Bible in 90 Days

Jerusalem Is Punished

2 How the Lord has covered Zion with a cloud in His anger! He has thrown the shining-greatness of Israel from heaven to earth. In the day of His anger He has not remembered the place where He rests His feet. ² The Lord has destroyed all the places of Jacob. In His anger He has broken down the strong-places of Judah. He has brought the nation and its leaders down to the ground in shame. ³ In burning anger He has cut off all the strength of Israel. He would not help us fight against those who hate us. He has burned like a hot fire in Jacob, destroying everything around it. ⁴ He has pulled back His bow string like one who fights against us. He has set His right hand like one who hates us, and has killed all that we liked to see. He has poured out His anger like fire on the tent of Zion. ⁵ The Lord has become like one who hates us. He has destroyed Israel. He has destroyed all its beautiful houses. He has destroyed its strong-places, and has caused much sorrow and crying for the people of Judah. ⁶ He has broken down His house like a garden tent. He has destroyed His chosen meeting place. The Lord has caused the special suppers and Day of Rest to be forgotten in Zion. And He has hated the king and the religious leader in His anger. ⁷ The Lord has had nothing to do with His altar. He has left His holy place. He has given the walls of her beautiful houses over to those who hate us. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of a special supper. ⁸ The Lord plans to destroy the wall of the people of Zion. He marked how long it was, and has not kept His hand from destroying. He has caused tower and wall to cry in sorrow. They suffer together. ⁹ Her gates have gone down into the ground. He has destroyed and broken her iron pieces. Her king and leaders have been sent among the nations. The Law is no more. And her men who spoke for God have no more special dreams from the Lord. ¹⁰ The leaders of the people of Zion sit quietly on the ground. They have thrown dust on their heads, and have dressed themselves in cloth made from hair. The pure young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. ¹¹ My eyes become weak from crying. My spirit is very troubled. My heart is poured out in sorrow, because my people have been destroyed, and because children and babies fall down weak in the city streets. ¹² They cry to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they fall down weak in the city streets like a man hurt in battle, and as they die in their mothers’ arms. ¹³ What can I say for you? What can I compare you with, O people of Jerusalem? What can I compare you with, that I may comfort you, O pure daughter of Zion? For you have been destroyed as much as the sea is large. And who can heal you? ¹⁴ Your men who speak in God’s name have given you false and foolish dreams. They have not made your sin known, so you could return from where you are held. But they have told you false dreams that have led you the wrong way. ¹⁵ All who pass by clap their hands at you. They make fun of you and shake their heads at the people of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city which was called perfect in beauty, the joy of all the earth?” ¹⁶ All who hate you have opened their mouths wide against you. They make fun of you and grind their teeth and say, “We have destroyed her! For sure this is the day we have waited for! We have lived to see it!” ¹⁷ The Lord has done what He planned. He has done what He had said He would do long ago. He has destroyed without pity. He has caused those who hate you to have joy over you. He has given strength to those who fight against you. ¹⁸ Let your heart cry out to the Lord. O wall of the people of Zion, let your tears flow down like a river day and night. Give yourself no rest. Do not let your eyes stop crying. ¹⁹ Get up and cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night hours. Pour out your heart like water before the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are weak with hunger on every street.” ²⁰ See, O Lord, and look! To whom have You done this? Should women eat their children, the little ones they have cared for? Should religious leaders and men of God be killed in the Lord’s holy place? ²¹ The young and the old lie in the dust of the streets. My pure young women and young men have been killed by the sword. You have killed them in the day of Your anger. You have killed without pity. ²² As people are asked to come to a special supper, You have sent trouble on every side. And no one got away or stayed alive in the day of the Lord’s anger. Those I have cared for and brought up have been destroyed by those who hate me.

Jerusalem’s Hope

3 I am the man who has been suffering because of the power of God’s anger. ² He has led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. ³ For sure He has turned His hand against me again and again all day long. ⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones. ⁵ He has shut me in with trouble and suffering. ⁶ He has made me live in dark places, like those who have been dead a long time. ⁷ He has put a wall around me so that I cannot go out. He has put heavy chains on me. ⁸ Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. ⁹ He has stopped me with blocks of stone. He has made my paths no longer straight. ¹⁰ He is like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding in secret places. ¹¹ He has turned me from the path and torn me to pieces. He has destroyed me. ¹² He used His bow, and set me as a mark for His arrow. ¹³ He has taken out His arrows and sent them into my heart. ¹⁴ All my people laugh at me. They sing songs that make fun of me all day long. ¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter feelings. He has made me drunk with wormwood. ¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with rocks, and has covered me with dust. ¹⁷ Peace has left my soul. I have forgotten what it is like to be happy. ¹⁸ So I say, “My strength is gone, and so has my hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹ Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings. ²⁰ I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me. ²¹ But this I remember, and so I have hope. ²² It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends. ²³ It is new every morning. He is so very faithful. ²⁴ “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.” ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him. ²⁶ It is good that one should be quiet and wait for the saving power of the Lord. ²⁷ It is good for a man to carry the load while he is young. ²⁸ Let him sit alone and be quiet when God has laid the load on him. ²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may be hope yet. ³⁰ Let him give his face to the one who hits him, and be filled with shame. ³¹ For the Lord will not turn away from a man forever. ³² For if He causes sorrow, He will have loving-pity because of His great loving-kindness. ³³ He does not want to cause trouble or sorrow for the children of men. ³⁴ He is not pleased when all those on earth who are in prison are crushed under foot. ³⁵ The Most High is not pleased when the rights are kept away from a man who is before Him, ³⁶ and when wrong is done to him in his cause. The Lord is not pleased with these things. ³⁷ Who has said that something would happen and then it did happen, unless the Lord has said that it should be? ³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and bad come?

³⁹ Why should any living man complain about the punishment of his sins? ⁴⁰ Let us test and look over our ways, and return to the Lord. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our heart and hands to God in heaven, saying, ⁴² “We have sinned and would not obey You, and You have not forgiven us. ⁴³ You have covered Yourself with anger and have followed us, killing without pity. ⁴⁴ You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. ⁴⁵ You have made us a waste and something that is not wanted among the nations. ⁴⁶ All those who hate us have spoken against us. ⁴⁷ Fear and a trap have come upon us. We are laid waste and destroyed. ⁴⁸ My eyes flow with rivers of tears because my people are destroyed. ⁴⁹ Tears flow from my eyes all the time without stopping, ⁵⁰ until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. ⁵¹ My eyes bring me suffering because of what is happening to all the women of my city. ⁵² I have been hunted like a bird by those who hate me for no reason. ⁵³ They threw me alive into the deep hole and have put a stone on me. ⁵⁴ Water flowed over my head, and I said, “I am cut off!” ⁵⁵ I called on Your name, O Lord, out of the deep hole. ⁵⁶ You have heard my voice. Do not close Your ears to my cry for help. ⁵⁷ You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not be afraid!” ⁵⁸ You have helped me in my cause, O Lord. You have saved my life. ⁵⁹ O Lord, You have seen the wrong done to me. Judge in my favor. ⁶⁰ You have seen how much they hate me and plan against me. ⁶¹ O Lord, You have heard how they put me to shame and how they work against me. ⁶² The lips and thoughts of those who hurt me are against me all day long. ⁶³ Watch their sitting down and standing up. I am their song as they make fun of me. ⁶⁴ O Lord, You will punish them for what they have done. ⁶⁵ You will give them hard hearts, and curse them. ⁶⁶ Go after them in anger and destroy them from under Your heavens, O Lord.

Jerusalem’s Sinful Leaders

4 How dark the gold has become! How the pure gold has changed! The stones from the house of God are poured out at the corner of every street. ² The sons of Zion are worth their weight in fine gold. But they are thought of as clay pots, the work of a pot-maker’s hands! ³ Even wild dogs give their breast to feed their young, but my people show no pity. They are like ostriches in the desert. ⁴ The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth because of thirst. The children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. ⁵ Those who ate fine foods are dying in the streets. Those who were brought up dressed in purple now lie in ashes. ⁶ For the sin of the daughter of my people is worse than the sin of Sodom, which was destroyed all at once without a hand turned to help her. ⁷ Her religious leaders were more pure than snow. They were more white than milk. Their bodies were more red than coral. They were more beautiful than sapphire. ⁸ Now they look more black than dark ashes. No one knows who they are in the streets. Their skin has dried up on their bones. It has become as dry as wood. ⁹ Those who are killed with the sword are better off than those killed with hunger. For they waste away, suffering because they have no fruits of the field. ¹⁰ Women who had shown loving-kindness have boiled their own children for food, because my people are destroyed. ¹¹ The Lord has acted in His anger. He has poured out His burning anger, and has set a fire in Zion which has burned it to the ground. ¹² The kings of the earth and all the people of the world did not believe that those who hated them could come into the gates of Jerusalem. ¹³ This was because of the sins of her men who spoke in God’s name, and the sins of her religious leaders, who killed those within her who were right and good. ¹⁴ They walked as blind men through the streets. They were made unclean with blood so that no one could touch their clothing. ¹⁵ People cried to them, “Go away! You are unclean! Leave! Go away! Do not touch!” So they ran away and traveled from place to place. Men among the nations said, “They must not stay with us any longer.” ¹⁶ The Lord Himself has sent them everywhere. He will not care about them any more. They did not honor the religious leaders or favor the leaders of the people. ¹⁷ Our eyes have become weak in looking for help that did not come. In our watching we have waited for a nation that was not able to save us. ¹⁸ They kept following after our steps so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end came near. Our days were finished, for our end had come. ¹⁹ Those who came after us were faster than the eagles of the sky. They came after us on the mountains. They hid and waited for us in the desert. ²⁰ The Lord’s chosen one, our very breath, was caught in their traps. We had said about him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.” ²¹ Be filled with joy and be glad, O people of Edom, who live in the land of Uz. But the cup will be passed to you also. You will become drunk and your shame will be seen. ²² The punishment of your sin is completed, O people of Zion. The Lord will not keep you away any longer. But He will punish your sin, Edom. He will let your sins be seen!

Jerusalem’s Prayer for God’s Loving-Kindness

5 O Lord, remember what has happened to us. Look, and see our shame! ² The land we received from You has been given over to strangers. Our homes have been given to people from other lands. ³ We have lost our fathers. Our mothers are like those who have lost their husbands. ⁴ We have to pay for our drinking water, and we must buy our wood. ⁵ Those who come after us are at our necks. We are tired and cannot rest. ⁶ We have put out our hands to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. ⁷ Our fathers sinned, and are no more, and we have suffered for their sins. ⁸ Servants rule over us. There is no one to save us from their hand. ⁹ We put our lives in danger to get our bread, because of the sword in the desert. ¹⁰ Our skin has become as hot as fire because of the burning heat of hunger. ¹¹ They have taken and sinned against the women in Zion, and the young women who have never had a man in the cities of Judah. ¹² Rulers were hung by their hands. Leaders were not respected. ¹³ Young men worked to grind the grain, and boys fell under loads of wood. ¹⁴ The old men have left the city gate. Young men have stopped playing their music. ¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has come to an end. Our dancing has been turned into sorrow. ¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head. It is bad for us, for we have sinned! ¹⁷ Because of this our heart is weak. Because of these things our eyes are weak. ¹⁸ Mount Zion lies in waste, so foxes run all over it.

¹⁹ O Lord, You rule forever. Your throne will last for all people-to-come. ²⁰ Why do You forget us forever? Why do You leave us alone for so long? ²¹ Return us to You, O Lord. Bring us back. Make our days as they were before. ²² Or have You turned away from us forever? Is there no end to Your anger?

Ezekiel Sees God’s Throne

1 On the fifth day of the fourth month in the thirtieth year, while I was by the Chebar River with the Jews who had been taken away from their land, the heavens were opened and I saw God in a special way. ² (On the fifth day of the month in the fifth year that King Jehoiachin had been living in a strange land, ³ the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the religious leader, son of Buzi, in the land of the Babylonians by the Chebar River. There the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

⁴ I looked and saw a wind storm coming from the north. There was a big cloud with lightning coming from it and with a bright light around it. Inside the fire was something like shining brass, ⁵ and in the fire was what looked like four living beings. They looked like men, ⁶ but each of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight, and their feet were like those of a calf. They shined like bright brass. ⁸ Under their wings on their four sides were hands like a man’s. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ⁹ their wings touched one another. Their faces did not turn when they moved. Each one moved straight ahead. ¹⁰ As for what their faces looked like, each of the four had the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of a bull on the left side, and the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two wings touching the wings of another, and two covering their bodies. ¹² And each one went straight ahead. Every place where the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. ¹³ Between the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like fire lamps moving from side to side among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was coming out of the fire. ¹⁴ And the living beings ran this way and that, like lightning.

¹⁵ As I looked at the living beings, I saw one wheel on the earth beside each of the living beings with its four faces. ¹⁶ The way the wheels were made, they looked like shining chrysolite stone. All four of them looked the same. They were made to look as if one wheel were within another. ¹⁷ When they moved, they went in one of their four ways, without turning as they went. ¹⁸ The wheels were so high that they caused fear. And all four of them were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹ When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And when the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. ²⁰ Whatever way the spirit would go, they would go that way. And the wheels rose close beside them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. ²¹ When the living beings moved, they moved. When the beings stood still, they stood still. And when the beings rose up from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them. For the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

²² Over the heads of the living beings there was something that looked like the sky. It shined like crystal and spread over their heads. ²³ Under this covering their wings were spread out straight, one toward the other. Each one also had two wings covering their bodies on one side and on the other. ²⁴ When they went, I heard the sound of their wings. They sounded like many waters, like the voice of the All-powerful. They sounded like the noise of an army camp. Whenever they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵ A voice came from above the large covering over their heads. Whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ Above the large covering that was over their heads there was something that looked like a throne, and looked like it was made of sapphire. Sitting on the throne was what looked like a man. ²⁷ Then I saw that there was something like shining brass from the center of his body and up to his head. It looked like fire all around within it. And from the center of his body and down to his feet I saw something like fire. There was a bright light shining all around Him.

²⁸ This light shining around Him looked like the rainbow in the clouds on a day of rain.

This was what the shining-greatness of the Lord looked like. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

God Calls Ezekiel to Speak for Him

2 He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And when He spoke to me, the Spirit came into me and set me on my feet. I heard Him speaking to me. ³ He said, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to sinful people who have turned against Me. They and their fathers have sinned against Me to this very day. ⁴ I am sending you to these strong-willed children who show no respect. And you must say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ ⁵ If they listen or not (for they are sinful people) they will know that a man of God has been among them. ⁶ And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or of what they say, even if thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or lose strength of heart by their looks, for they will not obey Me. ⁷ You must speak My words to them if they listen or not, for they do not obey Me.

⁸ “As for you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be sinful like these sinful people. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” ⁹ Then I looked and saw that a hand was held out to me, and there was a book in it. ¹⁰ He held it out in front of me, and it had writing on the front and back. Words of trouble and sorrow were written on it.

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is in front of you. Eat this book, then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this book. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, eat this book that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and speak My words to them. ⁵ For you are not being sent to people of strange speech and a hard language, but to the people of Israel. ⁶ You are not being sent to many people of strange speech and a hard language whom you cannot understand. If I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to Me. All the people of Israel are strong-willed and show no respect. ⁸ See, I have made you as strong-willed and as hard as they are. ⁹ I have made your forehead harder than the hardest stone. Do not be afraid of them. Do not be afraid of how they look, even if they do not obey Me.” ¹⁰ He said to me, “Son of man, take all My words that I say to you into your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ Then go to the Jews who have been taken away from their land. Go to the sons of your people. And if they listen or not, tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’”

¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a loud sounding voice behind me say, “Great is the shining-greatness of the Lord from His place.” ¹³ I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them. It was a loud rushing sound. ¹⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and took me away. And I went with a bitter and angry spirit. The hand of the Lord was strong upon me. ¹⁵ Then I came to the Jews who had been taken from their land and who lived by the Chebar River at Tel-abib. I sat among them seven days where they were living, and I was filled with fear.

Ezekiel to Watch Over Israel

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have chosen you to be a watchman over the people of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, tell them of the danger. ¹⁸ If I say to the sinful man, ‘You will die for sure,’ and you do not tell him of the danger, and try to turn him from his sinful way so that he may live, that sinful man will die in his sin. But you will be guilty for his blood. ¹⁹ But if you tell a sinful man of the danger he is in, and he does not turn from his sins or from his sinful way, then he will die in his sin. But you will have saved yourself. ²⁰ Again, if a right and good man turns away from his right and good way and sins, and I put a cause of falling in his way, he will die. Because you have not told him of the danger, he will die in his sin, and the right and good things he has done will not be remembered. But you will be guilty for his blood. ²¹ Yet if you have told the right and good man of the danger of his sinning, and he does not sin, he will live for sure because he listened to you. And you will have saved yourself.”

Ezekiel Is Not Able to Speak

²² The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and I will speak to you there.” ²³ So I got up and went out to the plain, and saw the shining-greatness of the Lord standing there. It was like the shining-greatness which I saw by the Chebar River, and I fell on my face. ²⁴ Then the Spirit came into me and made me stand on my feet. And He spoke and said to me, “Go, shut yourself up in your house. ²⁵ As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶ And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you cannot speak. You will not be able to speak sharp words to them, for they will not obey Me. ²⁷ But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth, and you will tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ He who hears, let him hear. And he who is not willing to hear, let him not be willing. For they are a sinful people.

Ezekiel Shows How Jerusalem Will Be Taken

4 “Now, son of man, get a hard clay block. Set it down in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ² Then build a battle-wall around it to shut it in, and build a hill of dirt against the wall. Cut down trees and lay them on wheels all around the city, to use for breaking down the walls. ³ Then get an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and turn your face toward it. It will be shut in, and you will fight a battle against it. This will be something special for the people of Israel to see.

⁴ “Then lie on your left side, and I will lay the sin of the people of Israel upon you. You will be under the weight of their sin for the number of days that you lie on your side. ⁵ I have set a number of days for you which is the same as the number of years of their sin, 390 days. This is how long you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Israel. ⁶ When you have completed these, you must lie down a second time, but on your right side. And you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Judah. I have set a time of forty days for you to do this, one day for each year. ⁷ Then you must turn your face toward the battle against Jerusalem with no covering on your arm, and tell what will happen against the city. ⁸ I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, until you have completed the days of your battle.

⁹ “Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt and put them in one pot, and make them into bread for yourself. Eat it during the 390 days that you lie on your side. ¹⁰ The food you eat each day will weigh as much as twenty pieces of silver, and will have to last until the next day. ¹¹ And the water you drink each day will be enough to fill a bottle. You will drink it from time to time. ¹² Eat your food as you would barley cakes, making it ready in front of their eyes over a fire burning human waste.” ¹³ The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I will drive them.” ¹⁴ But I said, “O Lord God! See, I have never been unclean. Since I was young until now, I have never eaten what died of itself or what was torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever come into my mouth.” ¹⁵ So He said to me, “Then I will let you make your bread over cow’s waste instead of human waste.” ¹⁶ And He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to take away the bread that is needed in Jerusalem. They will weigh the bread they eat and they will drink water from small cups, and be afraid ¹⁷ because there will not be enough bread and water. They will look at one another in fear, and waste away in their sin.

Ezekiel Cuts His Hair with a Sword

5 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it to cut the hair from your head and face. Then weigh and divide the hair. ² A third part you must burn in the fire in the center of the city, when the days of the battle are completed. Then take a third part and cut it up with your sword as you move around the city. And a third part you must throw to the wind. For I will pull out a sword behind them. ³ Take a small number of the hairs and tie them in the cloth of your coat. ⁴ Take some more of them and throw them into the fire, and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all the people of Israel. ⁵ The Lord God says, ‘This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with lands around her. ⁶ But she has turned against My Laws worse than the nations and the lands around her. The people of Jerusalem have turned away from My Laws and have not obeyed them.’ ⁷ So the Lord God says, ‘You have been more sinful than the nations around you. You have not walked in My Laws or kept them. You have not even kept Laws like the nations around you have. Because you have acted this way,’ ⁸ the Lord God says, ‘I Myself am against you, and I will punish you in the eyes of the nations. ⁹ Because of all the things you have done which I hate, I will do with you what I have never done before, and what I will never do again. ¹⁰ Fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers. I will punish you and divide you, and spread to every wind those of you who are left. ¹¹ You have made My holy place unclean with all your hated objects of worship and sinful ways. So as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘for sure I will turn away from you. My eye will have no pity and I will punish all of you. ¹² One third of you will die by disease or be destroyed by hunger among you. A third will be killed by the sword around you. And a third I will spread to every wind, and go after them with a sword.

¹³ ‘This is how My anger will stop. I will cause My anger to be upon them, and I will be comforted. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My jealousy when I have sent My anger upon them. ¹⁴ I will make you a waste and a shame among the nations around you, in the eyes of all who pass by. ¹⁵ You will be a shame, and people will speak against you. You will show people the danger of sinning and fill the nations around you with fear, when I punish you in anger and with angry words. I, the Lord, have spoken. ¹⁶ I will keep you from getting food. I will make your hunger worse, and take away the bread you need. ¹⁷ I will send hunger and wild animals against you, and they will take away your children. Disease and death will pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

The Lord Judges Israel for Worshiping False Gods

6 The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel, and tell what is going to happen against them. ³ Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the Word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, the hills, the deep and wide valleys: “I Myself am going to bring a sword against you. And I will destroy your high places. ⁴ So your altars will be laid waste. Your altars for special perfume will be broken. And I will kill your people in front of your false gods. ⁵ I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their false gods, and spread your bones around your altars. ⁶ In every place you live, cities will be laid waste and the high places will be destroyed. Your altars will be laid waste and destroyed. Your false gods will be broken and destroyed. Your altars for special perfume will come to an end. ⁷ Your people will fall dead among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “But I will leave some of you alive. For some of you will get away from the sword when you are spread among the lands and nations. ⁹ Then those who get away will remember Me in the nations where they have been taken. They will remember how I have been hurt by their sinful hearts which turned away from Me, and by their sinful eyes which followed after their false gods. And they will hate themselves in their own eyes for the sins they have done, for all their sinful ways. ¹⁰ Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have not spoken with empty words that I would bring this trouble upon them.”’

¹¹ “The Lord God says, ‘Clap your hands, and step hard with your feet, and say, “It is bad because of all the hated sins of the people of Israel! They will fall by the sword, hunger, and disease. ¹² He who is far away will die by disease. And he who is near will be killed by the sword. He who stays and is shut in by armies will die by hunger. This is how I will send My anger upon them. ¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their dead lie among their false gods around their altars. They will lie on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every oak tree with many leaves. Their dead will be in all the places where they burned special perfume to all their false gods. ¹⁴ I will put out My hand against them in every place they live. I will make the land more of a waste than the desert toward Diblah. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

The End Has Come for Israel

7 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you. I will send My anger against you and punish you because of your ways. I will make you pay for all your sinful actions. ⁴ My eye will have no pity on you. And I will not let you go without punishment. I will punish you for your ways, and for the hated sins that are among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord!’

⁵ “The Lord God says, ‘See, much trouble is coming! ⁶ An end has come! The end has come! It has come up against you. See, it has come! ⁷ Your punishment has come upon you, O you who live in the land. The time has come. The day is near. The sound of trouble and not of joy is upon the mountains. ⁸ Now I will soon pour out My anger upon you. I will send My anger against you. I will punish you for your ways and for the hated sins that are among you. ⁹ My eye will show no pity, and I will not let you go without punishment. I will make you pay for your ways, and for the hated sins that are among you. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, Who punishes you.

¹⁰ ‘See, the day! See, it is coming! The time for your punishment has come. The power against you has started to grow. Pride has begun to grow. ¹¹ Angry action has grown into a power of sin. None of them will be left. None of their people, none of their riches, or anything of honor, will be left among them. ¹² The time has come. The day has come. Let not the one who buys have joy, or the one who sells have sorrow. For anger is against all their people. ¹³ For the one who sells will not get back what he has sold as long as both of them live. For the punishment of all their people will not be turned back. Because of their sins, not one of them will keep his life.

¹⁴ ‘They have sounded the horn and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle. For My anger is against all their people. ¹⁵ The sword is outside, and disease and hunger are inside. He who is in the field will die by the sword. And he who is in the city will be destroyed by disease and hunger. ¹⁶ Whoever gets away alive will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys. Each of them will be crying in sorrow because of his sin. ¹⁷ All hands will hang without strength, and all knees will be as weak as water. ¹⁸ They will dress themselves in cloth made from hair. Much fear will cover them. Shame will be upon all faces, and the hair will be cut from all their heads. ¹⁹ They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to help them in the day of the Lord’s anger. They cannot stop their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For riches have been the cause of their falling into sin. ²⁰ They turned the beauty of gold into objects of pride, and made their hated objects of worship with it. So I will make it an unclean thing to them. ²¹ I will give it to the strangers and to the sinful people of the earth as a prize of war, and they will make it sinful. ²² I will turn My face from them, and they will make My secret place sinful. Robbers will go into it and make it sinful.

²³ ‘Make chains, for the land is guilty of blood and the city is full of angry actions. ²⁴ So I will bring the worst of the nations to take their houses for their own. I will put an end to the pride of the strong ones, and their holy places will become unclean. ²⁵ When suffering comes, they will look for peace, but there will be none. ²⁶ Trouble will come upon trouble, and one story will come after another. They will look for a special dream from a man of God, but the Law will be lost from the religious leader. And wisdom will be lost from the leaders. ²⁷ The king will be full of sorrow. The king’s son will be covered with fear. And the hands of the people of the land will shake in fear. I will punish them for their ways. I will give them the punishment they have earned. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

False Gods in the House of God

8 On the fifth day of the sixth month in the sixth year, I was sitting in my house with the leaders of Judah sitting in front of me. And the hand of the Lord God came upon me there. ² Then I saw what looked like a man. From the center of His body and down to his feet, there was what looked like fire. And from the center of His body and up to his head, there was a bright light which looked like shining brass. ³ He put out what looked like a hand and caught me by the hair on my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me to see Jerusalem in a special way. He brought me to the north gate of the open space within its walls, and there was the seat of the false god which causes jealousy. ⁴ And I saw that the shining-greatness of the God of Israel was there, like what I had seen in the plain.

⁵ He said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and saw that to the north of the altar gate was this false god of jealousy in the doorway. ⁶ And the Spirit said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the people of Israel are doing? Do you see the hated sins that they are doing here to drive Me far from My holy place? But you will see even worse sins.”

⁷ Then He brought me to the gate of the open space, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall. ⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and saw a door. ⁹ He said to me, “Go in and see the hated sins that they are doing here.” ¹⁰ So I went in and looked. And I saw that on the wall all around were pictures of every kind of thing which moves along the ground, and wild animals, and hated things, and all the false gods of the people of Israel. ¹¹ Standing in front of these pictures were seventy leaders of the people of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each man held a dish in his hand from which the smell of special perfume rose up in a cloud. ¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the leaders of the people of Israel are doing without anyone seeing them? They are worshiping in a room full of false gods. For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has left the land.’” ¹³ And He said to me, “You will see even worse sins which they are doing.”

¹⁴ Then He brought me to the north gate of the Lord’s house. And I saw women sitting there crying for the false god Tammuz. ¹⁵ Then He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even worse sins than this.”

¹⁶ He brought me into the open space of the Lord’s house. And I saw about twenty-five men at the gate to the house of the Lord, between the porch and the altar. Their backs were toward the Lord’s house, and their faces were toward the east. They were bowing toward the east worshiping the sun. ¹⁷ And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it a little thing for the people of Judah to do the hated sins which they have done here? They have filled the land with sinful actions and have made Me angry again and again. See, they are doing what I hate. ¹⁸ So I will act in My anger. My eye will have no pity, and I will not let any go without punishment. Even if they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not listen to them.”

The Sinful Are Killed

9 Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, “Come near, you who punish the city, each with a destroying ax in his hand.” ² And I saw six men coming from the upper gate on the north side. Each man had his battle-ax in his hand. Among them was a certain man dressed in linen, with things for writing at his side. And the men went in and stood by the brass altar.

³ Then the shining-greatness of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had been, to the door of the Lord’s house. And He called to the man dressed in linen with the things for writing at his side. ⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who cry inside themselves over all the hated sins which are being done among them.” ⁵ But to the others I heard Him say, “Go through the city after him, and destroy. Do not let your eye have pity. And do not let any sinner go without punishment. ⁶ Kill and destroy old men, young men, young women, little children, and women. But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at My holy house.” So they started with the leaders who were in front of the Lord’s house. ⁷ He said to them, “Make the house of worship unclean and fill the open spaces with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and killed the people in the city. ⁸ As they were killing, I alone was left, and I fell on my face and cried out, “It is bad, O Lord God! Are You destroying all the people of Israel who are left, by pouring out Your anger on Jerusalem?”

⁹ Then He said to me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is very, very bad. The land is filled with blood, and the city is full of wrong-doing. For they say, ‘The Lord has left the land, and the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰ But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, and I will not leave any sinner without punishment. I will bring their wrong-doing upon their own heads.”

¹¹ Then I saw the man dressed in linen, who had the things for writing at his side, come and say, “I have done just as You have told me.”

God’s Shining-Greatness Leaves the House of God

10 Then I looked and saw something like a sapphire stone in the open space that was over the cherubim’s heads. It looked like a throne above them. ² And the Lord said to the man dressed in linen, “Go in between the wheels under the cherubim. Fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and throw them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

³ Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house of the Lord when the man went in. And the cloud filled the open space inside. ⁴ Then the shining-greatness of the Lord went up from above the cherubim to the door of the Lord’s house. The house of the Lord was filled with the cloud. And the open space was filled with the bright and shining-greatness of the Lord. ⁵ The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outside open space. It was like the voice of God All-powerful when He speaks.

⁶ When He told the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ Then one of the cherubim put out his hand to the fire which was among them. He took some and put it into the hands of the one dressed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ (The cherubim had what looked like a man’s hands under their wings.)

⁹ Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. The wheels looked like they were made of shining chrysolite stone. ¹⁰ All four of them looked the same. Each looked like they had one wheel inside another wheel. ¹¹ When they moved, they went in any of their four ways without turning as they went, but followed the way the head was facing without turning as they went. ¹² And their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. ¹³ The wheels were called in my hearing, “the turning wheels.” ¹⁴ Each one of the cherubim had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third was the face of a lion. And the fourth was the face of an eagle.

¹⁵ Then the cherubim rose up. They were the living beings that I saw by the Chebar River. ¹⁶ Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. ¹⁷ When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still. When they rose up, the wheels rose with them. For the spirit of the living beings was in them.

¹⁸ Then the shining-greatness of the Lord left the door of the Lord’s house and stood over the cherubim. ¹⁹ When the cherubim left, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in front of my eyes, with the wheels beside them. And they stood still at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house. The shining-greatness of the God of Israel was over them.

²⁰ These are the living beings that I saw under the God of Israel by the Chebar River, so I knew that they were cherubim. ²¹ Each one had four faces and four wings, and under their wings were what looked like human hands. ²² Their faces looked the same as those I had seen by the Chebar River. Each one went straight ahead.

Israel’s Leaders Are Judged

11 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faces eastward. There I saw twenty-five men at the door of the gate. Among them I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who make sinful plans and tell others in this city to do what is wrong. ³ They say, ‘Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is the pot and we are the meat.’ ⁴ So tell what will happen against them, son of man. Speak the Word of God!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and He said to me, “Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “This is what you thought, O people of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. ⁶ You have made many more of your people die in this city. You have filled its streets with them.” ⁷ So the Lord God says, “Your dead whom you have laid in the city are the meat, and this city is the pot. But I will bring you out of it. ⁸ You have been afraid of the sword, so I will bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God says. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the city, and give you over to strangers and punish you. ¹⁰ You will be killed by the sword all the way to the land of Israel, so you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat inside it. But I will punish you all the way to the land of Israel. ¹² And you will know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my Laws or obeyed them, but have followed the ways of the nations around you.”’”

¹³ While I was saying what was going to happen, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, “It is bad, Lord God! Will You bring a complete end to those of Israel who are left?”

God Will Bring Israel Back

¹⁴ Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your family, those who were driven out of the land, and all the people of Israel are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for our own.’ ¹⁶ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I sent them far away among the nations. I divided them among the countries. But still I was a holy place for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will gather you from the nations. I will gather you together out of the countries where you have been divided. And I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they return to it, they will take away all its hated and sinful things. ¹⁹ I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. ²⁰ Then they will walk in My Laws and keep them, and obey them. They will be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts go after their hated and sinful things, I will bring their actions upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them. And the shining-greatness of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ The shining-greatness of the Lord went up from the city and stood over the mountain east of it. ²⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a special dream by the Spirit of God to the Jews who had been taken to Babylon. Then the special dream that I had seen left me. ²⁵ And I told the Jews in Babylon all the things that the Lord had shown me.

The Man of God Leaves

12 The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, you live among sinful people. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear. For they are sinful people. ³ So, son of man, get your things ready to take with you to another land, and let them see you leave during the day. Let them see you leave to go to another place. It may be that they will understand even if they are sinful people. ⁴ Take your things with you during the day, with them watching you. Take the things you will need for going to another land. Then let them see you go out at evening, like those who go to another land. ⁵ While they watch, dig a hole through the wall and go out through it. ⁶ Load your things on your shoulder while they watch, and carry the load out in the dark. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you as something special for the people of Israel to see.”

⁷ I did as I was told. During the day I brought out my things that I would need to go to another land. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I went out in the dark and carried the load on my shoulder while they watched.

⁸ In the morning the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, have not the sinful people of Israel said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “This word is about the leader in Jerusalem, as well as all the people of Israel who are in it.”’ ¹¹ Tell them, ‘I am something special for you to see. As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will be taken to another land and held there.’ ¹² The leader among them will load his things on his shoulder in the dark and go out. A hole will be dug through the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³ I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My trap. I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Babylonians, yet he will not see it. And he will die there. ¹⁴ I will divide all his helpers and all his army who are around him to the four winds and have the sword follow them. ¹⁵ Then they will know that I am the Lord when I divide them among the nations, and spread them among the countries. ¹⁶ But I will let a few of them get away from the sword, hunger and disease. They will tell about all their sinful ways to the nations where they go. And they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷ The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, shake in fear as you eat your bread and drink your water. ¹⁹ Then tell the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord God says about the people of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: “They will be afraid as they eat their bread, and drink their water in fear. For their land will lay waste because of the fighting of all who live in it. ²⁰ The cities where people live will be laid waste, and the land will be destroyed. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”’”