for scorn— abundant to contain. 33 With drunkenness and sorrow you will be filled, the cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. 34 And you will drink it and drain it, and you will gnaw its shards and tear off your breasts; for I, I have spoken— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, so you also, bear your depravity and your prostitutions.”

36 And Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; and with their idols they have committed adultery. And even their sons whom they bore to me they made pass over to them for food. 38 Still this they did to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and my Sabbaths they profaned. 39 And when they slaughtered their sons to their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And behold, thus they did in the midst of my house. 40 And furthermore, they sent for men coming from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came— for whom you washed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 And you sat on a glorious couch, with a table arranged to its face; and my incense and my oil you set on it. 42 And the sound of a multitude at ease was with her; and to the men from the multitude of humanity, drunkards were brought from the wilderness, and they put bracelets on their hands and a crown of beauty on their heads. 43 And I said of the one worn out by adulteries, ‘Now they will whore her prostitutions, and she also.’ 44 And he went in to her as one goes in to a prostitute woman; thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of depravity. 45 But righteous men, they will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of shedders of blood; for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Bring up against them an assembly, and give them over to horror and to plunder. 47 And an assembly will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. Their sons and their daughters they will kill, and their houses they will burn with fire. 48 And I will make depravity cease from the land, and all the women will be disciplined, and they will not do according to your depravity. 49 And they will put your depravity on you, and you will bear the sins of your idols; and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

24 And the word of Yahweh came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, 2 “Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon has pressed against Jerusalem on this very day. 3 And speak a parable to the house of rebellion, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Set on the pot, set it on, and also pour water into it. 4 Gather its pieces into it, every good piece, thigh and shoulder; fill it with the choicest of bones. 5 Take the choicest of the flock, and also pile up the bones under it. Boil its boilings; also its bones have boiled in its midst.

6 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rust is in it and whose rust has not gone out from it! To its pieces, to its pieces, bring it out; no lot has fallen on it. 7 For her blood is in her midst; on the bare surface of a rock she placed it. She did not pour it out on the ground, to cover dust over it. 8 To make wrath go up, to avenge vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare surface of a rock, so that it will not be covered.

9 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the city of bloodshed! Also I, I will make the pile of wood great. 10 Multiply the wood, kindle the fire, finish the flesh, and mix the mixture, and the bones will be burned. 11 And make it stand on its coals empty, so that it may become hot and its bronze may burn, and its uncleanness may be melted in its midst, its rust may come to an end. 12 It has made itself weary, with toils, and the abundance of its rust has not gone out from it; into the fire, with its rust! 13 In your uncleanness is depravity. Because I cleansed you but you were not clean, from your uncleanness you will not be clean again until I have caused my wrath to rest on you. 14 I, Yahweh, have spoken. It is coming, and I will do it. I will not refrain, and I will not have pity, and I will not relent. According to your ways and according to your deeds they have judged you’— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.”

15 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 16 “Son of man, behold, I am taking from you the desire of your eyes with a plague. But you will not mourn, and you will not weep, and your tears will not come. 17 Groan, be silent; for the dead you will not make mourning. Bind your headdress on yourself, and put your sandals on your feet. And you will not cover over, your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men.” 18 And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. And I did in the morning as I was commanded. 19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these are to us, that you are doing them?” 20 And I said to them, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am profaning my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the compassion of your soul. And your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. 22 And you will do as I have done. You will not cover over, your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men. 23 And your headdresses will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities, and you will groan, a man to his brother. 24 And Ezekiel will be for a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do. When it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” ’ ”

25 “And you, son of man, will it not be in the day of my taking from them their stronghold, the joy of their splendor, the desire of their eyes, and the lifting up of their soul, their sons and their daughters, 26 in that day the fugitive will come to you, to cause the ears to hear? 27 In that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you will speak and you will no longer be mute. And you will be for a sign to them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

25 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them. 3 And you will say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your saying, “Aha!” against my sanctuary because it was profaned, and against the land of Israel because it was desolated, and against the house of Judah because they went into exile—4 therefore, behold, I am giving you to the sons of the east as a possession. And they will set their encampments in you, and they will put their dwellings in you. They, they will eat your fruit, and they, they will drink your milk. 5 And I will give Rabbah as a pasture of camels and the sons of Ammon as a resting place of flocks. And you will know that I am Yahweh.

6 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your clapping the hand and your stamping with the foot, and you rejoiced with all of your contempt in the soul against the land of Israel—7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will give you as plunder to the nations.[fn] And I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’

8 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of the saying of Moab and Seir, “Behold, the house of Judah is like all of the nations,” 9 therefore, behold, I am opening the shoulder of Moab from the cities, from his cities, from his end, the splendor of the land: Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 to the sons of the east along with the sons of Ammon. And I will give it as a possession, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. 11 And against Moab I will do judgments, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’

12 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of the doing of Edom in avenging vengeance against the house of Judah, and they became guilty, being guilty, and they took vengeance on them—13 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will cut off from her man and beast. And I will make her a waste from Teman, and to Dedan they will fall by the sword. 14 And I will put my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath. And they will know my vengeance’— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.

15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of the doing of the Philistines in vengeance, and they avenged vengeance with contempt in the soul, for destruction, with everlasting hostility—16 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and I will make the remnant of the shore of the sea perish. 17 And I will do great vengeances against them with rebukes of wrath. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I put my vengeance on them.’ ”

26 So it was in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gates of the people are broken! She has turned to me; I will be filled up because she is ruined.’ 3 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I am against you, Tyre, and I will raise up many nations against you like the sea raises its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will sweep her dust away and make her like a bare rock. 5 She will become a place for nets to dry out in the midst of the sea, since I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—and she will become plunder for the nations. 6 Her daughters who are in the fields will be slaughtered by the swords, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’

7 For this is what Yahweh says: Behold, from the north I am bringing Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a great many people. 8 He will kill your daughters in the field. He will set up a siege work and build a ramp against your walls and raise up shields against you. 9 He will place his battering rams to hit against your walls, and his tools will tear down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake with the sound of horsemen, wagons, and chariots. When he enters your gates, he will enter as men come into a city whose walls have been broken down. 11 The hooves of his horses will trample all of your streets. He will kill your people with the sword and your mighty stone pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious homes. Your stones, your timber, and the rubble they will throw into the waters. 13 I will stop the noise of your songs. The sound of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock, you will become a place where nets are spread out to dry. You will never be built again, for I, Lord Yahweh have spoken—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.

15 The Lord Yahweh says this to Tyre, ‘Will not the islands quake with the sound of your downfall, and with the groans of the wounded when the terrible slaughter is in your midst? 16 Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and remove their robes and cast off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling, they will sit on the ground and tremble every moment, and they will be appalled because of you. 17 They will lift up a lament for you and say to you,

How you, who were inhabited by sailors, have been destroyed. The famous city that was so strong—it is now gone from the sea.

The ones living in her once spread a terror about themselves upon everyone who lived near them.

The islands in the sea are terrified, because you are no longer in your place.’

19 For the Lord Yahweh says this: When I make you a desolate city, like the other cities that are not inhabited, when I raise up the deeps against you, and when the great waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down to the people of ancient times, like the others who have gone down into the pit; for I will make you live in the lowest realms of the earth as in ruins of ancient times. Because of this you will not come back and stand in the land of the living.[fn] 21 I will place disaster on you, and you will be no more forever. Then you will be sought, but you will never be found ever again—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

27 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Now you, son of man, begin a lamentation concerning Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who lives within the gates of the sea, merchants of peoples to many islands, the Lord Yahweh says this to you:

4 Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.

they made your decks out of cypress wood from Cyprus, and they overlaid them with ivory.

7 Your sails were made from colorful linen from Egypt that served as your banner;

the colors of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah are used for the awning on your boat.

all the ships of the sea and their sailors among you were carrying your merchandise for trade.

11 The men of Arvad and Helek in your army were on your walls surrounding you, and the people of Gammad were in your towers. They hung up their shields on your walls all around you! They completed your beauty.

12 Tarshish was a trading partner with you because of your abundant wealth of goods to sell: Silver, iron, tin, and lead. They bought and sold your wares! 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech—they traded slaves and in items made of bronze. They handled your merchandise. 14 Beth Togarmah provided horses, stallions, and mules as your merchandise. 15 The men of Rhodes were your traders on many coasts. Merchandise was in your hand; they sent back horn, ivory, and ebony as tribute! 16 Aram was a dealer in your many products; they provided emeralds, purple, colored cloth, fine fabric, pearls, and rubies as your merchandise. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were trading with you. They provided wheat from Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balsam as your merchandise. 18 Damascus was a trader of all your products, of all your enormous wealth, and of the wine of Helbon and the wool of Zahar. 19 Dan and Javan from Izal provided you with merchandise of wrought iron, cinnamon, and calamus. This became merchandise for you. 20 Dedan was your dealer in fine saddle blankets. 21 Arabia and all the chiefs of Kedar were traders with you; they provided you with lambs, rams and goats. 22 The traders of Sheba and Raamah came to sell you the best of every spice and in all kinds of precious gems; they traded gold for your merchandise. 23 Haran, Canneh, and Eden were traders with you, along with Sheba, Ashur, and Chilmad. 24 These were your dealers in ornate robes of violet cloths with woven colors, and in blankets of multicolored, embroidered, and well-woven cloth in your marketplaces. 25 The ships of Tarshish were the transporters of your merchandise!

27 Your wealth, merchandise, and trade goods; your sailors and pilots, and ship builders; your traders of merchandise and all the men of war who are in you, and all your crew—they will sink into the depths of the sea on the day of your destruction.

31 They will shave their heads bald for you and bind themselves with sackcloth,

32 They will lift up their wails of lamentation for you and sing dirges over you,

28 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Your heart is arrogant! You have said, “I am a god! I will sit in the seat of the gods in the heart of the seas!” Even though you are a man and not a god, you make your heart like the heart of a god; 3 you think that you are wiser than Daniel, and that no secret amazes you! 4 You have made yourself wealthy with wisdom and skill, and obtained gold and silver in your treasuries! 5 By great wisdom and by your trading, you have multiplied your wealth, so your heart is arrogant because of your wealth. 6 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have made your heart like the heart of a god, 7 I will therefore bring foreigners against you, terrifying men from other nations. They will bring their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will profane your splendor. 8 They will send you down to the pit, and you will die the death of those who die in the heart of the seas. 9 Will you truly say, “I am a god” to the face of one who kills you? You are a man and not God, and you will be in the hand of the one who pierces you. 10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners, for I have declared it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ ”

11 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, lift up a lament for the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone covered you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made from gold. It was on the day you were created that they were prepared. 14 I placed you on the holy mountain of God as the cherub I anointed to guard mankind. You were in the midst of the fiery stones where you walked about. 15 You had integrity in your ways from the day you were created until injustice was found within you. 16 Through your great trade you were filled with violence, and so you sinned. So I threw you out of the mountain of God, as one who was defiled, and I destroyed you, guardian cherub, and drove you from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart was arrogant with your beauty; you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor. I have sent you down to the earth. I have placed you before kings so they may see you. 18 Because of your many sins and your dishonest trade, you have defiled your holy places. So I have made fire come out from you; it will consume you. I will turn you into ashes on the earth in the sight of all who look at you. 19 All the ones who knew you among the peoples will shudder at you; they will be horrified, and you will be no more forever.’ ”

20 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against her. 22 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Sidon! For I will be glorified in your midst so your people will know that I am Yahweh when I execute justice within you. I will be shown to be holy in you. 23 I will send out a plague in you and blood in your streets, and the slain will fall in your midst. When the sword comes against you from all around, then you will know that I am Yahweh. 24 Then there will no longer be pricking briars and painful thorns for the house of Israel from all those around her who despise her people, so they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh!’

25 The Lord Yahweh says this, ‘When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and when I am set apart among them, so the nations may see, then they will make their homes in the land I will give to my servant Jacob. 26 Then they will live securely within her and build houses, plant vineyards, and live securely when I execute justice on all the ones who now despise them from all around; so they will know that I am Yahweh their God!’ ”

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt; prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. 3 Declare and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this:

that says, “My river is my own. I have made it for myself.” 4 For I will place hooks in your jaw, and the fish of your Nile will cling to your scales; I will lift you up from the middle of your river along with all the fish of the river that cling to your scales.

5 I will throw you down into the wilderness, you and all the fish from your river.

I will give you as food to the living things of the earth and to the birds of the heavens.

7 When they took hold of you in their hand, you broke and tore open their shoulder;

and when they leaned on you, you were broken, and you caused their legs to be unsteady.

8 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I will bring a sword against you. I will cut off both man and beast from you. 9 So the land of Egypt will become desolate and a ruin. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, because the sea monster had said, “The river is mine, for I have made it.” 10 Therefore, behold! I am against you and against your river, so I will give the land of Egypt over to desolation and waste, and you will become a wasteland from the Migdol to Syene and the borders of Cush. 11 No man’s foot will pass through it, and no wild animal’s foot will pass through it. It will not be inhabited for forty years. 12 For I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of uninhabited lands, and its cities in the midst of wasted cities will become a desolation for forty years; then I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them through the lands.

13 For the Lord Yahweh says this: At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the region of Pathros, to the land of their origin. Then they will be a lowly kingdom there. 15 It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and it will not be lifted up any more among the nations. I will diminish them so they will no longer rule over nations. 16 The Egyptians will no longer be a reason for confidence for the house of Israel. Instead, they will be a reminder of the iniquity that Israel committed when they turned to Egypt for help. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

17 Then it came about in the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon stationed his army to do hard work against Tyre. Every head was rubbed until it was made bald, and every shoulder was made raw. Yet he and his army received no payment from Tyre for the hard work that he carried out against it. 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold! I am giving the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will take away its wealth, plunder its possessions, and carry off all he finds there; that will be his army’s wages. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the wages for the work they did for me—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 21 On that day I will make a horn sprout up for the house of Israel, and I make you speak in their midst, so that they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

30 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this:

3 The day is near. The day is near for Yahweh. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for nations.

4 Then a sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the killed people fall in Egypt—

5 Cush and Put, Lydia and all Arabia, and Libya, together with the people belonging to the covenant—they will all fall by the sword.

So the ones who support Egypt will fall, and the pride of her strength will go down.

From Migdol to Syene their soldiers will fall by the sword—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.

7 They will be appalled in the midst of the abandoned lands, and their cities will be among all the ruined cities. 8 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I set fire in Egypt, and when all of her helpers are destroyed. 9 In that day messengers will go out from before me in ships to terrorize a secure Cush, and there will be anguish among them on the day of Egypt’s doom. For behold! It is coming.

10 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will make an end of the multitudes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. 11 He and his army with him, the terror of nations, will be brought to destroy the land; they will draw out their swords against Egypt and fill the land with those who have been killed. 12 I will make the rivers into dry ground, and I will sell the land into the hand of wicked men. I will make the land and its fullness desolate by the hand of strangers—I, Yahweh, have spoken.

13 The Lord Yahweh says this: I will destroy idols, and I will bring an end to the worthless idols of Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt, and I will put terror on the land of Egypt. 14 Then I will make Pathros desolate and set fire in Zoan, and I will execute acts of judgment on Thebes. 15 For I will pour out my fury on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes. 16 Then I will set fire in Egypt; Pelusium will be in great agony, Thebes will be broken up, and Memphis will face enemies every day. 17 The young men in Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and their cities will go into captivity. 18 In Tahpanhes, the day will hold back its light when I break the yoke of Egypt there, and the pride of her strength will be finished. There will be a cloud covering her, and her daughters will walk into captivity. 19 I will execute acts of judgment in Egypt, so they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

20 Then it came about in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Behold! It has not been bound up, or set to heal with a bandage, so that it will become strong enough to grasp a sword. 22 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. For I will break his arm, both the strong one and the broken one, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 Then I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among the lands. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and place my sword in his hand so that I might destroy Pharaoh’s arms. He will groan before the king of Babylon with the groans of a dying man. 25 For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, while Pharaoh’s arms will fall. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon; for he will attack the land of Egypt with it. 26 So I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them through the lands. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

31 Then it came about in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his multitudes around him,

3 Behold! Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, giving shade to the forest,

4 Many waters made it tall; the deep waters made it huge. Rivers flowed all around its area,

5 Its great height was more than any of the other trees in the field, and its branches became very many;

6 Every bird of the heavens nested in its branches, while every living thing of the field gave birth to its young under its foliage.

7 For it was beautiful in its greatness and the length of its branches, for its roots were in many waters.

None among the cypress trees matched its branches, and the plane tree could not equal its boughs.

10 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Because it was tall in height, and it set its treetop between its branches, it lifted up its heart because of its height. 11 I have given it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations, to deal with it according to what its wickedness deserves. I have thrown it out. 12 Foreigners who were the terror of all the nations cut it off and left it to die. Its branches fell on the mountains and all the valleys, and its boughs lay broken in all the ravines of the land. Then all the nations on earth came out from under its shade and they went away from it.

14 This happened so that no other trees that grow by the waters will lift up their foliage to the height of the tallest trees, and that no other trees that grow beside the waters will reach up to that height. All of them have been assigned to death, to the earth below, among the children of humanity, with those that go down to the pit.

15 The Lord Yahweh says this: On the day when the cedar went down to Sheol I brought mourning to the earth. I covered the deep waters over it, and I held back the ocean waters. I kept back the great waters, and I brought mourning to Lebanon for him. So all the trees of the field mourned because of it. 16 I brought shuddering to the nations at the sound of its downfall, when I threw it down to Sheol with those who went down into the pit. So I comforted all the trees of Eden in the lowest parts of the earth. These had been the choicest and best trees of Lebanon; the trees that drank the waters. 17 For they also went down with it to Sheol, to the ones who had been killed by the sword. These were its strong arm, those nations who had lived in its shade. 18 Which of the trees in Eden was your equal in glory and greatness? For you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lowest parts of the earth among the uncircumcised; you will live with those who were killed by the sword.’

This is Pharaoh and all of his multitudes—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

32 Then it happened in the twelfth month of the twelfth year, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, lift up a lament concerning Pharaoh the king of Egypt; say to him, ‘You are like a young lion among the nations,

you stir up the waters with your feet and muddy their waters. 3 The Lord Yahweh says this:

So I will spread my net over you in the assembly of many peoples, and they will lift you up in my net.

and cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you; the hunger of all living animals on earth will be satisfied by you.

5 For I will put your flesh on the mountains, and I will fill the valleys with your worm-filled corpse.

7 Then when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars;

and I will put darkness over your land—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 9 So I will terrify the heart of many peoples in lands that you do not know, when I bring about your collapse among the nations, among lands that you have not known.[fn] 10 I will shock many peoples concerning you; their kings will shudder in horror concerning you when I swing my sword before them. Every moment each one will tremble because of you, on the day of your downfall.

11 For the Lord Yahweh says this: The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you.

12 I will cause your multitudes to fall by warriors’ swords—each warrior a terror of nations.

These warriors will devastate the pride of Egypt and destroy all of its multitudes.

the foot of man will no longer stir the waters up, neither will the hooves of cattle stir them.

15 When I make the land of Egypt an abandoned place, when the land is made bare of all its fullness,

16 There will be a lament; the daughters of the nations will lament over her; they will lament over Egypt,

over all her multitudes they will lament—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’ ”

17 Then it happened in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

her and the daughters of majestic nations—to the lowest earth with those who have gone down to the pit.

19 ‘Are you really more beautiful than anyone else? Go down and lie down with the uncircumcised.’

20 They will fall among those who were killed by the sword. The sword has been drawn! She has been given to the sword; they will seize her and her multitudes.

21 The strongest of the warriors in Sheol will declare about Egypt and her allies,

‘They have come down here! They will lie with the uncircumcised, with those who were killed by the sword.’

23 Those whose graves are set in the recesses of the pit are there, with all her assembly.

24 Elam is there with all her multitudes. Her graves surround her; all of them were killed.

Those who fell by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lowest parts of the earth,

who brought their terrors on the land of the living and who carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit.

25 They set a bedroll for Elam and all her multitudes in the midst of the slain; her graves surround her.

All of them are uncircumcised, pierced by the sword, because they had brought their terrors on the land of the living.

So they carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit among all those who have been killed, those who are going down to the pit. Elam is among all those who were killed.

26 Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitudes are there! Their graves surround them.

All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, because they had brought their terrors on the land of the living.

27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised who have gone down to Sheol

and their iniquities over their bones. For they were the terror of warriors in the land of the living.

28 So you, Egypt, will be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised! You will lie alongside those who were pierced by the sword.

29 Edom is there with her kings and all her leaders. They have been placed in their strength with those killed by the sword. With the uncircumcised they lie, with those who have gone down to the pit. 30 The princes of the north are there—all of them and all the Sidonians who went down with the ones who had been pierced. They were powerful and made others to be afraid, but now they are there in shame, uncircumcised with those who were pierced by the sword. They carry their own shame, together with the ones going down to the pit.

31 Pharaoh will look and be comforted about all his multitudes who were pierced by the sword—Pharaoh and all his army—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 32 I put him as my terrifying one in the land of the living, but he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised, among those pierced by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitudes—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

33 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, declare this to your people; say to them, ‘When I bring a sword against any land, then the people of that land take one man from among themselves and make him a watchman for them. 3 He looks for the sword as it comes on the land, and he blows his horn to warn the people! 4 If the people hear the sound of the horn but do not pay attention, and if the sword comes and kills them, then each one’s blood is on his own head. 5 If someone hears the sound of the horn and pays no attention, his blood is on him; but if he pays attention, he will save his own life.

6 However, if the watchman sees the sword as it is coming, but if he does not blow the horn, with the result that the people are not warned, and if the sword comes and takes anyone’s life, then that person dies in his own sin, but I will require his blood from the watchman.’

7 Now you yourself, son of man! I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; you will hear the words from my mouth and warn them on my behalf. 8 If I say to a wicked person, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die!’ but if you do not announce this so as to warn the wicked about his way, then he who is wicked will die in his sin, but I will require his blood from your hand! 9 But you, if you warn the wicked about his way, so that he might turn back from it, and if he does not turn back from his way, then he will die in his sin, but you yourself will have saved your own life.

10 So you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘You are saying this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are decaying in them! How can we live?” ’ 11 Say to them, ‘As I live—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—I do not delight in the death of the wicked, for if the wicked repents from his way, then he will live! Repent! Repent from your wicked ways! For why should you die, house of Israel?’ 12 So now you, son of man, say to your people, ‘The righteousness of a righteous person will not save him if he sins! The wickedness of a wicked person will not cause him to perish if he repents from his sin! For the righteous person will not be able to live because of his righteousness if he sins. 13 If I say to the righteous, “He will surely live!” and if he trusts in his righteousness and then commits injustice, I will not call to mind any of his righteousness. He will die for the wickedness he committed. 14 So if I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” but if he then repents from his sins and does what is just and right—15 if he restores the loan guarantee that he wickedly demanded, or if he makes restitution for what he has stolen, and if he walks in the statutes that give life and no longer commits sin—then he will surely live. He will not die. 16 None of the sins that he has committed will be called to mind for him. He has acted justly and rightly, and so, he will surely live!

17 But your people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” but it is your ways that are not fair! 18 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits sin, then he will die in it! 19 When the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and righteous, he will live because of those things! 20 But you people say, “The way of the Lord is not fair!” I will judge each of you according to his way, house of Israel!’ ”

21 It happened in the twelfth year, on the fifth day of the tenth month of our captivity, that a fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and said, “The city has been captured!” 22 The hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening before the fugitive came, and my mouth was opened by the time that he came to me in the dawn. So my mouth was open; I was no longer mute!

23 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, the ones inhabiting those ruins in the land of Israel are talking and say, ‘Abraham was only one person, and he inherited the land, but we are many! The land has been given to us as a possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: You eat blood, and you lift up your eyes towards your idols, then you pour out people’s blood. Should you really possess the land? 26 You have depended on your swords and have done disgusting things; each man defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you really possess the land?’ 27 You will say this to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, surely the ones in the ruins will fall by the sword, and I will give those in the fields to the living creatures as food, and those in fortresses and in caves will die of plagues. 28 Then I will turn the land into a desolation and a horror, and the pride of its might will end, for the mountains of Israel will be deserted, and there will be no one to pass through them.’ 29 So they will know that I am Yahweh, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all the abominations that they have done.

30 So now you, son of man—your people are saying things about you beside the walls and the gates of the houses, and each says to one another—each man to his brother, ‘Let us go and listen to the prophet’s word that comes out from Yahweh!’ 31 So my people will come to you, as they often do, and will sit in front of you and listen to your words, but they will not obey them. Right words are in their mouths, but their hearts are going after unjust profit. 32 For you are like a lovely song to them, a beautiful sound that is well played on a stringed instrument, so they will listen to your words, but none of them will obey them. 33 So when all of this happens—behold! It will happen!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

34 And the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and you shall say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been shepherding themselves! Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock? 3 The fat you eat, and the wool you wear; the fat one you slaughter. The flock you do not shepherd. 4 The weak ones you have not strengthened, and the sick one you have not healed, and the broken one you have not bound up, and the one driven away you have not brought back, and the perishing one you have not searched for. And with force you have subjugated them, and with harshness. 5 And they scattered without a shepherd, and they became food for every living thing of the field, and they scattered. 6 My flock stray on all of the mountains and on every high hill, and over all of the face of the land my flock were scattered, and there is no one seeking, and there is no one searching.

7 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8 By my life—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—If it is not because of my flock becoming prey, and my flock has become food for every living thing of the field from there being no shepherd, and my shepherds did not seek my flock, and the shepherds shepherded themselves and they did not shepherd my flock—

9 therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold me, against the shepherds! And I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will cause them to cease from shepherding the flock, and the shepherds will no longer shepherd themselves. And I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and they will not be food for them.

11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold me, me, I will seek my flock, and I will attend to them. 12 Like the attending of a shepherd of his flock in the day of his being in the midst of his scattered flock, thus I will attend to my flock. And I will deliver them from all of the places which they were scattered there in a day of cloud and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the lands, and I will bring them to their land. And I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and in all of the dwelling places of the land. 14 In a good pasture I will shepherd them, and on the mountains of the height of Israel their habitation will be. There they will lie down in a good habitation, and a fat pasture they will graze among the mountains of Israel. 15 I, I will shepherd my flock, and I, I will make them lie down—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 16 The perishing one I will search for, and the one driven away I will bring back, and the broken one I will bind up, and the sick one I will strengthen. But the fat one and the strong one I will destroy. I will shepherd it with justice.

17 And you, my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold me, judging between a sheep and a sheep, between the rams and the male goats. 18 Is it too little for you, that you graze the good pasture, and the rest of your pastures you trample with your feet, and you drink the settled waters, and the remaining ones with your feet you muddy? 19 And my flock, the trampling of your feet they graze, and the muddying of your feet they drink.

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold me, me, I will judge between a fat sheep and between a lean sheep, 21 because with side and with shoulder you push, and with your horns you gore all of the weak ones, until you have scattered them to the outside. 22 And I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plunder, and I will judge between a sheep and a sheep. 23 And I will raise up over them one shepherd—and he will shepherd them—my servant David. He, he will shepherd them, and he, he will be the shepherd to them. 24 And I, Yahweh, will be God to them, and my servant David, will be a prince in their midst. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

25 And I will cut for them a covenant of peace, and I will cause the harmful living thing to cease from the land. And they will dwell in the wilderness in security, and they will sleep in the forests. 26 And I will make them and the surroundings of my hill a blessing, and I will bring down the rain in its time. Rains of blessing they will be. 27 And the tree of the field will give its fruit, and the land will give its produce, and they will be on their land in security. And they will know that I am Yahweh in my breaking of the bars of their yoke and I will deliver them from the hand of the ones enslaving on them. 28 And they will no longer be plunder for the nations, and the living thing of the land will not eat them. And they will dwell in security, and there will be no one making them afraid. 29 And I will raise up for them a planting for a name, and they will no longer be gathered ones of famine in the land, and they will no longer bear the humiliation of the nations. 30 And they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and they, are my people, the house of Israel—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 31 And you are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are man. I am your God—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

35 And the word of Yahweh was to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it. 3 And you shall say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold me against you, Mount Seir! And I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a wasteland. 4 Your cities I will make a ruin, and you, you will be a desolation. And you will know that I am Yahweh. 5 Because of there being to you an everlasting hostility, and you poured out the sons of Israel onto the hands of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end—6 therefore, by my life—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—that I will make you for blood, and blood will pursue you. If you did not hate blood, but blood will pursue you. 7 And I will make Mount Seir a desolation and a desolation, and I will cut off from it the one crossing over and the one returning. 8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain ones. Your hills and your valleys and all your streams—the slain of the sword will fall in them. 9 Everlasting desolations I will make you, and your cities will not be inhabited. [fn] And you will know that I am Yahweh. 10 Because of your saying, “The two nations and the two lands, to me they will belong, and we will possess it,” and Yahweh was there—11 therefore, by my life—the declaration of the Lord Yahweh—I will act according to your nose and according to your jealousy that you did out of your hatreds against them. And I will make myself known among them just as I judge you. 12 And you will know that I am Yahweh. I have heard all your blasphemies that you said against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate; to us they have been given for food.” 13 And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and you multiplied your words against me. I, I have heard.

14 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Like the rejoicing of all the earth, a desolation I will make for you. 15 Like your rejoicing over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, thus I will do to you. A desolation you will be, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. And they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and you will say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh! 2 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, “Aha!” and, “The high places of eternity have become to us as a possession” ’—3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, indeed because, of desolating and trampling you from all around, for your being a possession to the remnant of the nations, and you were taken up on the lip of the tongue and the evil report of a people, 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the channels and to the valleys, and to the desolate ruins and to the forsaken cities that have become plunder and scorn to the remnant of the nations that are all around—5 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations and against Edom, all of it, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with the joy of all the heart, with contempt in the soul, for the sake of its pastureland, for plunder.’ 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the channels and to the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, in my jealousy and in my wrath I have spoken, because you have borne the humiliation of nations. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I, I have lifted up my hand. Surely the nations that are around you, they, they will bear their humiliation.

8 But you, mountains of Israel, you will give your branch, and you will bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they have drawn near to come. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be worked and you will be sown. 10 And I will multiply man on you, all the house of Israel, all of it. And the cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be built. 11 And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they will multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to dwell as in your former times, and I will do good more than in your beginnings. And you will know that I am Yahweh. 12 And I will cause man to walk on you, my people Israel, and they will possess you, and you will be to them as an inheritance, and you will not continue again to bereave them. 13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they are saying to you, “A devourer of man you are, and a bereaver of your nation you have been,” 14 therefore man you will not devour again, and your nation you will not bereave again— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh. 15 And I will not cause you to hear the humiliation of the nations again, and the reproach of the peoples you will not bear again, and your nation you will not cause to stumble again— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

16 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, the house of Israel was dwelling on their land, and they defiled it with their way and with their deeds. Like the uncleanness of menstruation their way was to my face. 18 And I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood that they poured out on the land, and with their idols they defiled it. 19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed among the lands. According to their way and according to their deeds I judged them. 20 And he came to the nations where they came, and they profaned my holy name, when people said of them, ‘These are the people of Yahweh, and from his land they went out.’ 21 And I had compassion on my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they came.

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Not for your sake am I acting, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you came. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, the one profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— when I am sanctified among you to their eyes. 24 And I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your land. 25 And I will sprinkle on you clean water, and you will be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give to you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put in your midst. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh. 27 And my Spirit I will put in your midst, and I will act so that you will walk in my statutes, and my judgments you will keep and do. 28 And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you will be to me as a people, and I, I will be to you as God. 29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call to the grain and I will multiply it, and I will not put famine on you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not take again the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 And you will remember your evil ways and your actions that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your faces because of your iniquities and because of your abominations.

32 Not for your sake am I acting— the declaration of the Lord Yahweh— may it be known to you. Be ashamed and be humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel! 33 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: On the day of my cleansing you from all your iniquities, then I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be built. 34 And the desolated land will be worked, in place of its being a desolation to the eyes of everyone passing by. 35 And they will say, “This desolated land has become like the garden of Eden, and the ruined and the desolated and the torn-down cities are fortified; they are inhabited.” 36 And the nations that are left around you will know that I, Yahweh, have built the torn-down places; I have planted the desolated place. I, Yahweh, have spoken, and I will do it.

37 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Again for this I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do for them: I will multiply them like a flock of man. 38 Like the flock of holy things, like the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed times, thus the ruined cities will be full of a flock of man. And they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

37 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 And he made me pass over them all around, all around, and behold, they were very many upon the face of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, will these bones live?” And I said, “Lord Yahweh, you, you know.” 4 And he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: “Behold, I am bringing breath into you, and you will live. 6 And I will put sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you, and I will spread skin over you, and I will put breath in you, and you will live. And you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” 7 And I prophesied just as I was commanded. And there was a sound as I prophesied, and behold, a rattling! And the bones drew near, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were upon them, and flesh came up, and skin spread over them from above, but there was no breath in them. 9 And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath! Prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “From the four winds come, breath, and breathe into these killed ones, and may they live.” ’ ” 10 And I prophesied just as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, a very, very great army.

11 And he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Behold, they are saying, ‘Our bones have dried up, and our hope has perished. We are cut off to ourselves.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 And you will know that I am Yahweh when I open your graves and when I bring you up from your graves, my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will set you upon your land. And you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken and I have done it” ’ ”— the declaration of Yahweh.

15 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions.’ And take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 And bring them near, one to another, for yourself, into one stick, and they will be as one in your hand. 18 And when the sons of your people say to you, saying, ‘Will you not tell us what these are to you?’ 19 speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them upon it, with the stick of Judah, and I will make them into one stick, and they will be one in my hand.” ’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am taking the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from all around, and I will bring them to their land. 22 And I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be for all of them as king. And they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols and with their detestable things and with all their transgressions. And I will save them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. And they will be to me as a people, and I, I will be to them as God. 24 And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them. And they will walk in my judgments, and they will keep my statutes and do them. 25 And they will dwell upon the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt. And they will dwell upon it, they and their sons and the sons of their sons, forever. And David my servant will be prince to them forever. 26 And I will cut for them a covenant of peace; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and I will multiply them, and I will put my sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 And my dwelling place will be over them, and I will be to them as God, and they, they will be to me as a people. 28 And the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the one making Israel holy, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.” ’ ”

38 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and prophesy against him. 3 Say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 So I will turn you around and set hooks in your jaw; I will send you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them dressed in full armor, a great company with large shields and small shields, all of them holding swords! 5 Persia, Cush, and Libya are with them, all of them with shields and helmets! 6 Gomer and all her troops, and Beth Togarmah, from the far parts of the north, and all its troops! Many peoples are with you!

7 Get ready! Yes, prepare yourself and your troops assembled with you, and be their commander. 8 You will be called after many days, and after some years you will go to a land that has recovered from the sword and that has been gathered from many peoples, gathered back to the mountains of Israel that had been a continuous ruin. But the land’s people will be brought out of the peoples, and they will live in safety, all of them! 9 So you will go up as a storm goes; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, all the many soldiers with you.

10 The Lord Yahweh says this: It will happen on that day that plans will form in your heart, and you will devise wicked schemes.’ 11 Then you will say, ‘I will go up to the open land; I will go to the quiet people living in safety, all of them living where there are no walls or bars, and where there are no city gates. 12 I will capture booty and steal plunder, in order to bring my hand against the ruins that are newly inhabited, and against the people gathered from the nations, people who are gaining livestock and property, and who are living at the center of the earth.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan, and the traders of Tarshish along with all its young warriors will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you assembled your armies to take away spoil, to carry off silver and gold, to take their livestock and property and to haul away much plunder?’

14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: On that day, when my people Israel are living securely, will you not learn about them? 15 You will come from your place far away in the north with a great army, all of them riding on horses, a great company, a large army. 16 You will attack my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, so the nations might know me when I show myself through you, Gog, to be holy before their eyes.

17 The Lord Yahweh says this: Are you not the one of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in their own time for years that I would bring you against them? 18 So it will come to be in that day when Gog attacks the land of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—my wrath will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal and in the fire of my anger, I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 They will shake before me—the fish of the sea and the birds of the skies, the beasts of the fields, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and every person who is on the surface of the land. The mountains will be thrown down and the cliffs will fall, until every wall falls to the earth. 21 I will summon a sword against him on all my mountains—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—each man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 Then I will judge him by plague and blood; and overflowing rain and hailstones and burning sulfur I will rain down upon him and his troops and the many nations that are with him. 23 For I will show my greatness and my holiness and I will make myself known in the eyes of the many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

39 “Now you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you, Gog, chief of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you and lead you on; I will bring you up from the far north and bring you to the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock your bow out of your left hand and make the arrows fall from your right hand. 4 You will fall on the mountains of Israel—you and all your troops and the soldiers who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey and the wild beasts of the fields for food. 5 You will fall on the open field, for I myself declare it—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 6 Then I will send out fire on Magog and on those living in safety on the coasts, and they will know that I am Yahweh. 7 For I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will no longer allow my holy name to be profaned; the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold! The day is coming, and it will take place—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 9 The ones living in the cities of Israel will go out and they will use weapons to kindle and make fires and burn them—small shields, large shields, bows, arrows, the clubs and spears; they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They will not gather wood from the fields or cut down trees from the forests, since they will burn the weapons; they will take from those who wanted to take from them; they will plunder those who wanted to plunder them—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

11 Then it will happen on that day that I will make a place there for Gog—a grave in Israel, a valley for those who journey to the east of the sea. It will block those who wish to cross over. There they will bury Gog with all his multitudes. They will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will bury them in order to purify the land. 13 For all the people of the land will bury them; it will be a memorable day for them when I am glorified—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 14 Then they will designate men to continually go through the land, to find those who were traveling through, but who died and their bodies remained on the surface of the land, so that they may bury them, in order to cleanse the land. At the end of the seventh month they will begin their search. 15 As these men pass through the land, when they see any human bone, they will put a marker by it, until gravediggers come and bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 There will be a city there by the name of Hamonah. In this way they will purify the land.

17 Now to you, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says this: Say to all the winged birds and all the wild beasts in the fields, ‘Gather together and come. Gather from all around to the sacrifice that I myself am making for you, a large sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, so that you may consume flesh and drink blood. 18 You will consume the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; they will be rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, they were all fattened in Bashan. 19 Then you will eat fat to your satisfaction; you will drink blood until drunkenness; this will be the sacrifice that I will slaughter for you. 20 You will be satisfied at my table with horse, chariot, warrior, and every man of war—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.’

21 I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see my judgment that I perform and my hand that I have set against them. 22 The house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God from that day onward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into captivity because of their iniquity by which they betrayed me, so I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries so that all of them fell by the sword. 24 I did to them according to their uncleanness and their sins, when I hid my face from them.

25 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have compassion on all the house of Israel, when I act with zeal for my holy name. 26 Then they will bear their shame and all the treason in which they betrayed me. They will forget all this when they rest in their land in safety, with no one to terrify them. 27 When I restore them from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, I will show myself to be holy in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God, for I sent them into captivity among the nations, but then I will gather them back to their land. I will not leave any of them among the nations. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

40 In year 25 of our exile in the head of the year on the tenth of the month, in year 14 after the city was struck, on this same day, the hand of Yahweh was upon me and he brought me there. 2 In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and he made me rest to a very high mountain, and upon it from the south, was like a structure of a city. 3 And he brought me there, and behold, a man! His appearance, was like the appearance of bronze, and a cord of linen, was in his hand and the reed of the measurement, and he was standing in the gate. 4 And the man spoke to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and with your ears hear, and set your heart to all that I am making you see, for in order to make you see you were brought here. Declare all that you are seeing to the house of Israel.”

5 And behold, a wall from outside to the house around, around. And in the hand of the man the reed of the measurement, was six cubits in the cubit and a handbreadth. And he measured the width of the structure, one reed, and the height, one reed. 6 And he went to a gate whose face, was the way to the east, and he went up its steps. And he measured the sill of the gate[fn] , one reed, in width, and one sill, one reed, in width. 7 And the recess, was one reed, in length and one reed, in width, and between the recesses, were five cubits. And the sill of the gate from beside the porch of the gate from the house, was one reed. 8 And he measured the porch of the gate from the house, one reed. 9 And he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits, and its jambs, were two cubits, and the porch of the gate, was from the house. 10 And the recesses of the gate, the way of the east, were three from here and three from there, one measurement for their three, and one measurement for the jambs from here and from there. 11 And he measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits. The length of the gate: thirteen cubits. 12 And a border to the face of the recesses, one cubit, and one cubit a border from here. And the recess, six cubits from here and six cubits from there. 13 And he measured the gate from the roof of the recess to its roof, in width 25 cubits, an opening in front of an opening. 14 And he did the jambs, 60 cubits, and to the jamb of the courtyard, the gate around, around. 15 And on the face of the gate of the entrance on to the face of the porch of the inner gate, 50 cubits. 16 And shut windows, were to the recesses and to their jambs, to the inside to the gate around, around, and thus for the porches. And windows, were around, around to the inside, and to a jam, were palm trees.

17 And he brought me to the outer courtyard, and behold, chambers and a pavement, made for the courtyard around, around. Thirty chambers, were toward the pavement. 18 And the pavement, was to the shoulder of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates: the lower pavement. 19 And he measured the width from the face of the lower gate to the face of the inner courtyard from outside, 100 cubits, the east and the north.

20 And the gate whose face, was the way of the north, to the outer courtyard, he measured its length and its width. 21 And its recesses, three from here and three from there, and its jambs and its porches were according to the measurement of the first gate: 50 cubits its length, and width 25 in the cubit. 22 And its windows and its porches and its palm trees, were according to the measurement of the gate whose face, was the way of the east. And by seven steps they would go up on it, and its porches, were to their face. 23 And a gate for the inner courtyard, was in front of the gate to the north and to the east. And he measured from a gate to a gate, 100 cubits.

24 And he led me the way of the south, and behold, the gate of the way of the south. And he measured its jambs and its porches according to these measurements. 25 And windows, were for it and for its porches around, around, according to these windows, 50 cubits, in length, and in width 25 cubits. 26 And seven steps, were its goings up, and its porches, were to their face; and palm trees, were for it, one from here and one from there, to its jambs. 27 And a gate to the inner courtyard, was the way of the south. And he measured from a gate to the gate, the way of the south, 100 cubits.

28 And he brought me to the inner courtyard by the gate of the south. And he measured the gate of the south like these measurements. 29 And its guardrooms and its jambs and its vestibules were like these measurements. And windows were to it and to its vestibules all around, all around: 50 cubits, was the length, and the width, was 25 cubits. 30 And vestibules were all around, all around: the length, was 25 cubits, and the width, was five cubits. 31 And its vestibules were toward the outer courtyard, and palm trees were toward its jambs; and eight steps, were its ascent.

32 And he brought me to the inner courtyard, the way of the east. And he measured the gate like these measurements. 33 And its guardrooms and its jambs and its vestibules were like these measurements. And windows were to it and to its vestibules all around, all around: the length, was 50 cubits, and the width, was 25 cubits. 34 And its vestibules were toward the outer courtyard, and palm trees were toward its jambs from here and from here; and eight steps, were its ascent.

35 And he brought me to the gate of the north, and he measured it like these measurements—36 its guardrooms, its jambs, and its vestibules. And windows, were to it all around, all around: the length, was 50 cubits, and the width, was 25 cubits. 37 And its jambs were toward the outer courtyard, and palm trees were toward its jambs from here and from here; and eight steps, were its ascent.

38 And a chamber and its entrance were by the jambs of the gates; there they rinse the burnt offering. 39 And in the porch of the gate were two tables from here and two tables from here, to slaughter on them the burnt offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering. 40 And at the shoulder on the outside, for the one going up to the entrance of the gate northward, were two tables; and at the other shoulder that was for the porch of the gate, were two tables. 41 Four tables were from here and four tables were from here at the shoulder of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughter. 42 And four tables for the burnt offering were of stones of cut stone: the length, was one cubit and a half, and the width, was one cubit and a half, and the height, was one cubit. And on them they lay the vessels with which they slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice. 43 And the hooks, one handbreadth, were fixed in the house all around, all around; and on the tables, was the flesh of the offering.

44 And on the outside of the inner gate, were chambers of singers in the inner courtyard, which was at the shoulder of the gate of the north, and their faces were the way of the south; one was at the shoulder of the gate of the east, with the face of the way of the north. 45 And he spoke to me, “This chamber whose face is the way of the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the watch of the house. 46 And the chamber whose face is the way of the north, is for the priests, the keepers of the watch of the altar. They are the sons of Zadok, the ones near from the sons of Levi to Yahweh, to serve him.” 47 And he measured the courtyard: the length, was 100 cubits, and the width, was 100 cubits, squared. And the altar was to the face of the house.

48 And he brought me to the porch of the house, and he measured the jamb of the porch, five cubits from here and five cubits from here. And the width of the gate was three cubits from here and three cubits from here. 49 The length of the porch, was 20 cubits, and the width, was 11 cubits, and by the steps by which they would go up to it. And pillars were by the jambs, one from here and one from here.

41 And he brought me to the nave, and he measured the jambs, six cubits, was the width from here and six cubits, was the width from here— the width of the tent. 2 And the width of the entrance, was ten cubits, and the shoulders of the entrance, were five cubits from here and five cubits from here. And he measured its length, 40 cubits; and the width, 20 cubits. 3 And he went to the inside, and he measured the jamb of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, was six cubits, and the width of the entrance, was seven cubits. 4 And he measured its length, 20 cubits; and the width, 20 cubits, to the face of the nave. And he said to me, “This, is the Holy of Holies.”

5 And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the width of the side room, was four cubits all around, all around the house, all around. 6 And the side rooms, were side room to side room, 33 times; and they were entering into the wall that, was for the house, for the side rooms all around, all around, so as to be held, but they would not be held in the wall of the house. 7 And it widened and wound around upward, upward for the side rooms, for the winding of the house went upward, upward all around, all around the house. Therefore the width for the house increased upward. And thus, one would go up from the lowest to the highest by the middle. 8 And I saw for the house a height all around, all around. The foundations of the side rooms, were the fullness of the reed, six cubits to the joint. 9 The width of the wall that, was for the side room to the outside, was five cubits. And what was left, was the house of the side rooms that, was for the house. 10 And between the chambers, was a width of 20 cubits all around the house, all around, all around. 11 And the entrance of the side room, was toward what was left: one entrance, was the way of the north, and one entrance, was to the south. And the width of the place of what was left, was five cubits all around, all around.

12 And the building that, was to the face of the separated area, on the side of the way of the sea, was a width of 70 cubits. And the wall of the building, was five cubits in width all around, all around, and its length, was 90 cubits. 13 And he measured the house, a length of 100 cubits. And the separated area and the structure and its walls, were a length of 100 cubits. 14 And the width of the face of the house and the separated area toward the east, was 100 cubits.

15 And he measured the length of the building to the face of the separated area that was behind it, and its galleries from here and from here, 100 cubits; and the inner nave and the porches of the courtyard, 16 the thresholds and the narrowed windows and the galleries all around for the three of them. Opposite the threshold, was a paneling of wood all around, all around, and the ground up to the windows; and the windows, were covered. 17 To above the entrance and up to the inner house and to the outside, and to all of the wall all around, all around, on the inside and on the outside, there were measurements. 18 And it was made, with cherubim and palm trees, and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and two faces were to the cherub. 19 And the face of a man was toward the palm tree from here, and the face of a young lion was toward the palm tree from here. It was made for all of the house all around, all around. 20 From the ground to above the entrance the cherubim and the palm trees, were made, and on the wall of the nave.

21 The nave, the doorpost, was squared. And the face of the Holy Place, the appearance was like the appearance. 22 The altar of wood, was three cubits high, and its length was two cubits. And its corners were to it, and its length and its walls were of wood. And he spoke to me, “This, is the table that, is to the face of Yahweh.” 23 And two doors were for the nave and for the Holy Place. 24 And two doors were for the doors, two turning doors: two for the one door and two doors for the other. 25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the nave, cherubim and palm trees, just as, they were made for the walls. And a roof of wood was to the face of the porch from the outside. 26 And narrowed windows and palm trees were from here and from here, toward the shoulders of the porch, and the side rooms of the house and the roofs.

42 Next the man sent me out to the outer courtyard on the north side, and he brought me to rooms in front of the outer courtyard and the northern outer wall. 2 Those rooms were one hundred cubits along their front and fifty cubits in width. 3 Some of those rooms faced the inner courtyard and were twenty cubits away from the sanctuary. There were three levels of rooms, and the ones above looked down on the ones below and were open to them, having a walkway. Some of the rooms looked out onto the outer courtyard. 4 A passage ten cubits in width and one hundred cubits in length ran in front of the rooms. The rooms’ doors were toward the north.[fn] 5 But the upper halls were smaller, for the walkways took away from them more space than they did in the lowest and middle levels of the building. 6 For the halls on the third story had no columns, unlike the courtyards, which did have columns. So the highest level’s rooms were smaller in size compared to the rooms in the lowest and middle levels. 7 The outside wall ran along the rooms toward the outer courtyard, the courtyard that was in front of the rooms. That wall was fifty cubits in length. 8 The length of the rooms of the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, and the rooms facing the sanctuary were one hundred cubits in length. 9 There was an entrance to the lowest rooms from the east side, coming from the outer courtyard.

10 Along the wall of the outer courtyard on the eastern side of the outer courtyard, in front of the sanctuary’s inner courtyard, there were also rooms[fn] 11 with a walkway in front of them. They were as the appearance of the rooms on the northern side. They had the same length and breadth and the same exits and arrangements and doors. 12 On the south side were doors into rooms that were just the same as on the north side. A passage on the inside had a door at its head, and the passage opened into the various rooms. On the east side there was a doorway into the passage at one end.

13 Then the man said to me, “The northern rooms and the southern rooms that are in front of the outer courtyard are holy rooms where the priests who work nearest to Yahweh may eat the most holy food. They will put the most holy things there—the food offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering—for this is a holy place. 14 When the priests enter there, they must not go out of the holy place to the outer court, without laying aside the clothes in which they served, since these are holy. So they must dress in other clothes before going near the people.”

15 The man completed measuring the inner house and then took me out to the gate that faced the east and measured all the surrounding area there. 16 He measured the east side with a measuring stick—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick.[fn] 17 He measured the north side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick.[fn] 18 He also measured the south side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick.[fn] 19 He also turned and measured the west side—five hundred cubits with the measuring stick.[fn] 20 He measured it on four sides. It had a wall around it that was five hundred cubits in length, and five hundred cubits in width, to separate the holy from that which is common.

43 The man then brought me to the gate that opened to the east. 2 Behold! The glory of the God of Israel came from the east; his voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 3 It was according to the appearance of the vision that I saw, according to the vision that I saw when he had come[fn] to destroy the city, and the visions were like the vision that I saw at the Kebar Canal—and I fell to my face. 4 So the glory of Yahweh came to the house by way of the gate that opened to the east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court. Behold! The glory of Yahweh was filling the house.

6 The man was standing beside me, and I heard someone else speaking to me from the house. 7 He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live in the midst of the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer profane my holy name—they or their kings—with their faithlessness or with the corpses of their kings at their high places. 8 They will no longer profane my holy name by putting their threshold next to my threshold, and their gateposts next to my gateposts, with nothing but a wall between me and them. They profaned my holy name with their disgusting actions, so I consumed them with my anger. 9 Now let them remove their faithlessness and the corpses of their kings from before me, and I will live in their midst forever.

10 Son of man, you yourself must tell the house of Israel about this house so they will be ashamed of their iniquities. They should think about this description. 11 For if they are ashamed of all that they have done, then reveal to them the design of the house, its details, its exits, its entrances, and all its designs, all its decrees and rules. Then write this down before their eyes so they will keep to all its design and all its rules, so as to obey them. 12 This is the regulation for the house: From the peak of the hill to all the surrounding border around it, it will be most holy. Behold! This is the regulation for the house.

13 These will be the measurements of the altar in cubits—that cubit being a regular cubit and a handbreadth in length. So the gutter around the altar will be a cubit deep, and its width will also be a cubit. The border around its surrounding edge will be one span. This will be the base of the altar. 14 From the gutter at the ground level up to the lower ledge of the altar is two cubits, and that ledge itself is one cubit in width. Then from the small ledge up to the large edge of the altar, it is four cubits, and the large edge is a cubit in width. 15 The hearth on the altar for the burnt offerings is four cubits high, and there are four horns pointing upward on the hearth. 16 The hearth is twelve cubits in length and twelve cubits in width, a square. 17 Its border is fourteen cubits in length and fourteen cubits in width on each of its four sides, and its rim is a half cubit in width. The gutter is a cubit in width all around with its steps facing east.”

18 Next he said to me, “Son of man, the Lord Yahweh says this: These are the regulations for the altar on the day they make it, for raising the burnt offering onto it, and for sprinkling blood on it. 19 You will give a bull from the cattle as a sin offering for the Levitical priests who are the descendants of Zadok, those who come near to me to serve me—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 20 Then you will take some of its blood and place it on the altar’s four horns and the four sides of its edge and on the surrounding rim; you will cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 Then take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside of the sanctuary. 22 Then on the second day you will offer a male goat without blemish from the goats as a sin offering; the priests will cleanse the altar just as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you finish its cleansing, offer an unblemished bull from the cattle and an unblemished ram from the flock. 24 Offer them before Yahweh; the priests will throw salt onto them and raise them up as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 25 You must prepare a male goat as a sin offering daily for seven days, and the priests must also prepare an unblemished bull of the cattle and unblemished ram from the flock. 26 They must atone for the altar for seven days and purify it, and in this way they must consecrate it. 27 They must complete these days, and on the eighth day and onward it will come about that the priests will prepare your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar, and I will accept you—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer sanctuary gate that faced east; it was closed tightly. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate has been sealed shut; it will not be opened. No man will go through it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has come through it, so it has been closed tightly. 3 The ruler of Israel will sit in it to eat food before Yahweh. He will enter by way of the gate’s portico and go out the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by way of the northern gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I fell to my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, set your heart and look with your eyes and listen with your ears to all that I am declaring to you, to all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and all its regulations. Think about the house’s entrance and exits. 6 Then say to the rebellious ones, the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this: Let all of your disgusting actions be enough for you, house of Israel—7 that you brought foreigners with uncircumcised hearts and uncircumcised flesh to be in my sanctuary, profaning my house, while you were offering me food, fat and blood—you have broken my covenant by all your disgusting actions. 8 You have not carried out your duties regarding my holy things, but you appointed others to take up your duties, and you assigned them to care for my holy place. 9 The Lord Yahweh says this: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, from any of those who live among the people of Israel, may enter my holy place. 10 Yet the Levites went far from me—they wandered away from me, going after their idols—but they will pay for their sin. 11 They are servants in my sanctuary, watching the gates of the house and serving in the house and they slaughter the burnt offerings and the people’s sacrifices, and they will stand before the people and serve them. 12 But because they performed the sacrifices before their idols, they became stumbling blocks for sin for the house of Israel. Therefore I will lift up my hand to swear an oath against them—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration—they will bear their punishment. 13 They will not come near me to act as my priests or to approach any of my holy things, the most holy things. Instead, they will bear their reproach and their guilt for the disgusting actions that they have done. 14 But I will place them as keepers of the work in the house, for all of its duties and everything that is done in it.

15 Then the Levitical priests, those sons of Zadok who fulfilled the duties of my sanctuary when the people of Israel were wandering away from me—they will come near me to worship me. They will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 16 They will come to my sanctuary; they will approach my table to worship me and to fulfill their duties to me. 17 So it will be that when they come to the gates of the inner courtyard, they will have to dress in linen clothes, for they must not come in wool inside the gates of the courtyard and its house. 18 There should be linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their hips. They must not dress in clothes that make them sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer courtyard in order to go to the people, they must take off the clothes they wore when they served; they must take them off and lay them down in a holy room, so they do not make other people holy by contact with their special clothing. 20 Also they must neither shave their heads nor allow their hair to hang loosely, but they must trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest may drink wine when he comes to the inner court, 22 nor take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife for himself, but only a virgin from the line of the house of Israel or a widow who was previously married to a priest. 23 For they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane; they will make them know the unclean from the clean. 24 In a dispute they will stand to judge with my decrees; they must be just. They will keep my law and my statutes in every feast, and they will celebrate my holy Sabbaths. 25 They must not defile themselves by going near to a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then they may defile themselves. 26 After a priest has become unclean, they will count off a period of seven days for him. 27 On the day he enters the holy place, into the inner courtyard to serve in the holy place, he must bring a sin offering for himself—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.

28 This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I will be their property! 29 They will eat the food offerings, the sin offerings, the guilt offerings, and everything devoted to Yahweh in Israel, will be theirs. 30 The best of the firstfruits of all things and every contribution, anything from all of your contributions will belong to the priests, and you will give the first of your dough to the priests so that blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests will not eat any carcass or animal torn by a beast, whether bird or beast.

45 When you cast lots to divide up the land as an inheritance, you must make an offering to Yahweh; this offering will be a holy part of the land, twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand cubits in width. It will be holy, all its area round about.[fn] 2 From this there will be a five hundred cubits by five hundred cubits square surrounding the holy place, with a surrounding border fifty cubits in width. 3 From this area you will measure a portion that is twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width; it will be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4 It will be a holy place in the land for the priests who serve Yahweh, who come near Yahweh to serve him. It will be a place for their houses and a holy area for the holy place. 5 So it will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width, and it will be for towns for the Levites who serve in the house. 6 You will designate an area for the city, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand in length, that will be next to the area reserved for the holy place; this city will belong to all the house of Israel. 7 The prince’s land will be on both sides of the area reserved for the holy place and the city. It will be to their west and to their east. The length will correspond to the length of one of those portions, from the west to the east. 8 This land will be property for the prince in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people; instead, they will give the land to the house of Israel, for their tribes.

9 The Lord Yahweh says this: It is enough for you, princes of Israel! Remove violence and strife; do justice and righteousness! Quit your evictions of my people!—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 10 You must have accurate scales, accurate ephahs, and accurate baths! 11 The ephah and the bath will be the same amount, so that a bath will be a tenth of a homer; the ephah will be a tenth of a homer. Their measure will be corresponding to the homer. 12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs; sixty shekels will make a mina for you.

13 This is the contribution that you must present: A sixth of an ephah for every homer of wheat, and you will give a sixth of an ephah for every homer of barley. 14 The regulation offering of oil will be a tenth of a bath for every cor (which is ten baths), or for every homer, since a homer is also ten baths. 15 One sheep or goat from the flock for every two hundred animals from the watered regions of Israel will be used for any burnt offering or peace offering to make atonement for the people—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration. 16 All the people of the land will give this contribution to the prince in Israel. 17 It will be the prince’s responsibility to furnish animals for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings at the festivals and the new moon celebrations, and on the Sabbath days—all the fixed festivals of the house of Israel. He will provide for the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings for atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 The Lord Yahweh says this: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take an unblemished bull from the herd and perform a sin offering for the sanctuary. 19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorposts of the house and on the four corners of the border of the altar, and on the doorposts of the gate to the inner court. 20 You will do this on the seventh of the month for each person’s sin by accident or ignorance; in this way you will atone for the temple.

21 In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month, there will be for you a festival, a seven-day festival. You will eat unleavened bread. 22 On that day, the prince will prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull as a sin offering. 23 For the seven days of the festival, the prince will prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh: Seven bulls and seven unblemished rams each day for seven days, and a male goat each day as a sin offering. 24 Then the prince will perform a food offering of an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram with a hin of oil for each ephah. 25 In the seventh month on the fifteenth day of the month, at the festival, the prince will perform offerings on these seven days: Sin offerings, burnt offerings, food offerings, and offerings of oil.

46 The Lord Yahweh says this: The gate of the inner courtyard, facing east, will be shut for the six days of work, but on the Sabbath it will be opened, and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. 2 The prince will enter the outer courtyard by the way of the gate and its portico from outside, and he will stand before the doorposts of the inner gate while the priests perform his burnt offering and peace offering. Then he will worship at the threshold of the inner gate and go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening. 3 The people of the land will also worship before Yahweh at the entrance to this gate on the Sabbaths and new moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to Yahweh on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram. 5 The grain offering with the ram will be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs will be what he wishes to give, and a hin of oil with each ephah of grain.

6 On the day of the new moon he must offer an unblemished bull from a herd, six lambs, and an unblemished ram. 7 He must make a grain offering of an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and what he wishes to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah of grain. 8 When the prince enters by the way of the gate and its portico, he must leave by the same way.

9 But when the people of the land come before Yahweh at the appointed festivals, anyone entering through the north gate to worship must leave through the south gate; and anyone entering through the south gate must leave through the north gate. No one may turn back to the gate through which he entered, for he must go out straight ahead. 10 The prince must be in their midst; when they go in, he must go in, and when they leave, he must leave. 11 At the festivals, the grain offering must be an ephah of grain for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and whatever he wishes to give with the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah. 12 When the prince gives a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or a peace offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east will be opened for him. He will offer his burnt offering or his peace offering as he does it on the Sabbath day. Then he must go out, and after he has gone out the gate will be shut.

13 In addition, you will give an unblemished lamb one year old as a burnt offering to Yahweh daily; you will do this morning after morning. 14 You will give a grain offering with it morning after morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour of the grain offering for Yahweh, according to a permanent statute. 15 They will prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil morning after morning, a permanent burnt offering.

16 The Lord Yahweh says this: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It will be the property of his sons, it is an inheritance. 17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it will be that servant’s until the year of liberty, and then it will return to the prince. His inheritance will certainly be for his sons. 18 The prince will not take the people’s inheritance away from their own property; he must provide for his sons from his own property so that my people will not be scattered, each man from his own property.’ ”

19 Next the man brought me through the entrance at the gate to the holy rooms for the priests, which faced north and behold! There was a place toward the west. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they must bake the grain offering. They must not bring the offerings into the outer courtyard, for then the people would be consecrated.” 21 Then he brought me to the outer courtyard and he led me past the four corners of that courtyard, and I saw that in every corner of the courtyard there was a another court. 22 In the four corners of the outer courtyard there were four small courtyards, forty cubits in length and thirty in width. There were the same dimensions for all four of the courtyards.[fn] 23 There was a row made of stone all around the four of them, and cooking hearths were under the stone row. 24 The man said to me, “These are the places where the temple servants will boil the people’s sacrifices.”

47 Then the man took me back to the entrance to the temple, and there was water flowing out from under the temple threshold of the house toward the east—for the front of the temple faced east—and the water was flowing down the south side of the temple, to the right of the altar. 2 So he brought me out through the northern gate and led me around to the gate facing east, and there the water was flowing from this gate on its south side.

3 As the man was going toward the east, there was a measuring line in his hand; he measured off one thousand cubits and brought me through the water to ankle-deep water. 4 Then he measured one thousand cubits again and brought me through the water to knee-deep water; and he measured another thousand cubits and brought me to hip-deep water. 5 Next he measured off another thousand cubits, but it was a river that I could not cross through because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—it was a river that could not be crossed.

6 The man said to me, “Son of man, do you see this?” and he brought me out and had me walk back along the riverbank. 7 As I walked back, there the riverbank had many trees on this side and also the other side. 8 The man said to me, “This water is going out to the eastern territory and down to the Arabah; this water flows into the Salt Sea and will make it fresh. 9 It will be that every living creature that swarms will live where the water goes; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will make the salt water fresh. Everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 Then it will happen that fishermen of En Gedi will stand by the water, and there will be a place to dry out the fishing nets by En Eglaim. There will be many kinds of fish in the Salt Sea, like the fish in the Great Sea for their abundance. 11 But the Salt Sea’s swamps and marshes will not be made fresh; they will be for providing salt. 12 Beside this river on its banks, on both sides, all kinds of trees will grow that bear food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will never fail to grow. Each month the trees will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves will be for healing.

13 The Lord Yahweh says this: This will be the way that you divide the land up for the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph will have two portions. 14 You are to divide equally what I lifted up my hand and swore to give to your fathers. This land will come to you as an inheritance.

15 This will be the boundary of the land on the north side from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon, and then to Zedad.[fn] 16 Then the boundary will go to Berothah, to Sibraim, which is between Damascus and Hamath, and then to Hazer Hattikon, which is beside the boundary of Hauran. 17 So the boundary will go from the sea to Hazar Enan on the border with Damascus and Hamath to the north. This will be the north side. 18 On the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan River between Gilead and the land of Israel. You will measure from the border to the eastern sea. This will be the eastern border.[fn] 19 Then on the south side the boundary will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the boundary on the south side. 20 Then the boundary on the west side will be the Great Sea to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the west side.

21 In this way you will divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. 22 So you will distribute the inheritances for yourselves and for the foreigners in your midst, those who have given birth to children in your midst and who are, with you, like the native born people of Israel. You will cast lots for inheritances among the tribes of Israel. 23 Then it will happen that the foreigner will be with the tribe among whom he is living. You must give him an inheritance—this is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.”

48 These are the names of the tribes. The tribe of Dan will receive one portion of land; its boundary will run along the northern boundary of Israel by way of Hethlon and Lebo Hamath. Its boundary will go on to Hazar Enan and along the border with Damascus to the north and then on to Hamath. Dan’s boundary will go from east all the way to the Great Sea. 2 Adjoining the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher will have one portion. 3 Adjoining the border of Asher from the east side to the west, Naphtali will have one portion. 4 Adjoining the border of Naphtali from the east side to the west, Manasseh will have one portion. 5 Adjoining the border of Manasseh from the east side to the west, Ephraim will have one portion. 6 Adjoining the border of Ephraim from the east side to the west, Reuben will have one portion. 7 Adjoining the border of Reuben from the east side to the west, Judah will have one portion.

8 The offering of land that you will make will be along the border with Judah and extend from the east side to the west side; it will be twenty-five thousand cubits in width. Its length will correspond to one tribe’s portion from the east side to the west side, and the temple will be in the middle of it. 9 This land that you will offer up to Yahweh will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand cubits in width. 10 These will be the assignments of this holy portion of land: The priests will have land assigned to them measuring twenty-five thousand cubits in length on the north side; ten thousand cubits in width on the west side; ten thousand cubits in width on the east side; and twenty-five thousand cubits in length on the south side, with the holy place of Yahweh in the middle of it. 11 This will be for the consecration of the priests of the line of Zadok, who have served me faithfully and who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12 The offering for them will be a portion of this most holy land, extending to the border of the Levites.

13 The Levites’ land along the border with the priests’ land will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand cubits in width. The entire length of the two tracts of land will be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and twenty thousand cubits in width. 14 They must not sell it or exchange it; none of this firstfruits of the land of Israel must ever be separated from these tracts, for it all is holy to Yahweh.

15 The remaining land, five thousand cubits in width and twenty-five thousand cubits in length, will be for the collective use of the city, the houses, and the pastureland; the city will be in its midst. 16 These will be the city’s measurements: The north side will be 4,500 cubits in length; the south side will be 4,500 cubits in length; the east side will be 4,500 cubits in length; and the west side will be 4,500 cubits in length. 17 There will be pasture for the city toward the north, 250 cubits deep; to the south, 250 cubits deep; to the east, 250 cubits deep, and to the west, 250 cubits deep. 18 The remaining area of the holy offering will stretch for ten thousand cubits to the east and ten thousand cubits to the west. It will stretch along the border of the holy offering, and its produce will be food for those working in the city. 19 The people who work in the city, people belong to all the tribes of Israel, will farm that land. 20 All the land offering will measure twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits. In this way you will make the holy offering of land, together with the land for the city.

21 The rest of the land on either side of the holy offering and the city area will be for the prince. The prince’s tract of land to the east will extend for twenty-five thousand cubits from boundary of the holy offering to the eastern border—and his tract to the west will extend for twenty-five thousand cubits to the western border. In the middle will be the holy offering, and the holy place of the temple will be in its midst. 22 The land extending from the property of the Levites and the area of the city in its midst will be for the prince; it will be between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin—this land will be for the prince.

23 As for the remaining tribes, their portions will also run from the eastern side to the west side. Benjamin will receive one portion. 24 Adjoining the border of Benjamin from the east side to the west, Simeon will have one portion. 25 Adjoining the border of Simeon from the east side to the west, Issachar will have one portion. 26 Adjoining the border of Issachar from the east side to the west, Zebulun will have one portion. 27 To the south of Zebulun’s boundary, running from the east side to the west side, will be the land of Gad—one portion. 28 The southern boundary of Gad will extend from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, and farther to the brook of Egypt, and then to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land for which you will cast lots; it will be the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. These will be their portions. This is the Lord Yahweh’s declaration.

30 These will be the exits from the city: On the north side, which will measure 4,500 cubits in length, 31 will be three gates, named for tribes of Israel: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi. 32 On the east side, which will measure 4,500 cubits in length, will be three gates: one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan. 33 On the south side, which is 4,500 cubits in length, will be three gates: one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which will measure 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. 35 The distance around the city will be eighteen thousand cubits; from that day on, the city’s name will be “Yahweh Is There.”

Instead of Diblah, some ancient copies and modern versions have Riblah.

Instead of Disaster! A unique disaster! some ancient copies have Disaster after disaster

Some ancient copies and versions omit to a brother.

Instead of And he knew his widows, some ancient copies and many modern versions have And he destroyed their fortresses.

Instead of in your blood, some ancient copies and many modern versions have in your vineyard.

The written text has a rare word of uncertain meaning; the reading tradition has plunder.

The expression and stand in the land of the living is supplied by an ancient version. The Hebrew has I will place glory in the land of the living, which does not seem to fit the context here.

Instead of when I bring about your collapse among the nations, some ancient and modern versions have when I take you into captivity among the nations.

The written text has will not be inhabited; the reading tradition has will not return.

After one stick in depth, the Hebrew text reads in addition: one threshold one stick in depth”. Many modern versions, however, leave this expression out, because it seems to be a repetition of preceding text.

Some ancient versions and many modern versions read one hundred cubits. Ancient Hebrew copies and some modern versions read one cubit.

Hebrew and some modern versions read on the eastern side. However, some ancient copies and most modern versions read on the southern side.

Instead of five hundred cubits, which some ancient and most modern versions read, Hebrew reads five hundred measuring sticks, which seems to be an error.

Instead of when he had come, which some Hebrew manuscripts and some ancient and many modern versions have, the other Hebrew manuscripts have when I came.

Instead of ten thousand, which the Hebrew text and some modern versions have, some ancient copies and many modern versions have twenty thousand.

The Hebrew word translated here as small is unclear. It is translated in this way by some ancient and some modern versions. However, other modern versions translate it differently.

The Hebrew text reads by way of Hethlon, and then to Zedad, but some modern versions imitate 48:1 and add Lebo Hamath.

The Hebrew text reads You will measure from the border to the eastern sea. However, some ancient and modern versions read to the eastern sea as far as Tamar.