Bible in 90 Days
Chapter 2
The Lord’s Wrath and Zion’s Ruin[a]
1 How the Lord in his wrath
has abhorred daughter Zion,
Casting down from heaven to earth
the glory of Israel,[b]
Not remembering his footstool
on the day of his wrath!
2 The Lord has devoured without pity
all of Jacob’s dwellings;
In his fury he has razed
daughter Judah’s defenses,
Has brought to the ground in dishonor
a kingdom and its princes.
3 In blazing wrath, he cut down entirely
the horn[c] of Israel;
He withdrew the support of his right hand
when the enemy approached;
He burned against Jacob like a blazing fire
that consumes everything in its path.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy;
the arrow in his right hand
Like a foe, he killed
all those held precious;
On the tent of daughter Zion
he poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become the enemy,
he has devoured Israel:
Devoured all its strongholds,
destroyed its defenses,
Multiplied moaning and groaning
throughout daughter Judah.
6 He laid waste his booth like a garden,
destroyed his shrine;[d]
The Lord has blotted out in Zion
feast day and sabbath,
Has scorned in fierce wrath
king and priest.(A)
7 The Lord has rejected his altar,
spurned his sanctuary;
He has handed over to the enemy
the walls of its strongholds.
They shout in the house of the Lord
as on a feast day.(B)
8 The Lord was bent on destroying
the wall of daughter Zion:
He stretched out the measuring line;[e]
did not hesitate to devour,
Brought grief on rampart and wall
till both succumbed.(C)
9 Her gates sank into the ground;
he smashed her bars to bits.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
instruction is wanting,
Even her prophets do not obtain
any vision from the Lord.(D)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit silently on the ground;
They cast dust[f] on their heads
and dress in sackcloth;
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.(E)
11 My eyes are spent with tears,
my stomach churns;[g]
My bile is poured out on the ground
at the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
As children and infants collapse
in the streets of the town.(F)
12 They cry out to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
As they faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
in their mothers’ arms.
13 To what can I compare you[h]—to what can I liken you—
O daughter Jerusalem?
What example can I give in order to comfort you,
virgin daughter Zion?
For your breach is vast as the sea;
who could heal you?(G)
14 Your prophets provided you visions
of whitewashed illusion;
They did not lay bare your guilt,
in order to restore your fortunes;
They saw for you only oracles
of empty deceit.(H)
15 All who pass by on the road,
clap their hands at you;
They hiss and wag their heads
over daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city they used to call
perfect in beauty and joy of all the earth?”(I)
16 They open their mouths against you,
all your enemies;
They hiss and gnash their teeth,
saying, “We have devoured her!
How we have waited for this day—
we have lived to see it!”(J)
17 The Lord has done what he planned.
He has fulfilled the threat
Decreed from days of old,
destroying without pity!
He let the enemy gloat over you
and exalted the horn of your foes.(K)
18 Cry out to the Lord from your heart,
wall of daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Give yourself no rest,
no relief for your eyes.
19 Rise up! Wail in the night,
at the start of every watch;
Pour out your heart like water
before the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
Who collapse from hunger
at the corner of every street.[i]
20 “Look, O Lord, and pay attention:
to whom have you been so ruthless?
Must women eat their own offspring,[j]
the very children they have borne?
Are priest and prophet to be slain
in the sanctuary of the Lord?(L)
21 They lie on the ground in the streets,
young and old alike;
Both my young women and young men
are cut down by the sword;
You killed them on the day of your wrath,
slaughtered without pity.(M)
22 You summoned as to a feast day
terrors on every side;
On the day of the Lord’s wrath,
none survived or escaped.
Those I have borne and nurtured,
my enemy has utterly destroyed.”(N)
Chapter 3
The Voice of a Suffering Individual[k]
1 I am one who has known affliction
under the rod of God’s anger,(O)
2 One whom he has driven and forced to walk
in darkness, not in light;
3 Against me alone he turns his hand—
again and again all day long.
4 He has worn away my flesh and my skin,
he has broken my bones;(P)
5 He has besieged me all around
with poverty and hardship;
6 He has left me to dwell in dark places
like those long dead.(Q)
7 He has hemmed me in with no escape,
weighed me down with chains;
8 Even when I cry for help,
he stops my prayer;(R)
9 He has hemmed in my ways with fitted stones,
and made my paths crooked.
10 He has been a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding!(S)
11 He turned me aside and tore me apart,
leaving me ravaged.(T)
12 He bent his bow, and set me up
as a target for his arrow.(U)
13 He pierced my kidneys
with shafts from his quiver.(V)
14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
their taunt all day long;(W)
15 He has sated me with bitterness,
filled me with wormwood.(X)
16 He has made me eat gravel,
trampled me into the dust;
17 My life is deprived of peace,
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 My enduring hope, I said,
has perished before the Lord.
19 The thought of my wretched homelessness
is wormwood and poison;
20 Remembering it over and over,
my soul is downcast.
21 But this I will call to mind;[l]
therefore I will hope:
22 The Lord’s acts of mercy are not exhausted,
his compassion is not spent;(Y)
23 They are renewed each morning—
great is your faithfulness!
24 The Lord is my portion, I tell myself,
therefore I will hope in him.(Z)
25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him,
to the one that seeks him;(AA)
26 It is good to hope in silence
for the Lord’s deliverance.
27 It is good for a person, when young,
to bear the yoke,
28 To sit alone and in silence,
when its weight lies heavy,
29 To put one’s mouth in the dust—[m]
there may yet be hope—
30 To offer one’s cheek to be struck,
to be filled with disgrace.(AB)
31 For the Lord does not
reject forever;(AC)
32 Though he brings grief, he takes pity,
according to the abundance of his mercy;(AD)
33 He does not willingly afflict
or bring grief to human beings.(AE)
34 That someone tramples underfoot
all the prisoners in the land,
35 Or denies justice to anyone
in the very sight of the Most High,
36 Or subverts a person’s lawsuit—
does the Lord not see?
37 Who speaks so that it comes to pass,
unless the Lord commands it?
38 Is it not at the word of the Most High
that both good and bad take place?(AF)
39 What should the living complain about?
about their sins!
40 [n]Let us search and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!(AG)
41 Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands
toward God in heaven!
42 We have rebelled and been obstinate;
you have not forgiven us.
43 You wrapped yourself in wrath and pursued us,
killing without pity;(AH)
44 You wrapped yourself in a cloud,
which no prayer could pierce.
45 You have made us filth and rubbish
among the peoples.(AI)
46 They have opened their mouths against us,
all our enemies;
47 Panic and the pit have been our lot,
desolation and destruction;(AJ)
48 [o]My eyes stream with tears over the destruction
of the daughter of my people.(AK)
49 My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without rest,
50 Until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees.
51 I am tormented by the sight
of all the daughters of my city.
52 Without cause, my enemies snared me
as though I were a bird;
53 They tried to end my life in the pit,
pelting me with stones.
54 The waters flowed over my head:
and I said, “I am lost!”(AL)
55 I have called upon your name, O Lord,(AM)
from the bottom of the pit;
56 You heard me call, “Do not let your ear be deaf
to my cry for help.”
57 You drew near on the day I called you;
you said, “Do not fear!”
58 You pleaded my case, Lord,
you redeemed my life.
59 You see, Lord, how I am wronged;
do me justice!(AN)
60 You see all their vindictiveness,
all their plots against me.
61 You hear their reproach, Lord,
all their plots against me,
62 The whispered murmurings of my adversaries,
against me all day long;
63 Look! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the butt of their taunt.
64 Give them what they deserve, Lord,
according to their deeds;
65 Give them hardness of heart;
your curse be upon them;(AO)
66 Pursue them in wrath and destroy them
from under the Lord’s heaven!
Chapter 4
Miseries of the Besieged City[p]
1 How the gold has lost its luster,
the noble metal changed;
Jewels[q] lie scattered
at the corner of every street.
2 And Zion’s precious children,
worth their weight in gold—
How they are treated like clay jugs,
the work of any potter!(AP)
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is as cruel
as the ostrich[r] in the wilderness.(AQ)
4 The tongue of the infant cleaves
to the roof of its mouth in thirst;
Children beg for bread,
but no one gives them a piece.
5 Those who feasted on delicacies
are abandoned in the streets;
Those who reclined on crimson[s]
now embrace dung heaps.(AR)
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people
surpassed the penalty of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in an instant
with no hand laid on it.(AS)
7 Her princes were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk,
Their bodies more ruddy than coral,
their beauty like the sapphire.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot,
they go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin has shrunk on their bones,
and become dry as wood.(AT)
9 Better for those pierced by the sword
than for those pierced by hunger,
Better for those who bleed from wounds
than for those who lack food.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children!
They became their food
when the daughter of my people was shattered.(AU)
11 The Lord has exhausted his anger,
poured out his blazing wrath;
He has kindled a fire in Zion
that has consumed her foundations.(AV)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the world’s inhabitants,
That foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Except for the sins of her prophets
and the crimes of her priests,
Who poured out in her midst
the blood of the just.(AW)
14 They staggered blindly in the streets,
defiled with blood,
So that people could not touch
even their garments:(AX)
15 “Go away! Unclean!” they cried to them,
“Away, away, do not touch!”
If they went away and wandered,
it would be said among the nations,
“They can no longer live here!
16 The presence of the Lord was their portion,
but he no longer looks upon them.
The priests are shown no regard,
the elders, no mercy.
17 Even now our eyes are worn out,
searching in vain for help;
From our watchtower we have watched
for a nation[t] unable to save.
18 They dogged our every step,
we could not walk in our squares;
Our end drew near, our time was up;
yes, our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky,
In the mountains they were hot on our trail,
they ambushed us in the wilderness.(AY)
20 The Lord’s anointed—our very lifebreath!—[u]
was caught in their snares,
He in whose shade we thought
to live among the nations.(AZ)
21 Rejoice and gloat, daughter Edom,
dwelling in the land of Uz,[v]
The cup will pass to you as well;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself naked!(BA)
22 Your punishment is completed, daughter Zion,
the Lord will not prolong your exile;
The Lord will punish your iniquity, daughter Edom,
will lay bare your sins.(BB)
Chapter 5
The Community’s Lament to the Lord
1 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us,
pay attention, and see our disgrace:
2 Our heritage is turned over to strangers,
our homes, to foreigners.(BC)
3 We have become orphans, without fathers;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay money to drink our own water,
our own wood comes at a price.
5 With a yoke on our necks, we are driven;
we are worn out, but allowed no rest.
6 We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria,
to satisfy our need of bread.[w]
7 Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more;
but now we bear their guilt.
8 Servants[x] rule over us,
with no one to tear us from their hands.
9 We risk our lives just to get bread,
exposed to the desert heat;(BD)
10 Our skin heats up like an oven,
from the searing blasts of famine.(BE)
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the cities of Judah;(BF)
12 Princes have been hanged by them,
elders shown no respect.(BG)
13 Young men carry millstones,
boys stagger under loads of wood;
14 The elders have abandoned the gate,[y]
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased,
dancing has turned into mourning;(BH)
16 The crown has fallen from our head:
woe to us that we sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts grow sick,
at this our eyes grow dim:
18 Because of Mount Zion, lying desolate,
and the jackals roaming there!
19 But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
your throne stands from age to age.(BI)
20 [z]Why have you utterly forgotten us,
forsaken us for so long?(BJ)
21 Bring us back to you, Lord, that we may return:
renew our days as of old.(BK)
22 For now you have indeed rejected us
and utterly turned your wrath against us.(BL)
I. Letter to Jerusalem
Chapter 1
A. Historical Setting
1 Now these are the words of the scroll which Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,(BM) 2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month,[aa] at the time the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and destroyed it with fire.(BN) 3 (BO)Baruch read the words of this scroll in the hearing of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the people who came to the reading:(BP) 4 the nobles, kings’ sons, elders, and all the people, small and great—all who lived in Babylon by the river Sud.[ab]
5 They wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord, 6 and collected such funds as each could afford.(BQ) 7 These they sent to Jerusalem, to Jehoiakim the priest, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests and the whole people who were with him in Jerusalem. 8 (At the same time he[ac] received the vessels of the house of the Lord that had been removed from the temple, to restore them to the land of Judah, on the tenth of Sivan. These silver vessels Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, had had made 9 (BR)after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carried off as captives Jeconiah and the princes, the skilled workers, the nobles, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon.)
B. Confession of Guilt
10 The message was: “We send you funds, with which you are to procure burnt offerings, sin offerings, and frankincense, and to prepare grain offerings; offer these[ad] on the altar of the Lord our God,(BS) 11 and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, his son,[ae] that their lifetimes may be as the days of the heavens above the earth.(BT) 12 Pray that the Lord may give us strength, and light to our eyes, that we may live under the protective shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, his son, to serve them many days, and find favor in their sight. 13 Pray for us to the Lord, our God, for we have sinned against the Lord, our God. Even to this day the wrath of the Lord and his anger have not turned away from us. 14 On the feast day and during the days of assembly, read aloud in the house of the Lord this scroll that we send you:(BU)
15 [af]“To the Lord our God belongs justice; to us, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to be shamefaced, as on this day—(BV) 16 to us, our kings, rulers, priests, and prophets, and our ancestors. 17 We have sinned in the Lord’s sight 18 and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us. 19 From the day the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and neglected to listen to his voice. 20 Even today evils cling to us, the curse the Lord pronounced to Moses, his servant, at the time he led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.(BW) 21 For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us, 22 but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.
Chapter 2
1 “So the Lord carried out the warning he had uttered against us: against our judges, who governed Israel, against our kings and princes, and against the people of Israel and Judah. 2 Nowhere under heaven has anything been done like what he did in Jerusalem, as was written in the law of Moses:[ag](BX) 3 that we would each eat[ah] the flesh of our sons, each the flesh of our daughters. 4 He has made us subject to all the kingdoms around us, an object of reproach and horror among all the peoples around us, where the Lord has scattered us.(BY) 5 We are brought low, not raised high,(BZ) because we sinned against the Lord, our God, not listening to his voice.
6 “To the Lord, our God, belongs justice; to us and to our ancestors, to be shamefaced, as on this day.(CA) 7 All the evils of which the Lord had warned us have come upon us. 8 We did not entreat the favor of the Lord by turning, each one, from the designs of our evil hearts. 9 The Lord kept watch over the evils, and brought them home to us; for the Lord is just in all the works he commanded us to do,(CB) 10 but we did not listen to his voice, or follow the precepts of the Lord which he had set before us.
C. Prayer for Deliverance
11 [ai]“And now, Lord, God of Israel, who led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, with signs and wonders and great might, and with an upraised arm, so that you have made for yourself a name to the present day:(CC) 12 we have sinned, we have committed sacrilege, we have violated all your statutes, Lord, our God.(CD) 13 Withdraw your anger from us, for we are left few in number among the nations where you have scattered us. 14 Hear, Lord, our prayer of supplication, and deliver us for your own sake: grant us favor in the sight of those who brought us into exile, 15 that the whole earth may know that you are the Lord, our God, and that Israel[aj] and his descendants bear your name.(CE) 16 Lord, look down from your holy dwelling and take thought of us; Lord, incline your ear to hear us.(CF) 17 Open your eyes and see: it is not the dead in Hades,[ak] whose breath has been taken from within them, who will declare the glory and vindication to the Lord.(CG) 18 The person who is deeply grieved, who walks bowed and feeble, with failing eyes and famished soul, will declare your glory and justice, Lord!(CH)
19 “Not on the just deeds of our ancestors and our kings do we base our plea for mercy in your sight, Lord, our God. 20 You have sent your wrath and anger upon us, as you had warned us through your servants the prophets: 21 Thus says the Lord: Bend your necks and serve the king of Babylon, that you may continue in the land I gave your ancestors;(CI) 22 [al]for if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice so as to serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will silence from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the cry of joy and the cry of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; and all the land shall be deserted, without inhabitants.(CJ) 24 But we did not listen to your voice, or serve the king of Babylon, and you carried out the threats you had made through your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our ancestors would be brought out from their burial places.(CK) 25 And indeed, they lie exposed[am] to the heat of day and the frost of night. They died in great suffering, by famine and sword and plague.(CL) 26 And you reduced the house which bears your name[an] to what it is today, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.(CM)
God’s Promises Recalled. 27 “But with us, Lord, our God, you have dealt in all your clemency and in all your great mercy. 28 [ao]Thus you spoke through your servant Moses, the day you ordered him to write down your law in the presence of the Israelites: 29 ‘If you do not listen to my voice, surely this great and numerous throng will dwindle away among the nations to which I will scatter them.(CN) 30 For I know they will not listen to me, because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they shall have a change of heart;(CO) 31 they shall know that I, the Lord, am their God. I will give them a heart and ears that listen;(CP) 32 and they shall praise me in the land of their exile, and shall remember my name.(CQ) 33 Then they shall turn back from their stiff-necked stubbornness, and from their evil deeds, because they shall remember the ways of their ancestors, who sinned against the Lord.(CR) 34 And I will bring them back to the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and they shall rule it. I will make them increase; they shall not be few. 35 And I will establish for them an eternal covenant: I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land I gave them.’(CS)
Chapter 3
1 “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the anguished soul, the dismayed spirit cries out to you. 2 Hear, Lord, and have mercy, for you are a merciful God; have mercy on us, who have sinned against you: 3 for you are enthroned forever, while we are perishing forever.(CT) 4 Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead of Israel, children who sinned against you; they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, their God, and their evils cling to us.(CU) 5 Do not remember the wicked deeds of our ancestors, but remember at this time your power and your name, 6 for you are the Lord our God; and you, Lord, we will praise! 7 This is why you put into our hearts the fear of you: that we may call upon your name, and praise you in our exile, when we have removed from our hearts all the wickedness of our ancestors who sinned against you.(CV) 8 See, today we are in exile, where you have scattered us, an object of reproach and cursing and punishment for all the wicked deeds of our ancestors, who withdrew from the Lord, our God.”
II. Praise of Wisdom[ap]
A. Importance of Wisdom
9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life:
listen, and know prudence!(CW)
10 How is it, Israel,
that you are in the land of your foes,
grown old in a foreign land,
11 Defiled with the dead,
counted among those destined for Hades?(CX)
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!(CY)
13 Had you walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in enduring peace.(CZ)
14 Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding;
That you may know also
where are length of days, and life,
where light of the eyes, and peace.(DA)
15 Who has found the place of wisdom?(DB)
Who has entered into her treasuries?
16 Where are the rulers of the nations,
who lorded it over the wild beasts of the earth,(DC)
17 made sport of the birds in the heavens,
Who heaped up the silver,
the gold in which people trust,
whose possessions were unlimited,
18 Who schemed anxiously for money,
their doings beyond discovery?
19 They have vanished, gone down to Hades,
and others have risen up in their stead.
20 Later generations have seen the light of day,
have dwelt on the earth,
But the way to understanding they have not known,
21 they have not perceived her paths or reached her;
their children remain far from the way to her.
22 She has not been heard of in Canaan,[aq]
nor seen in Teman.(DD)
23 The descendants of Hagar who seek knowledge on earth,
the merchants of Medan and Tema,(DE)
the storytellers and those seeking knowledge—
These have not known the way to wisdom,
nor have they kept her paths in mind.
B. Inaccessibility of Wisdom
24 O Israel, how vast is the dwelling of God,[ar]
how broad the scope of his dominion:
25 Vast and endless,
high and immeasurable!
26 In it were born the giants,[as]
renowned at the first,
huge in stature, skilled in war.(DF)
27 These God did not choose,
nor did he give them the way of understanding;(DG)
28 They perished for lack of prudence,
perished through their own folly.(DH)
29 Who has gone up to the heavens and taken her,
bringing her down from the clouds?(DI)
30 Who has crossed the sea and found her,
bearing her away rather than choice gold?
31 None knows the way to her,
nor has at heart her path.
32 But the one who knows all things knows her;
he has probed her by his knowledge—
The one who established the earth for all time,
and filled it with four-footed animals,
33 Who sends out the lightning, and it goes,
calls it, and trembling it obeys him;
34 Before whom the stars at their posts
shine and rejoice.
35 When he calls them, they answer, “Here we are!”
shining with joy for their Maker.(DJ)
36 Such is our God;
no other is to be compared to him:
C. Wisdom Contained in the Law
37 [at]He has uncovered the whole way of understanding,
and has given her to Jacob, his servant,
to Israel, his beloved.(DK)
38 Thus she has appeared on earth,
is at home with mortals.(DL)
Chapter 4
1 [au]She is the book of the precepts of God,
the law that endures forever;
All who cling to her will live,
but those will die who forsake her.(DM)
2 Turn, O Jacob, and receive her:
walk by her light toward splendor.(DN)
3 Do not give your glory to another,
your privileges to an alien nation.
4 Blessed are we, O Israel;
for what pleases God is known to us!(DO)
III. Baruch’s Poem of Consolation[av]
A. Baruch Addresses Diaspora
5 Take courage, my people!
Remember, O Israel,
6 You were sold to the nations
not for destruction;
It was because you angered God
that you were handed over to your foes.(DP)
7 For you provoked your Maker(DQ)
with sacrifices to demons and not to God;
8 You forgot the eternal God who nourished you,
and you grieved Jerusalem who nurtured you.
9 She indeed saw coming upon you
the wrath of God; and she said:
B. Jerusalem Addresses Neighbors
“Hear, you neighbors of Zion!
God has brought great mourning upon me,
10 For I have seen the captivity
that the Eternal One has brought
upon my sons and daughters.
11 With joy I nurtured them;
but with mourning and lament I sent them away.
12 Let no one gloat over me,
a widow, bereft of many;
For the sins of my children I am left desolate,
because they turned from the law of God,(DR)
13 and did not acknowledge his statutes;
In the ways of God’s commandments they did not walk,
nor did they tread the disciplined paths of his justice.
14 “Let Zion’s neighbors come—
Remember the captivity of my sons and daughters,
brought upon them by the Eternal One.
15 He has brought against them a nation from afar,
a nation ruthless and of alien speech,
That has neither reverence for old age
nor pity for the child;(DS)
16 They have led away this widow’s beloved sons,
have left me solitary, without daughters.
C. Jerusalem Addresses Diaspora
17 What can I do to help you?
18 The one who has brought this evil upon you
must himself deliver you from your enemies’ hands.(DT)
19 Farewell, my children, farewell;
I am left desolate.
20 I have taken off the garment of peace,
have put on sackcloth for my prayer of supplication;
while I live I will cry out to the Eternal One.(DU)
21 “Take courage, my children; call upon God;
he will deliver you from oppression, from enemy hands.(DV)
22 I have put my hope for your deliverance in the Eternal One,
and joy has come to me from the Holy One
Because of the mercy that will swiftly reach you
from your eternal Savior.
23 With mourning and lament I sent you away,
but God will give you back to me
with gladness and joy forever.(DW)
24 As Zion’s neighbors lately saw you taken captive,
so shall they soon see God’s salvation come to you,
with great glory and the splendor of the Eternal One.(DX)
25 “My children, bear patiently the wrath(DY)
that has come upon you from God;
Your enemies have persecuted you,
but you will soon see their destruction
and trample upon their necks.[aw]
26 My pampered children have trodden rough roads,
carried off by their enemies like sheep in a raid.(DZ)
27 Take courage, my children; call out to God!
The one who brought this upon you will remember you.(EA)
28 As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God,
so turn now ten times the more to seek him;
29 For the one who has brought disaster upon you
will, in saving you, bring you eternal joy.”(EB)
D. Baruch Addresses Jerusalem
30 Take courage, Jerusalem!
The one who gave you your name will console you.(EC)
31 Wretched shall be those who harmed you,
who rejoiced at your downfall;
32 Wretched shall be the cities where your children were enslaved,
wretched the city that received your children.(ED)
33 As that city rejoiced at your collapse,(EE)
and made merry at your downfall,
so shall she grieve over her own desolation.
34 I will take from her the rejoicing crowds,
and her exultation shall be turned to mourning:
35 For fire shall come upon her(EF)
from the Eternal One, for many a day,
to be inhabited by demons for a long time.[ax]
36 Look to the east, Jerusalem;
see the joy that comes to you from God!(EG)
37 Here come your children whom you sent away,
gathered in from east to west
By the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing in the glory of God.
Chapter 5
1 Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
put on forever the splendor of glory from God:(EH)
2 Wrapped in the mantle of justice from God,
place on your head the diadem
of the glory of the Eternal One.(EI)
3 For God will show your splendor to all under the heavens;
4 you will be named by God forever:
the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.(EJ)
5 Rise up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
look to the east and see your children
Gathered from east to west
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
6 Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
but God will bring them back to you
carried high in glory as on royal thrones.(EK)
7 For God has commanded
that every lofty mountain
and the age-old hills be made low,
That the valleys be filled to make level ground,
that Israel may advance securely in the glory of God.(EL)
8 The forests and every kind of fragrant tree
have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;(EM)
9 For God is leading Israel in joy
by the light of his glory,
with the mercy and justice that are his.
IV. Letter of Jeremiah
Chapter 6
1 A copy of the letter which Jeremiah sent to those led captive to Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to tell them what God had commanded him:(EN)
For the sins you committed before God, you are being led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. 2 When you reach Babylon you will be there many years, a long time—seven generations;[ay] after that I will bring you back from there in peace. 3 And now in Babylon you will see gods of silver and gold and wood, carried shoulder high, to cast fear upon the nations.(EO) 4 [az]Take care that you yourselves do not become like these foreigners and let not such fear possess you. 5 When you see the crowd before them and behind worshiping them, say in your hearts, “You, Lord, are the one to be worshiped!”(EP) 6 For my angel[ba] is with you, and he will keep watch on you.(EQ)
7 Their tongues are smoothed by woodworkers; they are covered with gold and silver—but they are frauds, and cannot speak.(ER) 8 People bring gold, as though for a girl fond of dressing up, 9 and prepare crowns for the heads of their gods. Then sometimes the priests filch the gold and silver from their gods and spend it on themselves, 10 or give part of it to harlots[bb] in the brothel. They dress them up in clothes like human beings, these gods of silver and gold and wood. 11 Though they are wrapped in purple clothing, they are not safe from rust and corrosion. 12 Their faces are wiped clean of the cloud of dust which is thick upon them. 13 Each has a scepter, like the human ruler of a district, but none can do away with those that offend against it. 14 Each has in its right hand an ax or dagger, but it cannot save itself from war or pillage. Thus it is known they are not gods; do not fear them.
15 As useless as a broken pot(ES) 16 are their gods, set up in their temples, their eyes full of dust from the feet of those who enter. 17 Their courtyards are walled in like those of someone brought to execution for a crime against the king; the priests reinforce their temples with gates and bars and bolts, so they will not be carried off by robbers. 18 They light more lamps for them than for themselves, yet not one of these can they see. 19 They are like any timber in the temple; their hearts, it is said, are eaten away. Though crawling creatures from the ground consume them and their garments, they do not feel it. 20 Their faces become sooty from the smoke in the temple. 21 Bats and swallows alight on their bodies and heads—any bird, and cats as well. 22 Know, therefore, that they are not gods; do not fear them.
23 Gold adorns them, but unless someone wipes away the corrosion, they do not shine; they felt nothing when they were molded. 24 They are bought at whatever price, but there is no spirit in them. 25 Since they have no feet, they are carried shoulder high, displaying to all how worthless they are; even those who worship them are put to shame(ET) 26 because, if they fall to the ground, the worshipers must pick them up. They neither move of themselves if one sets them upright, nor come upright if they are tipped over; offerings are set out for them as for the dead.(EU) 27 [bc]Their priests sell their sacrifices for their own advantage. Likewise their wives cure some of the meat, but they do not share it with the poor and the weak;(EV) 28 women ritually unclean or at childbirth handle their sacrifices. From such things, know that they are not gods; do not fear them.
29 How can they be called gods? Women set out the offerings for these gods of silver and gold and wood, 30 and in their temples the priests squat with torn tunic and with shaven hair and beard, and with their heads uncovered.(EW) 31 They shout and wail before their gods as others do at a funeral banquet. 32 The priests take some of the clothing from their gods and put it on their wives and children. 33 [bd]Whether these gods are treated well or badly by anyone, they cannot repay it. They can neither set up nor remove a king.(EX) 34 They cannot give anyone riches or pennies; if one fails to fulfill a vow to them, they will not exact it. 35 They neither save anyone from death, nor deliver the weak from the strong,(EY) 36 nor do they restore sight to the blind, or rescue anyone in distress. 37 The widow they do not pity, the orphan they do not help. 38 These gilded and silvered wooden statues are no better than stones from the mountains; their worshipers will be put to shame. 39 How then can it be thought or claimed that they are gods?
40 Even the Chaldeans themselves have no respect for them; for when they see a deaf mute, unable to speak, they bring forward Bel[be] and expect him to make a sound, as though he could hear. 41 They themselves are unable to reflect and abandon these gods, for they have no sense. 42 [bf]And the women, with cords around them, sit by the roads, burning chaff for incense;(EZ) 43 and whenever one of them is taken aside by some passerby who lies with her, she mocks her neighbor who has not been thought thus worthy, and has not had her cord broken. 44 All that is done for these gods is a fraud; how then can it be thought or claimed that they are gods?
45 They are produced by woodworkers and goldsmiths; they are nothing other than what these artisans wish them to be. 46 Even those who produce them are not long-lived; 47 how then can the things they have produced be gods? They have left frauds and disgrace to their successors. 48 For when war or disaster comes upon them, the priests deliberate among themselves where they can hide with them. 49 How then can one not understand that these are not gods, who save themselves neither from war nor from disaster? 50 Beings that are wooden, gilded and silvered, they will later be known for frauds. To all nations and kings it will be clear that they are not gods, but human handiwork; and that God’s work is not in them. 51 Is it not obvious that they are not gods?
52 [bg]They set no king over the land, nor do they give rain. 53 They neither vindicate their own rights, nor do they rescue anyone wronged, for they are powerless. 54 They are like crows in midair. For when fire breaks out in the temple of these wooden or gilded or silvered gods, though the priests flee and are safe, they themselves are burned up in the fire like timbers. 55 They cannot resist a king or enemy forces. 56 How then can it be admitted or thought that they are gods?
They are safe from neither thieves nor bandits, these wooden and silvered and gilded gods. 57 Anyone who can will strip off the gold and the silver, and go away with the clothing that was on them; they cannot help themselves. 58 How much better to be a king displaying his valor, or a handy tool in a house, the joy of its owner, than these false gods; better the door of a house, protecting whatever is within, than these false gods; better a wooden post in a palace, than these false gods!(FA) 59 [bh]The sun and moon and stars are bright, obedient in the task for which they are sent. 60 Likewise the lightning, when it flashes, is a great sight; and the one wind blows over every land. 61 The clouds, too, when commanded by God to proceed across the whole world, fulfill the command; 62 and fire, sent from on high to burn up the mountains and the forests, carries out its command. But these false gods are not their equal, whether in appearance or in power. 63 So it is unthinkable, and cannot be claimed that they are gods. They can neither execute judgment, nor benefit anyone. 64 Know, therefore, that they are not gods; do not fear them.
65 Kings they can neither curse nor bless. 66 They show the nations no signs in the heavens, nor do they shine like the sun, nor give light like the moon. 67 The beasts are better than they—beasts can help themselves by fleeing to shelter. 68 Thus is it in no way apparent to us that they are gods; so do not fear them.
69 For like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch,(FB) providing no protection, are their wooden, gilded, silvered gods. 70 Just like a thornbush in a garden on which perches every kind of bird, or like a corpse hurled into darkness, are their wooden, gilded, silvered gods. 71 From the rotting of the purple and the linen upon them, you can know that they are not gods; they themselves will in the end be consumed, and be a disgrace in the land. 72 Better the just who has no idols; such shall be far from disgrace!
I. Call of the Prophet
Chapter 1
The Vision: God on the Cherubim. 1 In the thirtieth year,[bi] on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions.(FC)— 2 On the fifth day of the month—this was the fifth year[bj] of King Jehoiachin’s exile(FD)— 3 the word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. There the hand of the Lord came upon him.(FE)
4 As I watched, a great stormwind came from the North,[bk] a large cloud with flashing fire, a bright glow all around it, and something like polished metal gleamed at the center of the fire.(FF) 5 From within it figures in the likeness of four living creatures[bl] appeared. This is what they looked like:(FG) 6 They were in human form, but each had four faces and four wings,(FH) 7 and their legs were straight, the soles of their feet like the hooves of a bull, gleaming like polished brass.(FI) 8 Human hands were under their wings, and the wings of one touched those of another.(FJ) 9 Their faces and their wings looked out on all their four sides; they did not turn when they moved, but each went straight ahead.(FK)
10 [bm]Their faces were like this:(FL) each of the four had a human face, and on the right the face of a lion, and on the left, the face of an ox, and each had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. On each one, two wings touched one another, and the other two wings covered the body.(FM) 12 Each went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they went; they did not change direction when they moved.(FN) 13 [bn]And the appearance of the living creatures seemed like burning coals of fire. Something indeed like torches moved back and forth among the living creatures. The fire gleamed intensely, and from it lightning flashed. 14 The creatures darting back and forth flashed like lightning.
15 [bo]As I looked at the living creatures, I saw wheels on the ground, one alongside each of the four living creatures.(FO) 16 The wheels and their construction sparkled like yellow topaz, and all four of them looked the same: their construction seemed as though one wheel was inside the other. 17 When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved. 18 (FP)The four of them had rims, high and fearsome—eyes filled the four rims all around. 19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living creatures were raised from the ground, the wheels also were raised. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they went. And they were raised up together with the living creatures, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 Wherever the living creatures moved, the wheels moved; when they stood still, the wheels stood still. When they were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up with them.(FQ) For the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 [bp]Above the heads of the living creatures was a likeness of the firmament; it was awesome, stretching upwards like shining crystal over their heads.(FR) 23 Beneath the firmament their wings stretched out toward one another; each had two wings covering the body. 24 Then I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound of the tumult was like the din of an army. And when they stood still, they lowered their wings.(FS) 25 While they stood with their wings lowered, a voice came from above the firmament over their heads.
26 Above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne that looked like sapphire; and upon this likeness of a throne was seated, up above, a figure that looked like a human being.[bq](FT) 27 And I saw something like polished metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed on all sides, from what looked like the waist up; and from what looked like the waist down, I saw something like the appearance of fire and brilliant light surrounding him.(FU) 28 Just like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day so was the appearance of brilliance that surrounded him. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speak.(FV)
Chapter 2
Eating of the Scroll. 1 The voice said to me: Son of man,[br] stand up! I wish to speak to you. 2 As he spoke to me, the spirit[bs] entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking(FW) 3 say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day.(FX) 4 Their children are bold of face and stubborn of heart—to them I am sending you. You shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God.(FY) 5 And whether they hear or resist—they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been among them.(FZ) 6 But as for you, son of man, do not fear them or their words. Do not fear, even though there are briers or thorns and you sit among scorpions.[bt] Do not be afraid of their words or be terrified by their looks for they are a rebellious house.(GA) 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they hear or resist, because they are rebellious.(GB) 8 But you, son of man, hear me when I speak to you and do not rebel like this rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.(GC)
9 (GD)It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me; in it was a written scroll. 10 He unrolled it before me; it was covered with writing front and back. Written on it was: Lamentation, wailing, woe!(GE)
Chapter 3
1 He said to me: Son of man, eat what you find here: eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 (GF)Son of man, he said to me, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey[bu] in my mouth. 4 Then he said to me, Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.
5 Not to a people with obscure speech and difficult language am I sending you, but to the house of Israel.(GG) 6 Nor to many nations of obscure speech and difficult language whose words you cannot understand. For if I were to send you to these, they would listen to you.(GH) 7 But the house of Israel will refuse to listen to you, since they refuse to listen to me. For the whole house of Israel is stubborn of brow and hard of heart.(GI) 8 [bv]Look! I make your face as hard as theirs, and your brow as stubborn as theirs.(GJ) 9 Like diamond, harder than flint, I make your brow. Do not be afraid of them, or be terrified by their looks, for they are a rebellious house.(GK)
10 Then he said to me, Son of man, take into your heart all my words that I speak to you; hear them well. 11 Now go to the exiles, to your own people, and speak to them. Say to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear: Thus says the Lord God!
12 Then the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling noise as the glory of the Lord[bw] rose from its place:(GL) 13 the noise of the wings of the living creatures beating against one another, and the noise of the wheels alongside them, a loud rumbling.(GM) 14 And the spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went off, my spirit angry and bitter, for the hand of the Lord pressed hard on me. 15 Thus I came to the exiles who lived at Tel-abib[bx] by the river Chebar; and there where they dwelt, I stayed among them distraught for seven days. 16 (GN)At the end of the seven days, the word of the Lord came to me:
The Prophet as Sentinel.[by] 17 Son of man, I have appointed you a sentinel for the house of Israel.(GO) When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me.
18 If I say to the wicked, You shall surely die—and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade the wicked from their evil conduct in order to save their lives—then they shall die for their sin, but I will hold you responsible for their blood. 19 If, however, you warn the wicked and they still do not turn from their wickedness and evil conduct, they shall die for their sin, but you shall save your life.
20 But if the just turn away from their right conduct and do evil when I place a stumbling block before them, then they shall die. Even if you warned them about their sin, they shall still die, and the just deeds that they performed will not be remembered on their behalf. I will, however, hold you responsible for their blood.(GP) 21 If, on the other hand, you warn the just to avoid sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live because of the warning, and you in turn shall save your own life.
Ezekiel Mute. 22 The hand of the Lord came upon me there and he said to me: Get up and go out into the plain, where I will speak with you.(GQ) 23 (GR)So I got up and went out into the plain. There it was! The glory of the Lord was standing there like the glory I had seen by the river Chebar. Then I fell on my face, 24 but the spirit entered into me, set me on my feet; he spoke to me, and said: Go, shut yourself in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, know that they will put ropes on you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them.(GS) 26 And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute,[bz] no longer one who rebukes them for being a rebellious house.(GT) 27 Only when I speak to you and open your mouth, shall you say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Let those who hear, hear! Let those who resist, resist! They are truly a rebellious house.
II. Before the Siege of Jerusalem
Chapter 4
Acts Symbolic of Siege and Exile. 1 [ca]You, son of man, take a clay tablet; place it in front of you, and draw on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege to it: build up siege works, raise a ramp against it, pitch camps and set up battering rams all around it. 3 Then take an iron pan and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it and put it under siege. So you must lay siege to it as a sign for the house of Israel.(GU) 4 Then lie down on your left side, while I place the guilt of the house of Israel upon you. As many days as you lie like this, you shall bear their guilt. 5 I allot you three hundred and ninety days[cb] during which you must bear the guilt of the house of Israel, the same number of years they sinned. 6 When you have completed this, you shall lie down a second time, on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah forty days; I allot you one day for each year.(GV) 7 Turning your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with bared arm[cc] you shall prophesy against it. 8 See, I bind you with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.(GW)
9 [cd]Then take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into a single pot and make them into bread. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days. 10 The food you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; each day you shall eat it. 11 And the water you drink shall be the sixth of a hin[ce] by measure; each day you shall drink it. 12 And the barley cake you eat you must bake on human excrement in the sight of all. 13 The Lord said: Thus the Israelites shall eat their food, unclean, among the nations where I drive them.(GX) 14 “Oh no, Lord God,” I protested. “Never have I defiled myself nor have I eaten carrion flesh or flesh torn by wild beasts, nor from my youth till now has any unclean meat entered my mouth.”(GY) 15 Very well, he replied, I will let you use cow manure in place of human dung. You can bake your bread on that. 16 Then he said to me: Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread[cf] in Jerusalem so they shall eat bread which they have weighed out anxiously and drink water which they have measured out fearfully.(GZ) 17 Because they lack bread and water they shall be devastated; each and every one will waste away because of their guilt.(HA)
Chapter 5
1 Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor, to shave your head and your beard. Then take a balance scale for weighing and divide the hair.(HB) 2 Set a third on fire within the city,[cg] when the days of your siege are completed; place another third around the city and strike it with the sword; the final third scatter to the wind and then unsheathe the sword after it.(HC) 3 But take a few of the hairs and tie them in the hem of your garment. 4 Take some of these and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire. Because of this, fire will flash out against the whole house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem! I placed it in the midst of the nations, surrounded by foreign lands. 6 But it rebelled against my ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against my statutes more than the foreign lands around it; they rejected my ordinances and did not walk in my statutes.(HD) 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have caused more uproar than the nations surrounding you, not living by my statutes nor carrying out my judgments, nor even living by the ordinances of the surrounding nations; 8 therefore, thus says the Lord God: See, I am coming against you![ch] I will carry out judgments among you while the nations look on.(HE) 9 Because of all your abominations I will do to you what I have never done before, the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore, parents will eat their children in your midst, and children will eat their parents.[ci] I will inflict punishments upon you and scatter all who remain to the winds.(HF)
11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your atrocities and all your abominations, I will surely withdraw and not look upon you with pity nor spare you.(HG) 12 A third of your people shall die of disease or starve to death within you; another third shall fall by the sword all around you; a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue them with the sword.(HH)
13 Thus my anger will spend itself; I will vent my wrath against them until I am satisfied. Then they will know that I the Lord spoke in my passion when I spend my wrath upon them.(HI) 14 I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of every passerby.(HJ) 15 And you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in angry wrath, with furious chastisements. I, the Lord, have spoken! 16 When I loose against you the deadly arrows of starvation that I am sending to destroy you, I will increase starvation and will break your staff of bread.(HK) 17 I will send against you starvation and wild beasts who will leave you childless, while disease and bloodshed sweep through you. I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.(HL)
Chapter 6
Against the Mountains of Israel. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them:(HM) 3 You shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys:(HN) Pay attention! I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.[cj] 4 Your altars shall be laid waste, your incense stands smashed, and I will throw your slain down in front of your idols. 5 Yes, I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols, and scatter your bones around your altars.[ck](HO) 6 Wherever you live, cities shall be ruined and high places laid waste, in order that your altars be laid waste and devastated, your idols broken and smashed, your incense altars hacked to pieces, and whatever you have made wiped out.(HP) 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.[cl](HQ) 8 But I will spare some of you from the sword to live as refugees among the nations when you are scattered to foreign lands. 9 Then your refugees will remember me among the nations to which they have been exiled, after I have broken their lusting hearts that turned away from me and their eyes that lusted after idols. They will loathe themselves for all the evil they have done, for all their abominations.(HR) 10 Then they shall know that I the Lord did not threaten in vain to inflict this evil on them.
11 Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands, stamp your feet,[cm] and cry “Alas!” for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! They shall fall by the sword, starvation, and disease.(HS) 12 Those far off shall die of disease, those nearby shall fall by the sword, and those who survive and are spared shall perish by starvation; thus will I spend my fury upon them. 13 They shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain lie among their idols, all around their altars, on every high hill and mountaintop, beneath every green tree and leafy oak[cn]—any place they offer sweet-smelling oblations to all their idols.(HT) 14 I will stretch out my hand against them; I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Riblah,[co] wherever they live. Thus they shall know that I am the Lord.(HU)
Chapter 7
The End Has Come. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, now say: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end comes upon the four corners of the land!(HV) 3 Now the end is upon you; I will unleash my anger against you, judge you according to your ways, and hold against you all your abominations. 4 My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will hold your conduct against you, since your abominations remain within you; then shall you know that I am the Lord.(HW)
5 Thus says the Lord God: Evil upon evil! See it coming! 6 An end is coming, the end is coming; it is ripe for you! See it coming! 7 The crisis has come for you who dwell in the land! The time has come, near is the day: panic, no rejoicing on the mountains.(HX) 8 Soon now I will pour out my fury upon you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and hold against you all your abominations.(HY) 9 My eye will not spare, nor will I take pity; I will hold your conduct against you since your abominations remain within you, then you shall know that it is I, the Lord, who strikes.(HZ)
10 The day is here! Look! it is coming! The crisis has come! Lawlessness is blooming, insolence budding; 11 the violent have risen up to wield a scepter of wickedness. But none of them shall remain; none of their crowd, none of their wealth, for none of them are innocent. 12 [cp]The time has come, the day dawns. The buyer must not rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is coming upon all the throng.(IA) 13 Assuredly, the seller shall not regain what was sold, as long as they all live; for the vision is for the whole crowd: it shall not be revoked! Yes, because of their guilt, they shall not hold on to life. 14 They will sound the trumpet and get everything ready, but no one will go out to battle, for my wrath weighs upon all the crowd.
15 The sword is outside; disease and hunger are within. Whoever is in the fields will die by the sword; whoever is in the city disease and hunger will devour.(IB) 16 If their survivors flee, they will die on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley on account of their guilt. 17 All their hands will hang limp, and all their knees[cq] turn to water.(IC) 18 (ID)They put on sackcloth, horror clothes them; shame is on all their faces, all their heads are shaved bald.[cr] 19 They fling their silver into the streets, and their gold is considered unclean.(IE) Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their bellies, for it has been the occasion of their sin. 20 [cs]In their beautiful ornaments they took pride; out of them they made their abominable images, their detestable things. For this reason I will make them unclean.(IF) 21 I will hand them over as spoils to foreigners, as plunder to the wicked of the earth, so that they may defile them. 22 I will turn my face away from them. My treasure will be defiled; the violent will enter and defile it.(IG) 23 They will wreak slaughter, for the land is filled with bloodshed and the city with violence.(IH) 24 I will bring in the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to their proud strength,[ct] and their sanctuaries will be defiled.(II) 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there is none.(IJ) 26 Disaster after disaster, rumor upon rumor. They keep seeking a vision from the prophet; instruction from the priest is missing, and counsel from the elders.(IK) 27 The king mourns, the prince is terror-stricken, the hands of the common people tremble. I will deal with them according to their ways, and according to their judgments I will judge them. They shall know that I am the Lord.
Chapter 8
1 In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month,[cu] as I was sitting in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.(IL) 2 I looked up and there was a figure that looked like a man.[cv] Downward from what looked like his waist, there was fire; from his waist upward, like the brilliance of polished bronze.(IM)
Vision of Abominations in the Temple. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand and seized me by the hair of my head. The spirit lifted me up[cw] between earth and heaven and brought me in divine vision to Jerusalem(IN) to the entrance of the inner gate facing north where the statue of jealousy that provokes jealousy stood. 4 There I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.(IO) 5 He said to me: Son of man, lift your eyes to the north! I looked to the north and there in the entry north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy.(IP) 6 He asked, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great abominations that the house of Israel is practicing here, so that I must depart from my sanctuary? You shall see even greater abominations!(IQ)
7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the courtyard, and there I saw a hole in the wall. 8 Son of man, he ordered, dig through the wall. I dug through the wall—there was a doorway. 9 Go in, he said to me, and see the evil abominations they are doing here. 10 I went in and looked—figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts,[cx] all the idols of the house of Israel,(IR) pictured around the wall. 11 Before them stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel. Among them stood Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, each with censer in hand; a cloud of incense drifted upward.(IS) 12 Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his idol chamber? They think: “The Lord cannot see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.”(IT) 13 He said: You will see them practicing even greater abominations.
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord. There women sat and wept for Tammuz.[cy](IU) 15 He said to me: Do you see this, son of man? You will see other abominations, greater than these!
16 Then he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. There at the door of the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the Lord’s temple and their faces toward the east; they were bowing eastward[cz] to the sun.(IV) 17 He said: Do you see, son of man? Are the abominable things the house of Judah has done here so slight that they should also fill the land with violence, provoking me again and again? Now they are putting the branch to my nose![da] 18 Therefore I in turn will act furiously: my eye will not spare, nor will I take pity. Even if they cry out in a loud voice for me to hear, I shall not listen to them.
Chapter 9
Slaughter of the Idolaters. 1 Then he cried aloud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city! 2 And there were six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with a weapon of destruction in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.(IW) 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel moved off the cherub and went up to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s case at his waist,(IX) 4 (IY)and the Lord said to him:[db] Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark an X on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the abominations practiced within it. 5 To the others he said in my hearing: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not let your eyes spare; do not take pity. 6 Old and young, male and female, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone marked with the X. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.(IZ) 7 Defile the temple, he said to them, fill its courts with the slain. Then go out and strike in the city.
8 As they were striking, I was left alone. I fell on my face, crying out, “Alas, Lord God! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?” 9 He answered me: The guilt of the house of Israel and the house of Judah is too great to measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the Lord has abandoned the land, that he does not see them. 10 My eye, however, will not spare, nor shall I take pity, but I will bring their conduct down upon their heads.
11 Just then the man dressed in linen with the scribe’s case at his waist made his report: “I have done as you commanded!”
Chapter 10
1 Then I looked and there above the firmament over the heads of the cherubim was something like a sapphire, something that looked like a throne.(JA) 2 [dc]And he said to the man dressed in linen: Go within the wheelwork under the cherubim; fill both your hands with burning coals from the place among the cherubim, then scatter them over the city. As I watched, he entered.(JB) 3 Now the cherubim were standing to the south of the temple when the man went in and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 The glory of the Lord had moved off the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, the whole court brilliant with the glory of the Lord. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God Almighty speaking.(JC) 6 He commanded the man dressed in linen: Take fire from within the wheelwork among the cherubim. The man entered and stood by one of the wheels. 7 Thereupon a cherub stretched out a hand from among the cherubim toward the fire in the midst of the cherubim, took some, and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen. He took it and came out. 8 Something like a human hand was visible under the wings of the cherubim. 9 I also saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub, and the wheels appeared to have the sparkle of yellow topaz. 10 And the appearance of the four all seemed alike, as though one wheel were inside the other. 11 When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved; in whatever direction the first cherub faced, the others followed without veering as they went. 12 Their entire bodies—backs, hands, and wings—and wheels were covered with eyes all around like the four wheels.(JD) 13 I heard the wheels called “wheelwork.” 14 Each living creature had four faces: the first a cherub, the second a human being, the third a lion, the fourth an eagle.(JE) 15 [dd]When the cherubim rose up, they were indeed the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar.(JF) 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them; when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not leave their sides. 17 When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose up, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18 Then the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the temple and took its place upon the cherubim. 19 The cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the earth before my eyes as they departed with the wheels beside them. They stopped at the entrance of the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them.(JG) 20 [de]These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar. Now I knew they were cherubim.(JH) 21 Each of them had four faces and four wings, and something like human hands under their wings. 22 Their faces looked just like the faces I had seen by the river Chebar; and each one went straight ahead.
Chapter 11
Death for the Remnant in Jerusalem. 1 The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord facing east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men; among them I saw the public officials Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah. 2 The Lord said to me: Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city. 3 They are saying, “No need to build houses! The city is the pot, and we are the meat.”[df](JI) 4 Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy! 5 Then the spirit of the Lord fell upon me and told me to say: Thus says the Lord: This is how you talk, house of Israel. I know the things that come into your mind! 6 You have slain many in this city, filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: The slain whom you piled up in it, that is the meat, the pot is the city. But you I will bring out of it.(JJ) 8 You fear the sword—that sword I will bring upon you—oracle of the Lord God.(JK) 9 I will bring you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you. 10 By the sword you shall fall. At the borders of Israel I will judge you so that you will know that I am the Lord. 11 The city shall not be a pot for you, nor shall you be meat within it. At the borders of Israel I will judge you,(JL) 12 so you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you did not follow, whose ordinances you did not keep. Instead, you acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.
13 While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, dropped dead. I fell down on my face and cried out in a loud voice: “Alas, Lord God! You are finishing off what remains of Israel!”[dg](JM)
Restoration for the Exiles. 14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 [dh]Son of man, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are saying about all your relatives, the other exiles, and all the house of Israel, “They are far away from the Lord. The land is given to us as a possession.”(JN) 16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I have indeed sent them far away among the nations, scattered them over the lands, and have been but little sanctuary for them in the lands to which they have gone. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the nations and collect you from the lands through which you were scattered, so I can give you the land of Israel.(JO) 18 They will enter it and remove all its atrocities and abominations. 19 (JP)And I will give them another heart and a new spirit I will put within them. From their bodies I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh, 20 so that they walk according to my statutes, taking care to keep my ordinances. Thus they will be my people, and I will be their God.(JQ) 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their atrocities and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their heads—oracle of the Lord God.
22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings and the wheels alongside them, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.(JR) 23 [di]The glory of the Lord rose up from the middle of the city and came to rest on the mountain east of the city.(JS) 24 In a vision, the spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Chaldea, by the spirit of God. The vision I had seen left me,(JT) 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.(JU)
Chapter 12
Acts Symbolic of the Exile. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear. They are such a rebellious house!(JV) 3 Now, son of man, during the day while they watch, pack a bag for exile,[dj] and again while they watch, go into exile from your place to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house. 4 During the day, while they watch, bring out your bag, an exile’s bag. In the evening, again while they watch, go out as if into exile.(JW) 5 While they watch, dig a hole through the wall[dk] and go out through it. 6 While they watch, shoulder your load and go out in darkness. Cover your face so you cannot see the land, for I am making you a sign for the house of Israel!(JX)
7 I did just as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my bag, an exile’s bag. In the evening while they watched, I dug a hole through the wall with my hands and set out in darkness, shouldering my load.
8 In the morning, the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that house of rebels, say, “What are you doing?”(JY) 10 Tell them: Thus says the Lord God: This load is the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel within it. 11 Say, I am a sign for you: just as I have done, so it shall be done to them; into exile, as captives they shall go.(JZ) 12 The prince among them shall shoulder his load in darkness and go out through the hole they dug in the wall to bring him out. His face shall be covered so that he cannot even see the ground.(KA) 13 (KB)I will spread my net over him and he shall be caught in my snare. I will bring him into Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, though he shall not see it,[dl] and there he shall die. 14 All his retinue, his aides and all his troops, I will scatter to the winds and pursue them with the sword.(KC) 15 Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.(KD) 16 But I will let a few of them escape the sword, starvation, and plague, so that they may recount all their abominations among the nations to which they go. Thus they may know that I am the Lord.[dm]
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 Son of man, eat your bread trembling and drink your water shaking with fear.(KE) 19 And say to the people of the land:[dn] Thus says the Lord God about the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: they shall eat their bread in fear and drink their water in horror, because the land will be emptied of what fills it—the lawlessness of all its inhabitants. 20 Inhabited cities shall be in ruins, the land a desolate place. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
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