Bible in 90 Days
40 Furthermore, they have even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and they came. For them you washed yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments. 41 And you sat on a stately couch with a table prepared before it on which you had set My incense and My oil.
42 A sound of a multitude at ease was with her, and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said to her who was worn out by adulteries, “Will they now commit harlotries with her when she is so?” 44 Yet they went in to her as they go in to a woman who plays the harlot. So they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But righteous men shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
46 For thus says the Lord God: Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and devastation. 47 The company shall stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be warned and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 Your lewdness shall be recompensed upon you, and you shall bear the punishment of worshipping your idols. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
The Siege of Jerusalem
24 And in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, write the name of the day, this same day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this same day. 3 Utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:
Put on the pot, put it on,
and also pour water into it.
4 Gather the pieces into it,
even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder.
Fill it with the choice bones;
5 take the choicest of the flock,
and also pile the bones under it;
make it boil well,
also seethe its bones in it.
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the bloody city,
to the pot whose rust is in it,
and whose rust has not gone out of it!
Take out of it piece by piece
without choosing.
7 For her blood is in her midst;
she set it on the bare rock;
she did not pour it on the ground
to cover it with dust.
8 That it may cause fury to come up to take vengeance,
I have set her blood on the bare rock,
that it may not be covered.
9 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the bloody city!
I will also make the pile great.
10 Heap on wood,
kindle the fire;
boil the flesh,
and spice it well,
and let the bones be burned.
11 Then set it empty on its coals,
so that it may be hot and its bronze may glow,
and its filthiness may be melted in it,
and its rust may be consumed.
12 She has wearied Me with toil,
and her great rust has not gone from her.
Let her rust be in the fire.
13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I would have purged you, yet you are not purged, you shall not be purged from your filthiness anymore until I have caused My fury to rest on you.
14 I the Lord have spoken. It shall come to pass and I will act. I will not go back, nor will I spare, nor will I be sorry. According to your ways and according to your deeds, I shall judge you, says the Lord God.
The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife
15 Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 16 Son of man, I am about to take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke. Yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Groan silently. Make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men.
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded.
19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are behaving this way?”
20 Then I answered them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 21 Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul. And your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 You shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your mustache, nor will you eat the bread of men. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet. You shall not mourn or weep. But you shall pine away for your iniquities and groan toward one another. 24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you. According to all that he has done you shall do. And when it comes about, then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 As for you, son of man, shall it not be on the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, 26 that on that day he who escapes shall come to you to cause you to hear it with your ears? 27 On that day your mouth shall be opened to him who escaped, and you shall speak and be mute no more. Thus you shall be a sign to them. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
A Prophecy Against Ammon
25 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 2 Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon and prophesy against them, 3 and say to the sons of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God: Because you said, “Aha!” against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4 therefore, I will deliver you to the men of the East for a possession, and they shall set their camps among you and make their dwellings among you. They shall eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a meadow for camels, and the sons of Ammon a couching place for flocks. Thus you shall know that I am the Lord. 6 For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced in heart with all your spite against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you and deliver you for destruction to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and cause you to perish from the countries. I will destroy you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
A Prophecy Against Moab
8 Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir say, Look, the house of Judah is like all the nations, 9 therefore, I will deprive the side of Moab of its cities, of its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 and I will give it for a possession with the Ammonites to the men of the East, so that the sons of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. 11 I will execute judgments on Moab. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
A Prophecy Against Edom
12 Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance and has greatly offended and revenged themselves upon them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord God: I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will make it desolate. From Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance upon Edom by the hand of My people Israel. And they shall do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury. And they shall know My vengeance, says the Lord God.
A Prophecy Against Philistia
15 Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge and have taken vengeance with a spiteful heart to destroy with everlasting hatred, 16 therefore thus says the Lord God: I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines and will cut off the Kerethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon them.
A Prophecy Against Tyre
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, “Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken. It has opened to me. I shall be filled now that she is laid waste,” 3 therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord God, and she shall become destruction to the nations. 6 Her daughters who are on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 For thus says the Lord God: From the north I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, with horses and with chariots and with cavalry and a great army. 8 He shall slay your daughters on the mainland with the sword. And he shall set up a siege wall against you and cast up a mound against you and lift up the roof of shields against you. 9 He shall set engines of war against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust shall cover you. Your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen and of the wagons and of the chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he shall tread down all your streets. He shall slay your people by the sword, and your strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. 12 They shall make a spoil of your riches, and a prey of your merchandise. And they shall break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. And they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the water. 13 I will cause the noise of your songs to cease. And the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place to spread nets upon. You shall be built no more, for I the Lord have spoken, says the Lord God.
15 Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in your midst? 16 Then all the officials of the sea shall come down from their thrones and lay away their robes and take off their embroidered garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling. They shall sit on the ground and tremble every moment and be astonished at you. 17 They shall take up a lamentation over you and say to you:
How you are destroyed, O inhabited one of the seas,
the renowned city,
which was strong in the sea,
she and her inhabitants,
who caused her terror
to be on all her inhabitants!
18 Now the coastlands shall tremble
on the day of your fall; indeed,
the coastlands that are by the sea
shall be troubled at your departure.
19 For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep upon you and great waters shall cover you, 20 then I shall bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old, and make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit so that you will not be inhabited. But I shall set glory in the land of the living. 21 I will bring terrors on you and you shall be no more. Though you will be sought, you shall never be found again, says the Lord God.
A Lament for Tyre
27 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 2 Now you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre. 3 And say to Tyre who is situated at the entrance of the sea, who is a merchant of the peoples for many coastlands, Thus says the Lord God:
O Tyre, you have said,
“I am perfect in beauty.”
4 Your borders are in the midst of the seas.
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They have made all your ship boards
of fir trees from Senir;
they have taken cedars from Lebanon
to make a mast for you.
6 Of the oaks of Bashan
they have made your oars;
with ivory they have inlaid your deck of boxwood
out of the coastlands of Cyprus.
7 Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail,
so that it became your distinguishing sign;
blue and purple from the coastlands of Elishah
was your awning.
8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your mariners;
your wise men, O Tyre, were aboard; they were your pilots.
9 The elders of Byblos and her wise men
were in you repairing your seams;
all the ships of the sea with their mariners
were in you to deal in your merchandise.
10 They of Persia and of Lydia and of Put
were in your army, your men of war;
they hung the shield and helmet in you;
they set forth your comeliness.
11 The sons of Arvad and your army
were upon your walls all around,
and the Gammad
were in your towers;
they hung their shields on your walls all around;
they have made your beauty perfect.
12 Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches. With silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in your wares.
13 Greece, Tubal, and Meshek, they were your merchants. They traded in your market with the lives of men and vessels of bronze.
14 Those of Beth Togarmah gave horses and horsemen and mules for your wares.
15 The sons of Dedan were your merchants. Many coastlands were your merchandise. They brought you for a payment horns of ivory and ebony.
16 Aram was your merchant by reason of the multitude of your wares. They paid for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate.
17 Judah and the land of Israel, they were your merchants. They traded in your market with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balm.
18 Damascus was your merchant in the multitude of your wares, because of the multitude of all kinds of riches, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool.
19 Dan and Javan paid for your wares from Izal. Bright iron, cassia, and sweet cane were in your market.
20 Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths for chariots.
21 Arabia and all the officials of Kedar, they were your customers in lambs, rams, and goats. For these they were your merchants.
22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were your merchants. They paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of spices and with all kinds of precious stones and gold.
23 Harran, and Kanneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Ashur, and Kilmad, were your merchants. 24 They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.
25 The ships of Tarshish were
the carriers for your market.
And you were filled and were very glorious
in the midst of the seas.
26 Your rowers have brought you
into great waters;
the east wind has broken you
in the midst of the seas.
27 Your riches and your wares, your merchandise,
your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers,
and the dealers of your merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you,
with all your company which is in your midst,
shall fall into the midst of the seas
in the day of your ruin.
28 The meadowlands shall shake
at the sound of the cry of your pilots.
29 All who handle the oar,
the mariners and all the pilots of the sea,
shall come down from their ships;
they shall stand upon the land.
30 And they shall cause their voice to be heard against you,
and shall cry bitterly,
and shall cast up dust upon their heads;
they shall wallow in ashes.
31 Also they shall make themselves utterly bald for you,
and gird themselves with sackcloth;
and they shall weep for you with bitterness of heart
and bitter wailing.
32 Also, in their wailing
they shall take up a lamentation for you and lament over you, saying,
“Who is like Tyre, like her who is silent
in the midst of the sea?
33 When your wares went out by sea,
you filled many peoples;
you enriched the kings of the earth
with the multitude of your riches and of your merchandise.
34 Now that you are broken by the seas
in the depths of the waters,
your merchandise and all your company
in your midst have fallen.
35 All the inhabitants of the coastlands
shall be astonished at you,
and their kings shall be sorely afraid;
they are troubled in countenance.
36 The merchants among the peoples hiss at you;
you shall be a terror,
and you shall cease to be forever.”
A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre
28 The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 2 Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:
Because your heart is lifted up,
and you have said, “I am a god;
I sit in the seat of gods
in the midst of the seas,”
yet you are a man, and not God,
though you set your heart as the heart of God.
3 You are wiser than Daniel;
there is no secret that is a match for you.
4 With your wisdom and with your understanding,
you have obtained riches for yourself,
and have obtained gold and silver
into your treasuries;
5 by your great wisdom, by your trade,
you have increased your riches,
and your heart is lifted up
because of your riches.
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Because you have set your heart
as the heart of God,
7 therefore, I will bring strangers upon you,
the most cruel of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
and defile your brightness.
8 They shall bring you down to the pit,
and you shall die the death of those who are slain
in the midst of the seas.
9 Will you yet say before him who slays you,
“I am a god,”
although you are a man and not God,
in the hands of those who wound you?
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of strangers;
for I have spoken! says the Lord God.
A Lament for the King of Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:
You had the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering:
the sardius, topaz, and the diamond,
the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper,
the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold.
The workmanship of your settings and sockets was in you;
on the day that you were created, they were prepared.
14 You were the anointed cherub that covers,
and I set you there;
you were upon the holy mountain of God;
you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 You were perfect in your ways
from the day that you were created,
until iniquity was found in you.
16 By the multitude of your merchandise,
you were filled with violence in your midst,
and you sinned;
therefore I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God;
and I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was lifted up
because of your beauty;
you have corrupted your wisdom
by reason of your brightness;
I cast you to the ground,
I lay you before kings, that they may see you.
18 You have defiled your sanctuaries
by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trade;
therefore I have brought fire out from your midst;
it has devoured you,
and I have turned you to ashes upon the earth
in the sight of all those who see you.
19 All those who know you among the people
are astonished at you;
you are a terror,
and you shall cease to be forever.
A Prophecy Against Sidon
20 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 21 Son of man, set your face toward Sidon and prophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, O Sidon;
and I will be glorified in your midst;
and they shall know that I am the Lord,
when I execute judgments in her
and display My holiness in her.
23 For I will send pestilence into her,
and blood into her streets;
and the wounded shall fall in her midst
by the sword upon her on every side;
and they shall know that I am the Lord.
24 There shall be no more a pricking brier to the house of Israel, nor any painful thorn among all who are around them, who despised them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.
The Future Blessing for Israel
25 Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and display My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their land that I have given to My servant Jacob. 26 They shall dwell safely in it and shall build houses and plant vineyards and dwell securely when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.
A Prophecy Against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers,
which has said, “My Nile is my own,
and I myself have made it.”
4 But I will put hooks in your jaws,
and will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales,
and will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
and all the fish of your rivers shall stick to your scales.
5 I will abandon you to the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your rivers;
you shall fall upon the open field;
you shall not be brought together or gathered.
I have given you for food
to the beasts of the field and to the fowl of the heavens.
6 All the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke and tore all their hands. And when they leaned upon you, you broke and made all their legs shake.
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will bring a sword upon you, and cut off man and beast out of you. 9 The land of Egypt shall become a desolation and waste. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile is mine, and I have made it,” 10 therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited for forty years. 12 Thus I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and will disperse them among the countries.
13 For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples wherever they were scattered. 14 And I will turn the fortunes of Egypt and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their origin, and there they shall be a debased kingdom. 15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms, and it shall exalt itself no more above the nations. For I will diminish them so that they shall rule over the nations no more. 16 It shall be the confidence of the house of Israel no more, bringing to mind the iniquity of their having turned to Egypt. But they shall know that I am the Lord God.
Babylonia to Plunder Egypt
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had done against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he shall carry off her wealth and take her spoil and take her prey. And it shall be wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he labored against it, because they acted for Me, says the Lord God.
21 On that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will open your mouth in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
A Lament for Egypt
30 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord God:
Howl,
“Woe to the day!”
3 For the day is near,
even the day of the Lord is near,
a cloudy day,
it shall be the time of doom for the nations.
4 The sword shall come upon Egypt,
and great pain shall be in Ethiopia,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
they take away her wealth,
and her foundations are broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, all Arabia, Kub, and the men of the land that is in league shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus says the Lord:
Indeed, those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
and the pride of her power shall come down.
From Migdol to Syene
they shall fall in her by the sword,
says the Lord God.
7 They shall be desolate
in the midst of the countries that are desolate,
and her cities shall be
in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
8 They shall know that I am the Lord
when I have set a fire in Egypt
and when all her helpers are destroyed.
9 In that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them as in the day of Egypt. For it is coming!
10 Thus says the Lord God:
I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations,
shall be brought to destroy the land;
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt,
and fill the land with the slain.
12 I will make the rivers dry,
and sell the land into the hand of the wicked;
and I will make the land waste and all that is in it,
by the hand of strangers.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
13 Thus says the Lord God:
I will also destroy the idols,
and I will cause their images to cease from Memphis;
and no more shall there be a prince of the land of Egypt.
And I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set fire in Zoan,
and will execute judgments in Thebes.
15 I will pour out My fury upon Pelusium,
the strength of Egypt;
and I will cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16 I will set fire in Egypt;
Pelusium shall have great pain,
and Thebes shall be rent asunder,
and Memphis shall have distresses daily.
17 The young men of Heliopolis and of Bubastis
shall fall by the sword,
and the women shall go into captivity.
18 In Tahpanhes also the day shall be darkened,
when I break there the yokes of Egypt.
And the pomp of her strength shall cease in her;
as for her, a cloud shall cover her,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus I will execute judgments in Egypt,
and they shall know that I am the Lord.
A Prophecy Against Pharaoh
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And it has not been bound up to be healed or wrapped with a bandage to make it strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the broken. And I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries. 24 For I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh so that he groans before him with the groanings of a wounded man. 25 So I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down. Then they shall know that I am the Lord when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out upon the land of Egypt. 26 When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the countries, then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Pharaoh to Be Slain
31 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude:
Whom are you like in your greatness?
3 Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
with fair branches and shade for a forest,
and high stature;
and its top was among the clouds.
4 The waters made it great;
the deep set it up on high.
With its rivers it continually ran
all around its plants,
and sent out its little rivers
to all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore its height was exalted
above all the trees of the field,
and its boughs were multiplied,
and its branches became long
because of the abundance of water, as it spread them out.
6 All the fowl of heaven
made their nests in its boughs;
and under its branches
all the beasts of the field gave birth;
and under its shadow
all great nations lived.
7 Thus it was fair in its greatness,
in the length of its branches,
for its roots were
by many waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God
could not match it;
the fir trees
were not like its boughs,
and the chestnut trees
were not like its branches;
nor was any tree in the garden of God
like it in its beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with an abundance of branches,
so that all the trees of Eden envied it,
that were in the garden of God.
10 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because it is lifted up in height and has shot up its top among the clouds, and its heart is arrogant in its height, 11 I therefore will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it. I have driven it out for its wickedness. 12 Aliens, the tyrants of the nations have cut it off and left it. Upon the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken by all the rivers of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shadow and have left it. 13 Upon its ruin all the fowl of the heavens shall remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon its fallen branches 14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, or shoot up their tops among the clouds, or their well-watered trees stand up in their height. For they all have been delivered to death, to the nether parts of the earth in the midst of the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.
15 Thus says the Lord God: On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused mourning. I covered the deep over it and restrained its rivers, and its many waters were stayed. And I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted for it. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of its fall when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. And all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the nether parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into Sheol with it to those who were slain with the sword. And those who were its power lived under its shadow in the midst of the nations.
18 To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether parts of the earth. You shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who were slain by the sword.
This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
A Lament for Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
You likened yourself to a young lion of the nations,
but you are as the monster in the seas;
and you burst forth in your rivers,
and muddied the waters with your feet,
and made foul their rivers.
3 Thus says the Lord God:
I will therefore spread out My net over you
with a company of many peoples,
and they shall bring you up in My net.
4 Then I will leave you upon the land;
I will cast you out on the open field,
and I will cause all the fowl of the heavens to remain upon you.
And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I will lay your flesh upon the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 I will also water the land with your blood,
as far as the mountains;
and the rivers shall be full of you.
7 When I put you out, I will cover the heavens
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the bright lights in the heavens
I will make dark over you,
and set darkness upon your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Indeed, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you when I brandish My sword before them. And they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon
shall come upon you.
12 By the swords of the mighty,
I will cause your multitude to fall.
All of them are tyrants of the nations;
they shall destroy the pride of Egypt,
and all its multitude shall be destroyed.
13 I also will destroy all the beasts
from beside many waters;
nor shall the foot of man muddy them anymore,
nor the hoofs of beasts muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle,
and cause their rivers to run like oil,
says the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
and the country is destitute of that by which it was full,
when I smite all those who dwell in it,
then shall they know that I am the Lord.
16 This is the lamentation, and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. They shall chant it over Egypt and over all her multitude, says the Lord God.
A Dirge for Egypt
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19 “Whom do you surpass in beauty? Descend and make your bed with the uncircumcised.” 20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is delivered to the sword. They have drawn her and all her multitudes away. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him and those who help him out of the midst of Sheol: “They have gone down, they lie still, uncircumcised, slain by the sword.”
22 Assyria is there and all her company. Her graves are around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the sides of the pit and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who cause terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam and all her multitude all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who descended uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living and bore their shame with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have set a bed for her in the midst of the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are all around it. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They were put in the midst of those who are slain.
26 There is Meshek, Tubal, and all her multitude. Their graves are all around them. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads. But the punishment for their iniquity rested upon their bones, though the terror of these mighty ones was once in the land of the living.
28 Indeed, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shall lie with those who are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom also, its kings and all its officials, who for all their might are laid by those who were slain by the sword. They shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30 There are also the officials of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror from their might have gone down in shame with the slain. So they lie down uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord God. 32 Though I have caused a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call
33 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword come upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet yet did not take warning. His blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning delivers his soul. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned and a sword comes and takes a person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood I will require from the hand of the watchman.
7 Now as for you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But his blood I will require from your hand. 9 Nevertheless, if you on your part warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity. But you have delivered your soul.
God’s Justice and Mercy
10 Therefore as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them. How should we then live?” 11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 Therefore you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of a righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness. Nor shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins. 13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered. But for that iniquity of his that he has committed, he shall die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right, 15 if the wicked man restores a pledge, gives back what he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is lawful and right. He shall surely live.
17 Yet the sons of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not right,” when their way is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die by it. 19 But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live by them. 20 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” O house of Israel, I will judge you, every one according to his ways.
The Fall of Jerusalem
21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city is taken.” 22 Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, before those who escaped came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning. Therefore my mouth was opened and I was speechless no more.
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 24 Son of man, those who inhabit these wastes in the land of Israel are saying, “Abraham was one, yet he inherited the land. But to us who are many, the land has been given for an inheritance.” 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat meat with the blood in it and lift up your eyes toward your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely upon your sword, you work abominations, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?
27 Thus you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the forts and in the caves shall die of pestilence. 28 For I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pomp of her strength shall cease. And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.
30 As for you, son of man, the sons of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses; and they speak to one another, each saying to his brother, “Come now, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.” 31 They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words; but they will not do them. For they do the lustful desires in their mouth, and their heart goes after their covetousness. 32 You are to them as a sensual song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not do them.
33 When this comes to pass, and it is coming to pass, then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
A Prophecy Against Israel’s Shepherds
34 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourself with the wool; you kill those who are fed without feeding the flock. 4 The diseased you have not strengthened, nor have you healed that which was sick, nor have you bound up that which was broken, nor have you brought back that which was driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost. But with force and with cruelty you have subjugated them. 5 They were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Indeed, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and no one searched or sought after them.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock even became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock; but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 10 Thus says the Lord God: I am against the shepherds. And I will require My flock from their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Nor shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver My flock from their mouth so that they may not be meat for them.
The True Shepherd
11 For thus says the Lord God: I, even I, will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in a cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel their grazing ground shall be. There they shall lie on good grazing ground, and in a rich pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God. 16 I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which was driven away and bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with judgment.
17 As for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: I will judge between sheep and cattle, between the rams and the male goats. 18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and between the lean sheep. 21 Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, 22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David. He shall feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David shall be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause the wild beasts to cease from the land so that they dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. And I will cause the showers to come down in their season. They shall be showers of blessing. 27 The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall yield its increase, and they shall be safe in their land. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land devour them. But they shall dwell safely and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a planting place of renown, and no more shall they be consumed with hunger in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations anymore. 30 Thus shall they know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God. 31 As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God.
A Prophecy Against Edom
35 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: I am against you, O Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
5 Because you have had a perpetual hatred and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the punishment of the end, 6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will prepare you for bloodshed, and bloodshed shall pursue you. Since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. 7 Thus I will make Mount Seir a desolation and a waste, and cut off from it the one who passes through and the one who returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its slain men. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your rivers, they shall fall who are slain with the sword. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
10 Because you have said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess them,” whereas the Lord was there, 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will treat you according to your anger and according to your envy, which you have showed out of your hatred against them. And I will make Myself known among them when I have judged you. 12 Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate. They are given to us to consume.” 13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and have multiplied your words against Me. I have heard them. 14 Thus says the Lord God: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. 15 As you rejoiced at the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You shall be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.