AFV2020 - Ezekiel

Chapter 1

1:1  And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

1:2  On the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity,

1:3  The Word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. And the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

1:4  And I looked, and behold, a windstorm came out of the north, a great cloud, with fire flashing forth continually—and a brightness all around, coming out of its midst, like the color of sparkling amber out of the midst of the fire.

1:5  Also out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

1:6  And each had four faces, and each had four wings.

1:7  And their legs were straight; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.

1:8  And the hands of a man extended from under their wings on their four sides; and as for their faces and wings of the four of them,

1:9  Their wings were joined one to the other. They did not turn in their going; each one went straight forward.

1:10  And the likeness of their faces was this: the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side of the four of them; and the face of a bull on the left side of the four of them; and the face of an eagle toward the rear of the four of them.

1:11  Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward; two wings of each one were joined to another; and two wings of each covered their bodies.

1:12  And each went straight forward. To where the spirit was to go, there they went without turning as they moved.

1:13  And the likeness of the living creatures was this: they looked like burning coals of fire; like the appearance of torches. It was continually circling among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

1:14  And the living creatures kept running back and forth, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

1:15  And as I looked at the living creatures, behold, one wheel was on the earth beside the living creatures, with its four faces.

1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was the color of beryl, and the four of them had the same likeness. And their appearance and their workmanship was like a wheel inside of a wheel.

1:17  When they went, they went on their four sides; and they did not turn when they moved.

1:18  And their rims looked like this: they were high, they were even awesome. And their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them.

1:19  And when the living creatures moved the wheels moved with them; and when the living creatures were lifted from the earth, the wheels were lifted up with them.

1:20  Wherever the spirit was to go, there they went; for there the spirit was to go. And the wheels were lifted up along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

1:21  In their going, these also went; and in their standing still, these also stood still. And in their lifting up from the earth, the wheels were also lifted up along with them. For the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

1:22  And there was a likeness over the heads of the living creatures—an expanse, like the color of awesome crystal stretched out over their heads from above.

1:23  And under the expanse their wings were straight, the one toward the other. Each one had two wings covering on this side, and each had two wings covering on that side of their bodies.

1:24  And I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, as they went their sound was like the sound of tumult, as the sound of an army. In their standing still, they let down their wings.

1:25  And there was a voice from the expanse which was over their heads, when they stood still, and they let down their wings.

1:26  And from above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, like sapphire stone. And on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

1:27  And I saw Him appearing as the color of polished bronze, looking like fire within it all around. From the likeness of His loins even upward, and from the likeness of His loins even downward, I saw Him, looking like fire, and there was brightness all around Him.

1:28  As the rainbow appears that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of His brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And I saw. And I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.

Chapter 2

2:1  And He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you."

2:2  And the Spirit entered into me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet, so that I heard Him Who spoke to me.

2:3  And He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation, who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me, even unto this very day.

2:4  For they are impudent children, and hard of heart. I am sending you to them; and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.'

2:5  And they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear—for they are a rebellious house—yet they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

2:6  And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, nor of their words, though defiers and despisers are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words, nor frightened by their faces, for they are a rebellious house.

2:7  And you shall speak My words to them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious.

2:8  But you, son of man, hear what I am saying to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

2:9  And I looked, and behold! A hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll of a book was in it.

2:10  And He spread it before me; and it was written on the front and on the back. And written on it were lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Chapter 3

3:1  And He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel."

3:2  So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

3:3  And He said to me, "Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you." Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was like honey for sweetness.

3:4  And He said to me, "Son of man, go! Go up to the house of Israel and speak to them with My words.

3:5  For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a difficult language, but to the house of Israel;

3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I had sent you to them, they would have hearkened to you.

3:7  But the house of Israel will not be willing to hearken to you, for they will not be willing to hearken to Me; for all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.

3:8  Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces and your forehead strong against their foreheads.

3:9  I have made your forehead as an adamant stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or dismayed by their faces, for they are a rebellious house."

3:10  And He said to me, "Son of man, receive all My words which I shall speak to you. Receive them to your heart, and hear with your ears.

3:11  And go! Go to those of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD;' whether they will hear or whether they will forbear."

3:12  And the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a sound of a great rushing, saying, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place."

3:13  I also heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the wheels along with them, and a sound of a great rushing.

3:14  So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

3:15  Then I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat where they sat; and I also remained there astonished among them seven days.

3:16  And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

3:17  "Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me.

3:18  When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die;' and you do not give him warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.

3:19  Yet if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

3:20  And when the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.

3:21  But if you warn the righteous so that the righteous does not sin, and if he does not sin, he shall surely live because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul."

3:22  And the hand of the LORD was on me there. And He said to me, "Arise, go out into the plain, and I will talk with you there."

3:23  Then I arose and went out into the plain; and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.

3:24  And the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and spoke with me, and said to me, "Go, shut yourself inside your house!

3:25  But you, O son of man, behold, they shall put cords upon you and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them.

3:26  And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb and shall not be one who warns them. For they are a rebellious house.

3:27  But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' He who hears, let him hear; and he who stops his ears, let him stop his ears; for they are a rebellious house.

Chapter 4

4:1  "And you, son of man, take a tile to yourself, and lay it before you, and portray on it the city Jerusalem.

4:2  And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mound against it. Also set the camp against it, and set battering rams against it all around.

4:3  And take an iron griddle to yourself, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. And set your face toward it, and it shall be under attack. And you shall set a battle against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

4:4  Also lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number of days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.

4:5  For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

4:6  And when you have fulfilled them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days; a day for a year; a day for a year, I have set it upon you.

4:7  And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it.

4:8  And, behold, I will lay cords on you, and you shall not turn yourself from one side to another until you have ended the days of your siege.

4:9  Take also to yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. According to the number of the days that you shall lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat of it.

4:10  And your food which you shall eat shall be by weight twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it.

4:11  You shall also drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. From time to time you shall drink.

4:12  And you shall eat it as barley cakes in their sight, and you shall bake it with dung of the excrement of man."

4:13  And the LORD said, "Even so shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations, where I will drive them."

4:14  Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, my soul has not been defiled. For from my youth up, even till now, I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither did there come any unclean flesh into my mouth."

4:15  Then He said to me, "Lo, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread with it."

4:16  And He said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they shall eat bread by weight, and with care. And they shall drink water by measure, and in silence,

4:17  So that they may lack bread and water, and be appalled with one another, and waste away for their iniquity."

Chapter 5

5:1  "And you, son of man, take a sharp sword to yourself, take a barber's razor also, and cause it to pass on your head and on your beard. Then take scales to weigh and divide the hair.

5:2  You shall burn a third part with fire in the middle of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part and beat around it with a sword; and you shall scatter a third part in the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

5:3  Also you shall take a few of them in number, and tie them up in the hem of your garments.

5:4  Then take of them again, and throw them into the middle of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for a fire shall come forth into all the house of Israel.

5:5  Thus says the Lord GOD, 'This is Jerusalem. I have set it in the midst of the nations.

5:6  And she has rebelled against My ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have rejected My judgments and My laws; they have not walked in them.'

5:7  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in My laws, neither have kept My judgments, nor have done according to the judgments of the nations all around you;'

5:8  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; 'Behold, I, even I, am against you, and will carry out judgments in the sight of the nations.

5:9  And I will do in you that which I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations.

5:10  Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in your midst, and the sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter the whole remnant of you into all the winds.

5:11  Therefore, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; neither shall My eye spare you, nor will I have any pity.

5:12  A third part of you shall die with the plague, and shall be consumed with the famine in your midst. And a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

5:13  Thus shall My anger be fulfilled, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted. And they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in My zeal, when I have fulfilled My fury upon them.

5:14  And I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by.

5:15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, a chastening and an astonishment to the nations which are all around you, when I shall execute judgments against you in anger and in fury and in raging rebukes; I the LORD have spoken it.

5:16  When I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, which I will send to destroy you; even I will increase the famine upon you, and break your staff of bread;

5:17  Yea, I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and you will be bereaved. And pestilence and blood shall pass among you; and I shall bring a sword on you. I the LORD have spoken it.' ”

Chapter 6

6:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6:2  "Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

6:3  And say, 'Mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, "Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

6:4  And your altars shall be desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken. And I will make your slain fall before your idols.

6:5  And I will put the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

6:6  In all the places where you live, the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; so that your altars may be laid waste and become desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.

6:7  And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

6:8  Yet I will leave a remnant that may be left to you—some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered throughout the countries.

6:9  And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they shall be exiled, how I have been grieved by their whoring heart which has departed from Me, and with their whoring eyes which go after their idols. And they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

6:10  And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would bring this evil upon them."

6:11  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Strike with your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, 'Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague.

6:12  He who is afar off shall die of the plague; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is under siege shall die by the famine. Thus I will fulfill My fury upon them.

6:13  Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their dead shall be among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet incense to all their idols.

6:14  And I will stretch out My hand on them and make the land desolate, yea, even more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all the places where they live; and they shall know that I am the LORD.' " ’ ”

Chapter 7

7:1  Moreover the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

7:2  "And also you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, 'An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.

7:3  Now the end has come upon you, and I will send My anger upon you and will judge you according to your ways, and will lay upon you all your abominations.

7:4  And My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity. But I will repay your ways upon you, and your abominations shall be in your midst; and you shall know that I am the LORD.'

7:5  Thus says the Lord GOD, 'An evil: Behold, an unheard of evil has come!

7:6  An end has come, the end has come! It awakes against you; behold, it has come.

7:7  The encirclement of doom has come unto you, O dwellers of the land. The time has come, the day of tumult is near, and not a joyful shouting upon the mountains.

7:8  And I will soon pour out My fury upon you, and fulfill My anger upon you. And I will judge you according to your ways, and will repay you for all your abominations.

7:9  And My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways and your abominations that are in your midst. And you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes.

7:10  Behold the day! Behold, it has come; the encirclement of doom has gone out; the rod has blossomed; arrogance has budded.

7:11  Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their riches; nor shall there be wailing for them.

7:12  The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is upon all her multitude.

7:13  For the seller shall not recover the thing he has sold as long as both of them live; for the vision to all her multitude shall not be reversed, neither shall any preserve his life because of the iniquity

7:14  They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goes to the battle, for My wrath is upon all her multitude.

7:15  The sword is without, and the plague and the famine within. He who is in the field shall die with the sword; and he who is in the city shall be devoured by famine and plague.

7:16  But if their fugitives shall escape, then they shall be like doves of the valleys on the mountains, all of them mourning, each one for his iniquity.

7:17  All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall go as weak as water.

7:18  They shall also gird on sackcloth, and trembling shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads.

7:19  They shall throw their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because their iniquity has become a stumbling block for them.

7:20  And the beauty of His ornaments— which He set in majesty—they made of it the images of their abominations and of their hateful things; therefore I make it to them as an unclean thing.

7:21  And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prize, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall defile it.

7:22  I will also turn My face from them, and they shall pollute My secret place; and robbers shall enter into it and defile it.

7:23  Make a chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

7:24  And I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses. I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.

7:25  Terror comes; and they shall seek peace, but there shall be none.

7:26  Disaster shall come upon disaster, and rumor shall be upon rumor. And they shall seek a vision from the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and wisdom from the elders.

7:27  The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble. I will do to them according to their way, and according to their uncleanness I will judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.' ”

Chapter 8

8:1  And it was in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me. And the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there.

8:2  And I looked, and behold! A likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of His loins and downward, like fire. And from His loins and upward as the look of brightness, like the color of amber.

8:3  And He put out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the opening of the inner gate facing north, where there was a seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

8:4  And, behold! The glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

8:5  And He said to me, "Son of man, lift up your eyes now to the way of the north." So I lifted up my eyes toward the way of the north, and behold, northward at the gate of the altar the image of jealousy was at the entrance.

8:6  And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they do; even the great abominations which the house of Israel is doing here, that I should go far off from My sanctuary? But turn again, and you shall see greater abominations."

8:7  And He brought me to the opening of the court; and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall.

8:8  And He said to me, "Son of man, dig in the wall now." And I dug in the wall, and, behold, an opening.

8:9  And he said to me. "Go in and see the evil abominations that they do here."

8:10  And I went in and saw. And behold, every kind of creeping thing, and hateful beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.

8:11  And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, standing in front of them, these were before them, and each man with his censer in his hand. And the sweet smelling cloud of incense was rising.

8:12  And He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his room of idols? For they are saying, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the earth.' "

8:13  He also said to me, "You shall see greater abominations that they are committing."

8:14  And He brought me to the opening of the gate of the LORD'S house, toward the north. And behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

8:15  And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? You shall see greater abominations than these."

8:16  And He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and behold, at the opening of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.

8:17  And He said to me, "Have you seen, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they do the hateful things which they do here? For they have filled the land with violence and have turned to provoke Me to anger still more. And lo, they put the branch to their nose.

8:18  Therefore I will also deal with fury; My eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."

Chapter 9

9:1  And He cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, "Let the executioners of the city draw near, even each with his destroying weapon in his hand."

9:2  And behold, six men came from the way of the Upper Gate which faces north, and each had his slaughter weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen, and a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen, with the writer's inkhorn by his side.

9:4  And the LORD said to him, "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst."

9:5  And He said to those in my hearing, "Go through the city after him, and slaughter. Let not your eye spare, nor have pity.

9:6  Fully destroy old men, young men and virgins, and little children and women. But do not come near any man on whom is the mark. And begin at My sanctuary." And they began with the old men who were before the temple.

9:7  And He said to them, "Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" And they went out and slaughtered in the city.

9:8  And it came to pass as they were slaying them, and I was left alone, then I fell on my face and cried, and said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in Your pouring out of Your fury on Jerusalem?"

9:9  And He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land; and, the LORD does not see.'

9:10  And even I, My eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head."

9:11  And behold, the man clothed with linen, with the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, "I have done as You have commanded me."

Chapter 10

10:1  And I looked, and behold! In the expanse over the head of the cherubim appeared the form of a throne, like a sapphire stone, above them.

10:2  And He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, "Go in among the wheels, under the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them upon the city." And he went in before me.

10:3  And the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

10:4  And the glory of the LORD rose from the cherubim, over the threshold of the house. And the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory.

10:5  And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard over the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaks.

10:6  And it came to pass when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, "Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim;" then he went in and stood beside a wheel.

10:7  And one cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire between the cherubim, and he lifted it and put it into the hands of the one clothed with linen. And he took it and went out.

10:8  And the form of a man's hand was seen under the wings of the cherubim.

10:9  And I looked, and behold, the four wheels were beside the cherubim, one wheel was by one cherub, and another wheel by one cherub; and the wheels looked like the color of a beryl stone.

10:10  And their appearance was as one, the four of them, as if the wheel were in the midst of the wheel.

10:11  When they went, they went on their four sides. They did not turn as they went, but in the direction the head was facing they followed. They did not turn as they went.

10:12  And their whole bodies, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around, even their wheels that the four of them had.

10:13  As for the wheels, it was called to them in my hearing, "O whirling wheel!"

10:14  And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

10:15  And the cherubim rose up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

10:16  And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to soar from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them.

10:17  When they stood still, these stood still, and when they rose up, these lifted up. For the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

10:18  And the glory of the LORD went from the threshold of the temple, and stood over the cherubim.

10:19  And the cherubim lifted up their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels also were beside them. And they stood at the door of the eastern gate of the LORD'S house. And the glory of the God of Israel was over them from above.

10:20  These were the living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.

10:21  Four, even four faces belonged to each one; and four wings to each one. And the form of a man's hands was under their wings.

10:22  And the form of their faces was the same as the faces that I saw by the river Chebar, even their appearance. They each went straight forward.

Chapter 11

11:1  And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the eastern gate of the LORD'S house, which faces eastward. And behold, twenty-five men were at the opening of the gate; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

11:2  And He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city;

11:3  Who say, 'The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.'

11:4  Therefore prophesy against them. Prophesy, O son of man!

11:5  And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, "Speak, 'Thus says the LORD, "Thus you have said, O house of Israel, for I Myself know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

11:6  You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain."

11:7  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Your slain whom you have laid in her midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron. But I will bring you out of her midst.

11:8  You have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you," says the Lord GOD.

11:9  "And I will bring you out of her midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

11:10  You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you unto the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

11:11  This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the flesh in her midst. But I will judge you unto the border of Israel,

11:12  And you shall know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you executed My ordinances, but have done after the customs of the nations all around you." ' ”

11:13  And it came to pass when I prophesied, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. And I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

11:14  Again the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

11:15  "Son of man, your brethren, even your brethren, the men of your kindred, and all the house of Israel, of all that have heard the inhabitants of Jerusalem say to all of them, 'Go far away from the LORD; this land is given to us for a possession.'

11:16  Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Though I have sent them far off among the nations, and though I scat- tered them among the countries, yet I will be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they have gone." '

11:17  Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." '

11:18  And they shall come there, and they shall take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.

11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh,

11:20  So that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

11:21  And as to those whose heart is going after their detestable things, and also their heart is after their abominable idols, I will recompense their way upon their own heads," says the Lord GOD.

11:22  And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels beside them. And the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

11:23  And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

11:24  And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. And the vision that I had seen went up from me.

11:25  And I spoke to the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

Chapter 12

12:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:2  "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious house.

12:3  Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself vessels for exile, and go into exile by day in their sight. And you shall be exiled from your place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

12:4  And you shall bring out your vessels, as vessels for exile, by day in their sight. And you shall go out at evening in their sight, as those going into exile.

12:5  Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your gear through it.

12:6  In their sight you shall carry it on your shoulders, carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you do not see the ground, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel."

12:7  And I did as I was commanded. By day I brought out my vessel as a vessel for exile. And in the evening I dug by hand through the wall. I brought it out in the dark, and I carried it on my shoulder in their sight.

12:8  And in the morning the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:9  "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'

12:10  Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "This burden concerns the king in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel among them." '

12:11  Say, 'I am your sign: As I have done, so it shall be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.'

12:12  And the prince who is among them shall carry burdens on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out. He shall hide his face so that he does not see the ground with his eye.

12:13  I will also spread My net upon him, and He shall be taken in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans. Yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there.

12:14  And I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

12:15  And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations and disperse them in the countries.

12:16  But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the plague, so that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go. And they shall know that I am the LORD."

12:17  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:18  "Son of man, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and anxiety.

12:19  And say to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the people of Jerusalem and in the land of Israel, "They shall eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with despair, so that her land may be desolate from all that is therein because of the violence of all those who dwell in it.

12:20  And the cities that have people shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate. And you shall know that I am the LORD." ' ”

12:21  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:22  "Son of man, what is this proverb that you have concerning the land of Israel, saying: 'The days are prolonged and every vision shall fail'?

12:23  Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel." But say to them, "The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.

12:24  For there shall never again be any vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

12:25  For I, the LORD, will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be done. It shall no more be delayed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and will do it," says the Lord GOD.' ”

12:26  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:27  "Son of man, behold, the house of Israel says, 'The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off.'

12:28  Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "There shall none of my words be delayed any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done," says the Lord GOD.' ”

Chapter 13

13:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

13:2  "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy. And say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, 'Hear the Word of the LORD:

13:3  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

13:4  O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the ruins.

13:5  You have not gone up into the breach, nor built the wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

13:6  They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, 'The LORD says.' And the LORD has not sent them; but they hoped to confirm their word.

13:7  Did you not see a vain vision, and speak a lying divination? When you say, 'The LORD says;' although I have not spoken."

13:8  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have spoken vanity and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you," says the Lord GOD.

13:9  "And My hand shall be against the prophets who see vanity and who divine a lie. They shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

13:10  Because, even because they have seduced My people, saying, 'Peace;' and there was no peace—and when anyone builds a weak wall they cover it with whitewash.

13:11  Say to those who cover it with whitewash, that it shall fall; there will be a flooding rain; and you, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind will break forth.

13:12  And, behold, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said to you, 'Where is the whitewash with which you have covered it?' ”

13:13  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury. And there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and hailstones in fury to destroy it.

13:14  And I will break down the wall that you have covered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground; yea, I will expose its foundation. And it shall fall, and you shall be destroyed in her midst; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

13:15  And I will fulfill My wrath on the wall and on those who covered it with whitewash. And I will say to you, 'The wall is no more;' and, 'Those who whitewashed it are no more—that is,

13:16  The prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, when there is no peace,' " says the LORD.'

13:17  And likewise you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. And prophesy against them,

13:18  And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves, and make long veils for the head of every woman of stature, to hunt souls! Will you hunt down the lives of My people but preserve your own?

13:19  And you have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls that should not die; and to save alive the souls that should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies."

13:20  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against your armbands with which you are hunting the souls, as birds. And I will tear them from your arms, and I will set free the people whom you hunt as birds.

13:21  Also I will tear your long veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no more be in your hand to be hunted. And you shall know that I am the LORD.

13:22  Because with lies you have saddened the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and have made the hands of the wicked strong, so that he should not turn from his wicked way, that his life may be saved;

13:23  Therefore you shall see no more vanity, and you shall not divine any divination. And I will deliver My people out of your hands; and you shall know that I am the LORD." ' ”

Chapter 14

14:1  And some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

14:2  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

14:3  "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be inquired of by them?

14:4  Therefore speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols:

14:5  So that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them." '

14:6  Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Repent and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who lives in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to ask of him concerning Me; I the LORD will answer him Myself.

14:8  And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him for a sign and for a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

14:9  And the prophet, if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.

14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeks unto him.

14:11  So that the house of Israel may never again go astray from Me, nor be defiled again with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people, and I may be their God," says the Lord GOD.' ”

14:12  The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

14:13  "Son of man, when a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, and I stretch out My hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and will cut off man and beast from it,

14:14  And though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver only their own lives by their righteousness," says the Lord GOD.

14:15  "If I cause wild beasts to come through the land, and they spoil it and it becomes desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts,

14:16  Though these three men were in its midst, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

14:17  Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land;' so that I cut off man and beast from it;

14:18  Though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

14:19  Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it;

14:20  Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter. They shall only deliver their own lives by their righteousness."

14:21  For thus says the Lord GOD, "How much more when I send My four evil judgments against Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the destroying beast, and the pestilence, to cut off man and beast from it?

14:22  Yet, behold, there shall be left a remnant in it that shall be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come out to you, and when you shall see their ways and their doings, then you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I brought on Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.

14:23  And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their doings. And you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it," says the Lord GOD.

Chapter 15

15:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

15:2  "Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

15:3  Shall wood be taken from it to do work? Or will men take from it for a peg to hang any vessel on it?

15:4  Behold, it is instead cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both its ends, and its middle is charred. Is it fit for any work?

15:5  Behold, when it was whole, it was not useful for work. How much less when the fire has devoured it, and it is charred? Shall it yet be made to work?

15:6  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'As the vine is among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give the people of Jerusalem, as fuel for the fire.

15:7  And I will set My face against them; they shall go out from the fire, yet the fire will still devour them. And you shall know that I am the LORD when I set My face against them.

15:8  And I will make the land desolate because they have committed a treacherous act,' says the Lord GOD."

Chapter 16

16:1  Again the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

16:2  "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.

16:3  And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, "Your origin and your birth is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.

16:4  And as for your birth, in the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you. And you were not salted, nor swaddled at all.

16:5  No eye pitied you, to do any of these for you, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown out into the open field because your life was despised in the day that you were born.

16:6  And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yea, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'

16:7  I have caused you to multiply like the growth of the field, and you increased and grew up, and became exceedingly beautiful; Your breasts are formed, and your hair is grown, yet you were naked and bare.

16:8  And I passed by you and looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you," says the Lord GOD. "And you became Mine."

16:9  "And I washed you with water; I washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

16:10  I also clothed you with embroidered work, and I shod you with leather sandals. And I wrapped you in fine linen, and I covered you with silk.

16:11  And I adorned you with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands and a chain on your neck.

16:12  And I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

16:13  And you were adorned with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered work. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; and you were exceedingly beautiful. And you advanced into a kingdom.

16:14  And your name went out among the nations because of your beauty; for it was perfect through My splendor, which I had put on you," says the Lord GOD.

16:15  "But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot because of your name, and poured out your fornications on all who passed by—on any who would have it.

16:16  And you took from your clothes and adorned your high places with different colors, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor should ever be!

16:17  And you have taken of your beautiful jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made images of men, and did commit whoredom with them.

16:18  And you took your embroidered dresses and covered them, and you have given to them My oil and My incense.

16:19  Also My food which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you have given it to them for a sweet savour. And so it was," says the Lord GOD.

16:20  "And you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to Me, and you sacrificed them unto these images to be devoured. Is this, your whoredoms so small a matter?

16:21  You have slaughtered My children and delivered them up and caused them to pass through the fire.

16:22  And in all your hateful deeds and your whoredoms you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and squirming in your own blood.

16:23  'Woe, woe to you says the Lord GOD!' For it came to pass after all your wickedness,

16:24  That you have also built yourself an eminent place, and you have made for yourself a high place in every square.

16:25  You have built your high place at the head of every crossroad, and have made your beauty to be despised, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and have multiplied your whoredoms.

16:26  You have also whored with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh, and have multiplied your whoredoms to provoke Me to anger.

16:27  And, behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over you, and diminished your allotted portion. And I gave you over to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

16:28  You have played the whore also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yea, you played the whore also, and yet you could not be satisfied.

16:29  Moreover you have multiplied your whoredoms in the land of Canaan, to the Chaldean, and yet even in this you were not satisfied.

16:30  How weak is your heart," says the Lord GOD, "since you do all these, the work of a woman, an imperious harlot;

16:31  In that you build your eminent place at the head of every crossroad, and make your high place in every square. Yet you have not been as a harlot, in that you scorn any payment to you from your lovers.

16:32  You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her own husband!

16:33  To all whores men give gifts, but instead you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them to come to you from all around, for your whoredoms.

16:34  And in you was the opposite from other women in your whoredoms, since no one whores after you, and in that you give payment, and payment is not given to you. Therefore you are contrary."

16:35  Therefore, O harlot, hear the Word of the LORD.

16:36  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness was bared in your whoredoms with your lovers, and because of all the idols of your abominations, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them;

16:37  Behold, therefore I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, even all whom you loved, with all whom you have hated; I will even gather them against you from all around, and will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.

16:38  And I will judge you with the judgments of adulteresses, and as one who sheds blood. And I will bring upon you the blood of fury and jealousy.

16:39  And I will also give you into their hands, and they will tear down your eminent places, and will demolish your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, and shall take your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and bare.

16:40  They shall also raise a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.

16:41  And they shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. And I will make you stop whoring; and also, you shall no longer hire lovers any more.

16:42  And I will satisfy My fury upon you, and My jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet and will be angry no more.

16:43  Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have troubled Me in all these things; so, behold, I will also repay your own way upon your head," says the Lord GOD. "And you shall no longer commit this wickedness above all your abominations.

16:44  Behold, all who use proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, 'As is the mother, so is her daughter.'

16:45  You are your mother's daughter, who despises her husband and her sons. And you are the sister of your sisters, who despise their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

16:46  And your older sister is Samaria, she and her daughters who dwell at your left hand. And your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

16:47  Yet you have not only walked according to their ways, nor have only done according to their hateful deeds; but, as if it were a very little thing, you were even corrupted more than they were in all your ways.

16:48  As I live," says the Lord GOD, "Neither Sodom your sister, nor her daughters, have done as you have done, you and your daughters.

16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Nor did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

16:50  And they were haughty and did abominable things before Me, therefore I took them away as I saw fit.

16:51  Nor has Samaria sinned as much as half your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have done.

16:52  You also, who have judged your sisters, will bear your own shame for your sins which you have committed—for you have been more abominable than they. By comparison they are more righteous than you! Yea, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

16:53  And I shall bring them back from captivity, and the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captives of your captivity among them;

16:54  So that you may bear your shame, and blush in all that you have done, since you are a comfort to them.

16:55  And your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.

16:56  For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,

16:57  Before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of your reproach for the daughters of Edom, and of all her neighbors, the daughters of the Philistines who hated you from all around.

16:58  You have borne your lewdness and your abominations," says the LORD.

16:59  For thus says the Lord GOD, "I will even deal with you as you have done, in that you have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

16:60  But I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

16:61  And you shall remember your ways and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your older and your younger. And I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of your covenant.

16:62  And I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the LORD;

16:63  So that you may remember and be ashamed; and it will not be possible to open your mouth any more because of your shame; in that I make an atonement for you for all that you have done," says the Lord GOD.' ”

Chapter 17

17:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

17:2  "Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

17:3  And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "A great eagle with great wings, long of pinion, full of feathers, who had different colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar.

17:4  He plucked off the top of its young twigs and carried it into a land of traders. He set it in a city of merchants.

17:5  He also took of the seed of the land and planted it in a fruitful field. He placed it by abundant waters and set it as a willow tree.

17:6  And it grew and became a spreading low vine, whose branches turned toward him. But its roots remained under him. So it became a vine and brought out branches and shot out boughs.

17:7  There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot out its branches toward him, from the beds where it was planted, that He might water it.

17:8  It was planted in a good soil by great majestic waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, to be a splendid vine."

17:9  Say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, and it withers? Even all its sprouting leaves shall wither, neither shall great power or much people be at hand when it is plucked up by its roots.

17:10  And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the furrows where it sprouted." ' "

17:11  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

17:12  "Say now to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem and has taken its king and its rulers, and brings them to himself to Babylon.

17:13  And he has taken of the king's seed and has made a covenant with him, and has taken an oath from him. He has also taken the mighty of the land,

17:14  So that the kingdom might be low, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

17:15  But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, to give him horses and many people. Shall he be blessed? Shall he who does such things escape? Or shall he break the covenant and be delivered?

17:16  As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

17:17  Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build siege forts to cut off many persons.

17:18  And he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant. And, behold, he had given his hand, and has done all these, he shall not escape.' ”

17:19  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely My oath that he has despised, and My covenant that he has broken, I will even repay it upon his own head.

17:20  And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will judge him there for his sin which he has sinned against Me.

17:21  And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward all winds. And you shall know that I the LORD have spoken it."

17:22  Thus says the Lord GOD, "I, even I, will also take of the top of the highest cedar and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

17:23  In the mountain of the height of Israel, I will plant it. And it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. And under it shall dwell birds of every kind; in the shadow of its branches they shall dwell.

17:24  And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I the LORD have spoken it and have done it."

Chapter 18

18:1  The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18:2  "What do you mean by this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge'?"

18:3  " As I live," says the Lord GOD, "to you there is no longer any occasion to use this proverb in Israel.

18:4  Behold, all souls are Mine. As the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son, they are Mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.

18:5  But a man who is righteous and does that which is lawful and right,

18:6  And has not eaten on the mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor has defiled his neighbor's wife, nor has come near a menstruating woman,

18:7  And has not oppressed any man, but has given the debtor's pledge back to him, has robbed none by violence, has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment;

18:8  He does not lend out at usury, nor has taken any increase, he has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,

18:9  Has walked in My statutes, and has kept My ordinances to deal truly, he is righteous, he shall surely live," says the Lord GOD.

18:10  "And if he beget a son who is a robber, who sheds blood, and who does the like of any one of these things—

18:11  And the father does not do any of these himself—but his son has even eaten on the mountains, and has defiled his neighbor's wife;

18:12  Has oppressed the poor and needy; has committed robbery; has not given back the pledge; and has lifted up his eyes to the idols; has committed abomination;

18:13  Has loaned out at usury; and has taken increase—shall the son then live? He shall not live! He has done all these abominations; he shall surely be put to death; his blood shall be upon him.

18:14  But, if a man begets a son who sees all his father's sins which he has done, and fears, and does not do like him—

18:15  Who has not eaten on the mountains; nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; has not defiled his neighbor's wife;

18:16  Nor has oppressed any man; has not withheld the pledge; nor has committed robbery by violence; but has given his bread to the hungry; and has covered the naked with clothes;

18:17  Has withdrawn his hand from oppressing the poor; has not received usury nor increase; has done My ordinances; has walked in My statutes—he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live.

18:18  His father, because he extorted and robbed his brother by robbery, and did what is not good among his people; lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.

18:19  Yet you say, 'Why? Does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.

18:20  The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

18:21  But if the wicked will turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

18:22  All his transgressions that he has done, they shall not be mentioned to him; in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.

18:23  "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD. "Is it not pleasing, instead, that he should turn from his ways and live?

18:24  But when the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked do, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered; because of his trespass that he has trespassed, and because of his sin that he has sinned, because of them he shall die.

18:25  Yet you say, 'The way of the LORD is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not My way fair? Are not your ways unfair?

18:26  When a righteous one turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies because of it; for his iniquity that he has done, he shall die.

18:27  Again, when the wicked turns away from his wickedness that he has committed and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

18:28  Because he carefully considers, and turns away from all his sins that he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

18:29  Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the LORD is not fair.' O house of Israel, are not My ways fair? Are not your ways unfair?

18:30  Thus I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one of you according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.

18:31  Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

18:32  For I have no delight in the death of him who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn yourselves and live."

Chapter 19

19:1  "And take up a weeping for the princes of Israel,

19:2  And say, 'What is your mother? A lioness. She lay down among lions; she reared her cubs among young lions.

19:3  And she brought up one of her cubs; it became a strong lion and learned to tear the prey. It devoured men.

19:4  The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

19:5  And when she saw that she had waited and that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.

19:6  And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.

19:7  And he knew desolate palaces, and he laid their cities waste, and the land and its fullness was desolated from the sound of his roaring.

19:8  And the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit.

19:9  And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him in hunting nets, so that his voice should never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.

19:10  Your mother is like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters; she was fruitful and full of branches because of many waters.

19:11  And she had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches; and it was seen in her height, with the multitude of her branches.

19:12  But she was plucked up in fury; she was thrown down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire burned them up.

19:13  And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

19:14  And fire has gone out from a rod of her branches, which has licked up her fruit so that there is no strong rod in her to be a scepter to rule.' " This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Chapter 20

20:1  And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to ask of the LORD, and sat before me.

20:2  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

20:3  "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you." '

20:4  Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.

20:5  And say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD; "In the day that I chose Israel, and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt; when I lifted up My hand to them, saying, 'I am the LORD your God;'

20:6  In the day that I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

20:7  Then I said to them, 'Let each man throw away the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'

20:8  But they rebelled against Me and would not hearken to Me. They did not each man throw away the abominations of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. And I said, 'I will pour out My fury against them to fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.'

20:9  But I worked for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the heathen among whom they were, for I made Myself known to them in their eyes, by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

20:10  And I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

20:11  And I gave them My statutes and showed them My ordinances, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

20:12  And also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD Who sanctifies them.

20:13  But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My ordinances, which if a man does, he shall even live in them. And they greatly polluted My Sabbaths. And I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them in the wilderness to destroy them.'

20:14  But I worked for My name's sake, so that it should not be profaned before the heathen in whose sight I brought them out.

20:15  And also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, and swore that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them—flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—

20:16  Because they despised My judgments and walked not in My statutes; and they polluted My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.

20:17  Nevertheless My eye spared them— from destroying them; nor did I make an end of them in the wilderness.

20:18  But I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

20:19  I am the LORD your God. Walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them,

20:20  And keep My Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'

20:21  But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes, nor keep My ordinances to do them—the ordinances which, if a man do, he shall even live in them. And they polluted My Sabbaths, and I said, I would pour out My fury on them, to fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.

20:22  Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and worked for My name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the eyes of the heathen, in whose eyes I brought them out.

20:23  I also lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, swearing that I would scatter them among the heathen and scatter them throughout the lands,

20:24  Because they had not done My ordinances, but had despised My statutes and had polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

20:25  Wherefore I also gave them over to their own statutes that were not good, and their own ordinances by which they could not live.

20:26  And I defiled them in their own gifts, in that they caused all that opened the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD." '

20:27  Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have acted treacherously against Me.

20:28  When I had brought them into the land which I lifted up My hand to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered their sacrifices there. And there they provok Me with their offerings. There also they made their sweet savor, and poured out their drink offerings.

20:29  And I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you go?' And its name is called High Place to this day." '

20:30  Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you defiled in the same way as your fathers? And do you commit whoredoms after their abominations?

20:31  For when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you.

20:32  And what comes into your mind shall not come to pass at all—in that you say, 'We will be like the heathen, like the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'

20:33  As I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, I will reign over you.

20:34  And I will bring you out from the people, and I will gather you out of the lands in which you are scattered among them, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out.

20:35  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

20:36  Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you," says the Lord GOD.

20:37  "And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

20:38  And I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out from the land where they reside, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD.

20:39  As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD, "Go everyone and serve his idols, but later, you will surely hearken to Me, and no longer profane My Holy name with your gifts and idols.

20:40  For in My holy mountain, in the mountain height of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "there all the house of Israel, all of those in the land, shall serve Me. There will I receive them, and there will I ask for your offerings and the firstfruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

20:41  I will receive you with your sweet savour when I bring you out from the people and gather you out of the lands into which you have been scattered among them. And I will be sanctified in you before the nations.

20:42  And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I lifted up My hand to give to your fathers.

20:43  And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings in which you have been defiled. And you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils which you have committed.

20:44  And you shall know that I am the LORD when I deal with you for My name's sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel," says the Lord GOD.' "

20:45  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

20:46  "Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop a word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the south.

20:47  And say to the forest of the south, 'Hear the Word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall burn up every green tree in you, and every dry tree among you. The blazing flame shall not be put out, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned by it.

20:48  And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it. It shall not be put out." ' "

20:49  And I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, 'Does he not speak in parables?' "

Chapter 21

21:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

21:2  "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel.

21:3  And say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am against you, and will draw My sword out of its sheath and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

21:4  Since I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you, therefore My sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north,

21:5  Thus all flesh shall know that I, the LORD, have drawn out My sword from its sheath. It shall not be sheathed again." '

21:6  And therefore you, son of man, sigh with the breaking of your heart; and groan with bitterness before their eyes.

21:7  And it will be when they say to you, 'Why do you sigh?' You shall answer, 'Because of the news that it is coming; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water.' Behold, it comes, and it shall be done," says the Lord GOD.

21:8  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

21:9  "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the LORD.' Say, 'A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished.

21:10  It is sharpened in order to make a slaughter; it is polished so that it may glitter. Or shall we make mirth against the rod of My son, despising every tree?

21:11  And He has given it to be polished, to be taken by the hand. The sword, it is sharpened, and it is polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.'

21:12  Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be upon My people; it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon My people; therefore slap your thigh.

21:13  Because it is a trial, and what if the sword even despises the rod? It shall be no more," says the Lord GOD.

21:14  "And you, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain. It is the sword of great slaughter, closing in on them from every side;

21:15  So that their heart may melt, and many stumble at all their gates, I have given the threatening sword. Ah! It is made like lightning; it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

21:16  Sharpen yourself on the right! Set yourself on the left, wherever your edge is set.

21:17  And also I, even I, will strike My hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest. I the LORD have spoken it."

21:18  The Word of the LORD came to me saying,

21:19  "And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come out of one land. And make a sign at the head of the way to the city.

21:20  You shall make a way that the sword may enter into Rabbah of the Ammonites, and into Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.

21:21  For the king of Babylon shall stand at the parting of the way, at the head of the two highways, to practice divination. He shall shake arrows; he shall ask household idols; he shall look at the liver.

21:22  At his right hand shall be the divining for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to pour out and to build a siege wall.

21:23  And it shall be to them a false divination in their eyes, those who have sworn solemn oaths. But He brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be captured.

21:24  Therefore thus says the LORD God, 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, in that your sins are revealed in all your deeds; because you have been remembered, you shall be taken with the hand.

21:25  And you, O wicked and profane prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall have an end.

21:26  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Remove the diadem, and take off the crown. This shall not be as it was. Exalt the low one, and abase the high one.

21:27  I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. Also this shall not be until the coming of Him whose right it is. And I will give it to Him." '

21:28  And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach.' Even say, 'The sword, the sword is drawn, polished for slaughter to make an end, that it may be like lightning;

21:29  While they see false visions for you, while they divine a lie to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked that are to be slain, whose day has come in the time of final punishment.

21:30  Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

21:31  And I will pour out My indignation on you; with the fire of My wrath I will blow against you, and give you into the hand of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.

21:32  You shall be for fuel to the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be remembered no more; for I the LORD have spoken it.' ”

Chapter 22

22:1  Moreover the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

22:2  "Now you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? And yes, you shall make her know all her abominations.

22:3  Then you shall say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "The city sheds blood in her midst that her time may come, and makes idols unto herself to defile herself.

22:4  You are guilty by the blood that you have shed; and you have defiled yourself with your idols that you have made. And you have caused your days to draw near, and have come unto your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all countries.

22:5  Those who are near and those far from you shall mock against you, O infamous one and full of tumult.

22:6  Behold, the princes of Israel, every one has used his power to shed blood in you.

22:7  In you they have despised both father and mother. In your midst they have dealt with the stranger by oppression. In you they oppressed the orphan and the widow.

22:8  You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My Sabbaths.

22:9  In you are men of slander who shed blood; and in you they that eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.

22:10  In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.

22:11  And a man has committed abominations with his neighbor's wife; and a man has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

22:12  In you they have taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken usury and excessive increase, and you gained by extortion of your neighbors, and you have forgotten Me," says the Lord GOD.

22:13  "Therefore behold, I have struck My hand against your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in your midst.

22:14  Can your heart stand, or can your hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it and I will do it.

22:15  And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you in the countries, and will consume your uncleanness out of you.

22:16  And you will be profaned by your own selves in the sight of the heathen, and you shall know that I am the LORD." ' ”

22:17  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

22:18  "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are bronze, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the middle of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

22:19  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem.

22:20  As they gather silver, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will cast you in and melt you.

22:21  And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

22:22  As silver is melted in the furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it; and you shall know that I the LORD have poured out My fury upon you.' ”

22:23  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

22:24  "Son of man, say to her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.'

22:25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst, like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they made many widows in her midst.

22:26  Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and the profane, and have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

22:27  Her rulers in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, to get unjust gain.

22:28  And her prophets have covered themselves with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies unto them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD;' when the LORD has not spoken.

22:29  The people of the land have used oppression and committed robbery, and they have troubled the poor and needy. Yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

22:30  And I sought for a man among them who should build up a wall for the land, and stand in the breach before Me, so that I should not destroy it. But I did not find one.

22:31  Therefore I have poured out My fury on them. I have burned them up with the fire of My wrath. I have recompensed their own way upon their heads," says the Lord GOD.

Chapter 23

23:1  The Word of the LORD came again to me,

23:2  "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.

23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they whored in their youth, their breasts were handled, and there their virgin nipples were fondled.

23:4  And their names were Oholah, the oldest, and Oholibah, her sister. And they were Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And their names: Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

23:5  And Oholah whored when she was Mine. And she lusted after her lovers, her Assyrian neighbors,

23:6  They were clothed with purple, even their governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.

23:7  Thus she bestowed her whoredoms on them, the choice sons of Assyria; with all of them, and with all whom she lusted after; she defiled herself with all their idols.

23:8  Neither did she leave her whoredoms brought from Egypt. For in her youth they lay with her, and they fondled her virgin nipples, and poured their lust upon her.

23:9  Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians after whom she lusted.

23:10  They uncovered her nakedness. They took her sons and her daughters and killed her with the sword. And she became a byword among women, and they executed judgment on her.

23:11  And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lustfulness than she, and her whoredoms were greater than her sister's whoredoms.

23:12  She lusted after the Assyrians her neighbors, their governors and rulers, clothed most gorgeously; horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.

23:13  And I saw that she too was defiled— in the same way, both of them.

23:14  And she increased her whoredoms. And she saw men carved on the wall which were images of the Chaldeans engraved with vermilion,

23:15  Girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like captains, like the sons of Babylon in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

23:16  And as soon as she saw them she lusted after them with her eyes, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.

23:17  And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom. And when she was defiled by them, she turned herself from them in disgust.

23:18  So she uncovered her whoredoms and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul was alienated from her just as My soul was alienated from her sister.

23:19  Yet she multiplied her whoredoms to recall the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

23:20  And she lusted after her lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses.

23:21  Thus you longed for the wickedness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples, for the sake of your youthful breasts.

23:22  Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your soul is alienated; and I will bring them against you from all around;

23:23  The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; all of them desirable young men, governors and rulers, all of them, great lords and renowned; all of them riding upon horses.

23:24  And they shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and wheels, and with an assembly of people; buckler and shield and helmet shall they set against you all around. And I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you by their judgments.

23:25  And I will direct My jealous anger against you, and they shall deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and the survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall take away your sons and your daughters, and the rest of you shall be devoured by the fire.

23:26  They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.

23:27  So I will make your wickedness to cease from you, and your whoredom from the land of Egypt. And you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor shall you remember Egypt any more.' ”

23:28  For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will give you into the hand of those who you hate, into the hand of those from whom your soul was alienated.

23:29  And they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your whoredoms shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your whoredoms.

23:30  These things will be done to you because you have whored after the nations, and because you are defiled with their idols.

23:31  You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand."

23:32  Thus says the Lord GOD, "You shall drink of your sister's cup deep and large; you shall be laughed to scorn and mocked; for it contains much.

23:33  In drunkenness and sorrow you are filled, the cup of astonishment and desolation with the cup of your sister Samaria.

23:34  You shall even drink it and empty it. And you shall break it into pieces, and tear at your own breasts. For I have spoken it," says the Lord GOD.

23:35  Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall also bear your own lewdness and your adulteries."

23:36  And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah, and declare to them their abominations,

23:37  That they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands? And they have committed adultery with their idols and have also caused their sons whom they bore to Me to pass through the fire to them, to devour them.

23:38  And moreover they have also done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary in that day, and have profaned My Sabbaths.

23:39  And when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came into My sanctuary the same day to profane it. And lo, thus have they done in the midst of My house.

23:40  And they have even sent for men to come from far, to whom a messenger was sent. And lo, they came. You washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments,

23:41  And sat on a stately bed with a table prepared before it, on which you set My incense and My oil.

23:42  And the sound of a carefree crowd was with her; and drunkards from the wilderness were brought with the men from the rabble of mankind; and they put bracelets on their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.

23:43  And I said about the one who was worn with adulteries, 'Let them use her as a prostitute, for that is what she is.'

23:44  And they went in to her, as they go in to a woman of harlotry; so they went into Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women.

23:45  But righteous men shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

23:46  For thus says the Lord GOD, 'I will bring up a company against them, and give them over to terror and plunder.

23:47  And the company shall stone them with stones, and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.

23:48  Thus I will cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught, not to go after your lewdness.

23:49  And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the sins of your idols. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.' ”

Chapter 24

24:1  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,

24:2  "Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, even of this same day; for the king of Babylon has set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

24:3  And speak a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Set up a pot; set it up, and also pour water into it.

24:4  Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice bones.

24:5  Take the choice of the flock, and also burn the bones under it; make it boil well, and let them boil its bones in it."

24:6  'Wherefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum has not gone out of it! Bring it out, piece by piece; without casting lots for them.

24:7  For her blood is in her midst; she set it upon the top of a rock. She did not pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust,

24:8  That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance. I have set her blood on top of a shining rock, that it should not be covered."

24:9  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe to the bloody city! I will even heap greatly on the pile for fire.

24:10  And heap on the wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and mix in the spice, and let the bones be burned.

24:11  Then set it empty on its coals, so that its bronze may be hot and may glow, and that its uncleanness may be melted in it, that the scum of it may be burned away.

24:12  She has frustrated all efforts; her heave deposit has not been removed, not even by fire.

24:13  In your defilement is lewdness. Because I tried to purge you, but you would not be purged of your impurity, you shall not be purged from your defilement any more, until I have caused My fury to rest on you.

24:14  I the LORD have spoken it. It shall come to pass and I will do it. I will not hold back, nor will I spare, nor will I repent. According to your ways, and according to your doings, they shall judge you," says the Lord GOD.

24:15  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

24:16  "Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke. Yet neither shall you mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.

24:17  Groan but be silent; make no mourning for the dead; tie your turban on you, and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your lips, and do not eat the bread of men."

24:18  So I spoke to the people in the morning. And in the evening my wife died, and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

24:19  And the people said to me, "Will you not tell us what these things mean to us, that you do so?"

24:20  And I answered them, "The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

24:21  'Speak to the house of Israel. "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and that in which your soul delights. And your sons and your daughters whom you have left shall fall by the sword.

24:22  And you shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of men.

24:23  And your turbans shall be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall rot away for your iniquities and mourn to one another.

24:24  Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you. According to all that he has done, you shall do. And when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.' ”

24:25  'Also, son of man, will it not be in 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,

24:26  That he who escapes in that day shall come to you to cause you to hear it with your ears?

24:27  In that day your mouth shall be open to him who has escaped, and you shall speak and be no more dumb. And you shall be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.' ”

Chapter 25

25:1  The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

25:2  "Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them.

25:3  And say to the Ammonites, '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 desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity;

25:4  Therefore, behold, I will give you to the men of the east for a possession. And they shall set their camp sites among you, and put their dwellings among you. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.

25:5  And I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the Ammonites a crouching place for flocks. And you shall know that I am the LORD."

25:6  For thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have clapped your hands and stamped the foot, and rejoiced in heart with all your spite against the land of Israel;

25:7  Behold, therefore I will stretch out My hand upon you, and will give you as a spoil to the heathen. And I will cut you off from the people, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries. I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD."

25:8  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Moab and Seir say, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the heathen;'

25:9  Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities, from his borders, the glory of the land, even Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim,

25:10  To the men of the east with the Ammonites. And I will give them for a possession so that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.

25:11  And I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD."

25:12  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended and revenged himself on them;"

25:13  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also stretch out My hand on Edom, and will cut man and beast off from it; and I will make it a waste from Teman, even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword.

25:14  And I will lay My vengeance on 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.

25:15  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because the Philistines have taken vengeance; yes, have taken vengeance with spite in their heart, to destroy it with never ending hatred,"

25:16  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and will destroy the rest of the sea coast.

25:17  And I will execute great vengeance on them with rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay My vengeance upon them."’ ”

Chapter 26

26:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

26:2  "Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha! She is shattered, that was the gate of the people, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished; now that she is laid waste.'

26:3  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, 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.

26:4  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from off her and make her like a bare rock.

26:5  It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the middle of the sea. For I have spoken it,' says the Lord GOD. 'And it shall become a spoil to the nations.

26:6  And her daughters who are in the field shall be killed by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'

26:7  For thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon upon Tyre, a king of kings from the north, with horses and with chariots and with a company of horsemen, and many people.

26:8  He shall kill your daughters with the sword in the field. And he shall make siege walls against you, and build up a siege mound against you, and lift up the shield against you.

26:9  And he shall set engines of war against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.

26:10  Because of his many horses, their dust shall cover you. Your walls shall shake at the sound of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter a city that is breached.

26:11  With the hoofs of his horses he shall trample all your streets. He shall kill your people by the sword, and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground.

26:12  And they shall plunder your riches, and make a pillage 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 waters.

26:13  And I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.

26:14  And I will make you like a bare rock. You shall be a place to spread nets on; you shall be built no more; for I the LORD have spoken,' says the Lord GOD.

26:15  Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre, 'Shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, when the slain groan, when the slaughter is made in your midst?

26:16  And all the rulers of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and strip 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.

26:17  And they shall take up a mourning for you, and say to you, "How are you destroyed who lived by the sea, the famous city which was strong in the sea, she and her people who caused their terror to be upon all who lived in it!

26:18  Now the isles shall tremble in the day of your fall; yea, the isles by the sea shall be troubled at your going." '

26:19  For thus says the Lord GOD, 'When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that have no inhabitants; when I shall bring up the deep upon you, and great waters shall cover you;

26:20  Then I shall bring you down with those who go down into the pit, with the people of old, and shall set you in the low parts of the earth, in places ruined in days of old, with those who go down to the pit, so that you have no inhabitants (but I establish glory in the land of the living).

26:21  I will give you terrors, and you will be no more. Though you are sought, yet you shall never be found forever' says the Lord GOD."

Chapter 27

27:1  The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

27:2  "And you, son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre.

27:3  And say to Tyre, 'Who is situated at the entrance of the sea, a merchant of the people for many isles, thus says the Lord GOD, "O Tyre, you have said, 'I am of perfect beauty.'

27:4  Your borders are in the midst of the seas, your builders have perfected your beauty.

27:5  They have made all your ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for you.

27:6  They have made the oaks of Bashan your oars; they have made your deck, inlaid with ivory, of boxwood from the coasts of Chittim.

27:7  Your sail was of fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt, an ensign for you; violet and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your covering.

27:8  The residents of Sidon and Arvad were your seamen. Your wise ones, O Tyre, were in you, they were your sailors.

27:9  The elders of Gebal and her wise men were with you, reinforcing your seams. All the ships of the sea with their seamen were with you, to exchange your merchandise.

27:10  Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you; they set your splendor.

27:11  The sons of Arvad and your army were on your walls all around, and warriors were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they have made your beauty perfect.

27:12  Tarshish was your merchant because of the multitude of your wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.

27:13  Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. They traded the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your goods.

27:14  From the house of Togarmah they gave horses and war-horses and mules in your fairs.

27:15  The sons of Dedan were your merchants; many isles were the traffic of your hand. They brought you as tribute tusks of ivory and ebony.

27:16  Syria was your merchant because of the multitude of your works; with emeralds, purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies they gave you for your wares.

27:17  Judah and the land of Israel were your merchants with wheat from Minnith and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm, they traded for your goods.

27:18  Damascus was your merchant in the multitude of your goods, from the multitude of all riches, in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

27:19  Dan and Javan also traded with yarn for your wares; smooth iron, cassia, and cane were among your goods.

27:20  Dedan was your merchant in precious clothes for chariots.

27:21  Arabia, and all the rulers of Kedar were traders with you, in lambs, and rams, and goats; in these they were your merchants.

27:22  The merchants of Sheba and Raamah were also your merchants, with the best of all the spices, and with every precious stone, and gold they gave for your wares.

27:23  Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, Chilmad were your merchants.

27:24  They were your merchants in gorgeous fabrics, in violet cloth, and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors, with tightly bound cords, and cedars among your merchandise.

27:25  The ships of Tarshish carried your merchandise. And you were filled and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.

27:26  Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas; the east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.

27:27  Your riches, and your wares, your goods, your seamen, and your sailors reinforcing your seams, and the traders of your goods, and all your men of war, who are in you, and all your company which is in your midst, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.

27:28  At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countrysides will shake.

27:29  And all who handle the oar, the mariners, all the sailors of the sea, shall come down from their ships. They shall stand on the land,

27:30  And shall cause their voice to be heard against you, and shall cry bitterly, and shall throw dust on their heads. They shall wallow themselves in the ashes.

27:31  And they shall make themselves utterly bald for you, and gird them with sackcloth. And they shall weep for you with bitterness of soul, a bitter wailing.

27:32  And in their wailing they shall lift up a lamentation for you and lament over you, saying, 'Who was like Tyre, who was fortified in the midst of the sea?

27:33  When your goods went out by the seas, you filled many people. With the multitude of your riches and your merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.

27:34  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.

27:35  All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly terrified; their faces tremble.

27:36  The merchants among the people shall hiss at you; you have become terrors. And you will be no more forever.'” ’ ”

Chapter 28

28:1  The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

28:2  "Son of man, say to the prince 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 God, in the midst of the seas;' yet you are a man and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of a god;

28:3  Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from you!

28:4  With your wisdom and with your understanding you have made riches for yourselves, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasuries.

28:5  By your great wisdom and by your trade you have multiplied your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches."

28:6  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,

28:7  Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon you, the most ruthless of the nations. And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, and they shall defile your brightness.

28:8  They shall bring you down to the pit, and you shall die the death of those slain in the midst of the seas.

28:9  Will you yet say before him who kills you, 'I am a god'? But you are a man, and not God, in the hand of him who kills you.

28:10  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers. For I have spoken," says the Lord GOD.' ”

28:11  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

28:12  "Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You seal up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

28:13  You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

28:14  You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so; you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

28:15  You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.

28:16  By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled your midst with violence, and you have sinned. Therefore I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God, and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from among the stones of fire.

28:17  Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. I will cast you to the ground; I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

28:18  By the multitude of your iniquities, by the unrighteousness of your trade, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore I brought forth a fire from your midst; it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth, before the eyes of all who see you.

28:19  All who know you among the people shall be astonished at you; you became a terror, and you will not be any more." ’ ”

28:20  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

28:21  "Son of man, set your face against Sidon, and prophesy against it.

28:22  And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, 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 have executed judgments in her and shall be sanctified in her.

28:23  For I will send a plague 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.

28:24  And there shall be no more a pricking brier, or a painful thorn unto the house of Israel any more, from all who surround them, those who hate them. And they shall know that I am the Lord GOD."

28:25  Thus says the Lord GOD, "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and have been sanctified in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their land that I have given to My servant Jacob.

28:26  And they shall dwell safely in it, and shall build houses and plant vineyards. Yea, they shall dwell safely when I have executed judgments upon all those who despise them all around them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God." ’ ”

Chapter 29

29:1  In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

29:2  "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

29:3  Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I, even I, am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, 'My river is mine, and I have made it for myself.'

29:4  But I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers shall stick to your scales.

29:5  And I will throw you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You shall fall on the open fields; you shall not be removed nor gathered. I have given you for food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of heaven.

29:6  And all the people of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

29:7  When they took you by your hand, you broke and tore off all their shoulder. And when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to be a stand."

29:8  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and cut off man and beast from you.

29:9  And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD because he has said, 'The river is mine, and I have made it.'

29:10  Behold, therefore I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste, and desolate, from Migdol to Syene, even to the border of Ethiopia.

29:11  No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and you shall not live in it forty years.

29:12  And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the desolate countries; and her cities shall be deserted forty years among the cities that are laid waste. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will scatter them through the lands."

29:13  Yet thus says the Lord GOD, "At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the people where they were scattered.

29:14  And I will bring back the captives of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, into their homeland. And they shall be a lowly kingdom there.

29:15  It shall be the lowest of the kingdoms, and shall no more exalt itself above the nations. For I will make them so few, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

29:16  And it shall never again be the hope of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. And they shall know that I am the Lord GOD." ’ ”

29:17  And it came to pass 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,

29:18  "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled. Yet neither he nor his army had any wages for Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

29:19  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he shall carry off her wealth, and take her spoil, and seize her plunder. And it shall be the wages for his army.

29:20  I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor with which he served against it because they worked for Me,' says the Lord GOD.

29:21  'In that day I will make a horn spring up to the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to prophesy in their midst. And they shall know that I am the LORD.' ”

Chapter 30

30:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

30:2  "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Howl, 'Woe is the day!'

30:3  For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a day of clouds. It shall be the time of the nations.

30:4  And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her wealth, and her foundations shall be broken down.

30:5  Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mixed people; and Chub, and the men of the land who are in covenant with them shall fall by the sword."

30:6  Thus says the LORD, "Those who uphold Egypt shall also fall, and the pride of her power shall come down. From Migdol to Syene they shall fall in it by the sword," says the Lord GOD.

30:7  "And 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 laid waste.

30:8  And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.

30:9  In that day messengers shall go out from Me in ships to terrify the confident Ethiopians, and anguish shall be upon them, as in the day of Egypt; for lo, it is coming."

30:10  Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

30:11  He and his people with them, the most ruthless 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.

30:12  And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked. And I will waste the land, and her fullness, by the hand of strangers. I the LORD have spoken."

30:13  Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph. And there shall no more be a prince of the land in Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

30:14  And I will make Pathros a ruin, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.

30:15  And I will pour My fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt. And I will cut off the multitude of No.

30:16  And I will set fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great convulsion, and No shall be torn asunder, and Noph shall have daily woes.

30:17  The young men of Aven and of Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into exile.

30:18  And at Tehaphnehes also the day shall be held back, when I shatter the yokes of Egypt there. And the pride of her strength shall cease in her; as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into exile.

30:19  Thus I will execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the LORD." ’ ”

30:20  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

30:21  "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And lo, it shall not be bound up to give healing, nor will a bandage be put on to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.

30:22  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong one and the broken one. And I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

30:23  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will scatter them throughout the countries.

30:24  And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword in his hand. But I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of one who is mortally wounded.

30:25  But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it upon the land of Egypt.

30:26  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and scatter them among the countries. And they shall know that I am the LORD.' ”

Chapter 31

31:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

31:2  "Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude, 'To whom are you like in your greatness?

31:3  Behold, Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height. And his top was among the thick boughs.

31:4  The waters made him great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running all around his plants, and sent out her little channels to all the trees of the field.

31:5  Therefore his height was lifted up above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the many waters, when he sent out its boughs.

31:6  All the birds of the heavens nested in his boughs, and under his branches all the beasts of the field bore their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

31:7  Thus he was beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his branches. For his root was by abundant waters.

31:8  The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him; the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches. Nor was any tree in the garden of God like him in his beauty.

31:9  I have made him beautiful by his many branches, so that all the trees of Eden in the garden of God envied him.'

31:10  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have exalted yourself up in stature, and he set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

31:11  Therefore I have delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with him; I have expelled him for his wickedness.

31:12  And strangers have cut him off, the terrible of the nations, and have left him. On the mountains and in all the valleys his branches have fallen, and his boughs have been broken by all the rivers of the land. And all the people of the earth have gone from his shadow, and have left him.

31:13  Upon his ruin shall all the birds of the heavens remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches,

31:14  To the end that none of all the trees by the waters shall exalt themselves in their height, nor set their top among the thick boughs, nor should their trees stand up fully in their height, even all that drink water. For all of them are given to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down into the pit.'

31:15  Thus says the Lord GOD, 'In the day when he went down to the grave, I caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I held back its floods, and the great waters were held back. And I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted because of him.

31:16  I made the nations shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to the grave with those who go down into the pit. And all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the lower parts of the earth.

31:17  They also went down into the grave with him to those who are slain with the sword, even his arm, who lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

31:18  To whom are you like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth. You shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord GOD."

Chapter 32

32:1  And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

32:2  "Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, 'You did liken yourself unto a young lion of the nations, whereas you were like a sea monster. And you came out with your rivers, and churned the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.'

32:3  Thus says the Lord GOD, 'I will therefore spread out My net over you with an assembly of many people; and they shall lift you up in My net.

32:4  And I will leave you upon the land; I will cast you upon the face of the field, and cause all the birds of the heavens to settle upon you, and I will let the beasts of all the whole earth gorge themselves on you.

32:5  And I will put your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your remains.

32:6  I will also water the land with your blood in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the ravines shall be full of you.

32:7  And when I put you out, I will cover the heaven and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

32:8  I will make all the bright lights of the heavens dark over you, and will set darkness upon your land,' says the Lord GOD.

32:9  'I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I bring your destruction among the nations, among the countries which you have not known.

32:10  Yea, I will make many people appalled at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, each man for his own life, in the day of your fall.'

32:11  For thus says the Lord GOD, 'The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.

32:12  By the swords of the mighty, I will cause your multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them. And they shall spoil the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.

32:13  I will also destroy all its beasts from beside the abundant waters. Nor shall the foot of man stir them any more, nor shall the hoofs of beasts stir them.

32:14  And I will make their waters sink, and cause their rivers to run like oil,' says the Lord GOD.

32:15  'When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the land is stripped of its fullness; when I shall strike all those who dwell in it, then they shall know that I am the LORD.

32:16  This is the lamentation with which they shall mourn her. The daughters of the nations shall mourn her; they shall mourn for her, for Egypt and for all her multitude,' says the Lord GOD."

32:17  It was also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

32:18  "Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and bring it down, her and the daughters of the majestic nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

32:19  'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised.'

32:20  They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword; she is delivered to the sword; they draw her down and all her multitudes.

32:21  The strong among the mighty shall speak of him out of the midst of the grave, with those who help him. 'They have gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'

32:22  Assyria is there and all her company. His graves are all around them; all of them are slain, fallen by the sword;

32:23  Their 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, those who caused terror in the land of the living.

32:24  There is Elam and her multitude all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living. Yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.

32:25  They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are all around him; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; because their terror was spread throughout the land of the living, they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put in the midst of the slain.

32:26  There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude. Her graves are all around him. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because they spread their terror in the land of the living.

32:27  And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to the grave with their weapons of war. And they have put their swords under their heads, but their sins are upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

32:28  Yea, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those slain with the sword.

32:29  There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who with their might are laid by those slain by the sword. They shall be with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

32:30  There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain, ashamed for all the terror, which they have caused; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

32:31  Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army killed by the sword," says the Lord GOD.

32:32  "For I had put My terror in the land of the living. And he shall be laid waste in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude," says the Lord GOD.

Chapter 33

33:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

33:2  "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;

33:3  If, when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blows the ram's horn and warns the people,

33:4  Then whoever hears the sound of the ram's horn and does not take warning, if the sword does come and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

33:5  He heard the sound of the ram's horn and did not take warning. His blood shall be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his life.

33:6  But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the ram's horn and the people are not warned; if the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But I will require his blood at the watchman's hand.'

33:7  And you, son of man, I have set you as watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear the Word from My mouth, and warn them from Me.

33:8  When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked one, you shall surely die;' if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand.

33:9  But, if you warn the wicked of his way, to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

33:10  And you, son of man, speak to the house of Israel. Thus shall you speak, saying, 'When our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we are wasting away in them, how then shall we live?'

33:11  Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no delight in the death of the wicked, except that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?'

33:12  Therefore, son of man, say to the children of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous 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 he turns from his wickedness. Nor shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.'

33:13  When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live; if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

33:14  Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die;' if he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right;

33:15  If the wicked restores back the pledge, gives back again what he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, then he shall surely live; he shall not die.

33:16  None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

33:17  Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the LORD is not fair.' But as for them, it is their way that is not fair.

33:18  When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall even die in it.

33:19  But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live in it.

33:20  Yet you say, 'The way of the LORD is not fair.' O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways."

33:21  And it was in the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city is taken."

33:22  And the LORD'S hand was on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came. And He had opened my mouth when he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was dumb no more.

33:23  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

33:24  "Son of man, those who live in those wastes of the land of Israel are speaking, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land is given to us for an inheritance.'

33:25  Wherefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord, "You eat meat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; and shall you possess the land?

33:26  You stand upon your sword, you work abomination, every man defiling his neighbor's wife. And shall you possess the land?" '

33:27  Speak to them in this way, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and I will give him who is in the open field to the beasts to be eaten, and those in the forts and in the caves shall die of the plague.

33:28  For I shall make the land most desolate, and the pride of her power shall cease. And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.

33:29  And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed." '

33:30  And you, son of man, the children of your people are still talking about you by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speaking to one another, each man to his brother, saying, 'I pray you, come and hear what is the word which comes forth from the LORD.'

33:31  And they come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words. But they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

33:32  And lo, you are to them as a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, and able to play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

33:33  And when this comes to pass; (behold, it will come) then they shall know that a prophet has been among them."

Chapter 34

34:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

34:2  "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds, "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

34:3  You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you kill the fat ones, but you do not feed the flock.

34:4  You have not made the weak strong, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound up the broken. You have not brought again those that were driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled them with force and with cruelty.

34:5  And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

34:6  My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Yea, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none searched nor sought for them."

34:7  Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD,

34:8  "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food 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,"

34:9  Therefore, O shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD.

34:10  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Nor shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth that they may not be food for them."

34:11  For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

34:12  As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

34:13  And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land and feed them on the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live.

34:14  I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be upon the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel.

34:15  I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down," says the Lord GOD.

34:16  "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again those that were driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment."

34:17  And you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I judge between lamb and lamb, between rams and he-goats.

34:18  Is it a small thing for you to have eaten up the good pasture, but must you trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but must you foul the rest of it with your feet?

34:19  And My flock, they eat what your feet have trampled, and they drink what your feet have fouled."

34:20  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them, "Behold I Myself will even judge between the fat lamb and the lean lamb.

34:21  Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and with your horns have pushed all the weak until you have scattered them abroad,

34:22  Therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between lamb and lamb.

34:23  And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

34:24  And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I the LORD have spoken it.

34:25  And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

34:26  And I will make them, and the places around My hill, a blessing; and I will bring down the shower in its season. There shall be showers of blessing.

34:27  And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And they shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hands of those who enslaved them.

34:28  And no more shall they be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land devour them. But they shall dwell safely, and none shall terrify them.

34:29  And I will raise up for them plantations of renown, and they shall never again be consumed by famine in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations any more.

34:30  And they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people," says the Lord GOD.' ”

34:31  "And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God," says the Lord GOD.

Chapter 35

35:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

35:2  "Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it.

35:3  And say unto it, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.

35:4  I will raze your cities, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

35:5  Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have delivered the children of Israel unto the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment,

35:6  Therefore, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, even blood shall pursue you.

35:7  Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it the one passing through, and the one returning.

35:8  And I will fill his mountains with his slain. In your hills, and your valleys, and all your rivers, those slain with the sword shall fall in them.

35:9  I will make you a perpetual desolation forever, and your cities shall not be inhabited. And you shall know that I am the LORD.

35:10  Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we shall possess it;' yet the LORD was there;

35:11  Therefore, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will even do according to your anger and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them. And I will make Myself known among them when I have judged you.

35:12  And you shall know that I am the LORD. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, 'Because they are laid desolate, they are given to us to consume.'

35:13  So with your mouth you have boasted yourself against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me. I have heard them."

35:14  Thus says the Lord GOD, "The whole earth rejoices when I shall make you a desolation.

35:15  As you rejoiced at the inheritance of the house of Israel because of its desolation, so I will do unto you. You shall be a desolation, O Mount Seir and all Idumea, even all of it. And they shall know that I am the LORD." ’ ”

Chapter 36

36:1  "Also, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the LORD.

36:2  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because the enemy has said against you, 'Aha! Even the old high places have become a possession to us.' " ’

36:3  Therefore prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because of the wasting and crushing of you from every side, that you might be a possession to the rest of the nations, and you were lifted up on the tip of the tongue, and are infamous among the people;"

36:4  Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the deserted wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and a mockery to the rest of the nations all around.

36:5  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Idumea, who have appointed My land to themselves for a possession with all joy of heart, with utter contempt, that they might drive them out and plunder them." '

36:6  So prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury because you have borne the shame of the nations."

36:7  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "I have lifted up My hand; surely the nations around you shall bear their shame.

36:8  But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall put out your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they will soon return.

36:9  For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

36:10  And I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it. And the cities shall have people, and the wastes shall be rebuilt.

36:11  And I will multiply men and beasts upon you, and they shall increase and be fruitful. And I will make you dwell after your old estates, and I will do better to you than at your beginnings. And you shall know that I am the LORD.

36:12  Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and shall no longer bereave them of their children."

36:13  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and you have been bereaved of your nations;'

36:14  Therefore you shall devour men no more, nor shall you bereave your nations any more," says the Lord GOD.

36:15  "Nor will I allow you to hear the shame of the nations any more, nor shall you bear the reproach of the people any more, nor shall you cause your nations to stumble any more," says the Lord GOD.' ”

36:16  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying.

36:17  "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and by their doings, even as the uncleanness of a woman's impurity was their way before Me.

36:18  Therefore I poured My fury upon them because of the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols by which they defiled it.

36:19  And I scattered them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the countries. I judged them according to their ways and according to their doings.

36:20  And when they came unto the nations where they went, they even profaned My holy name in that it was said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and they are gone out of His land.'

36:21  But I had pity for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they were exiled.

36:22  Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

36:23  And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their very eyes.

36:24  For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries, and will gather you into your own land.

36:25  And I will sprinkle clean waters upon you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols.

36:26  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

36:27  And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances and do them.

36:28  And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

36:29  I will also save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the grain, and will increase it, and will lay no famine upon you.

36:30  And I will multiply the fruits of the tree and the increase of the field, so that you shall never again receive the curse of famine among the nations.

36:31  And you shall remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

36:32  I do not do this for your sake," says the Lord GOD, "be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel."

36:33  Thus says the Lord GOD, "In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.

36:34  And the waste land shall be tilled, instead of being desolate before all who pass by.

36:35  And they shall say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. And the wasted, desolate and ruined cities now are fenced and inhabited.'

36:36  And the nations that are left all around you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it."

36:37  Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will yet be sought by the house of Israel to act for them. I will increase them with men like a flock.

36:38  As a holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. And they shall know that I am the LORD." ’ ”

Chapter 37

37:1  The hand of the LORD was on me, and brought me by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of a valley, and it was full of bones.

37:2  And He made me walk among them all around. And behold, very many were in the open valley. And lo, they were very dry.

37:3  And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know."

37:4  Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD.

37:5  Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

37:6  And I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am the LORD." ’ ”

37:7  So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a shaking! And the bones came together, a bone to its bone.

37:8  And as I watched, behold the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them.

37:9  And He said to me, "Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live." ’ ”

37:10  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

37:11  And He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried and our hope is lost; we ourselves are completely cut off.'

37:12  Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and will bring you into the land of Israel.

37:13  And you shall know that I am the LORD when I have opened your graves, O My people, and have brought you up out of your graves.

37:14  And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. And you shall know that I the LORD have spoken it and have done it," says the LORD.' ”

37:15  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

37:16  "And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for his companions, the children of Israel.' And take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions.'

37:17  And join them to one another into one stick. And they shall become one in your hand.

37:18  And when the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, 'Will you not declare to us what do you mean by these?'

37:19  Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and will make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand." '

37:20  And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

37:21  And say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and will bring them into their own land.

37:22  And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. And they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

37:23  Nor shall they be defiled with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with all of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be their God.

37:24  And David My servant shall be king over them. And there shall be one shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My ordinances and obey My laws, and do them.

37:25  And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, the land in which your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell in it, even they and their children, and their children's children forever. And My servant David shall be their ruler forever.

37:26  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.

37:27  And My tabernacle shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

37:28  And the nations shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forever." ’ ”

Chapter 38

38:1  And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

38:2  "Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief ruler of Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

38:3  And say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief ruler of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.

38:4  And I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed most gorgeously, a great assembly with buckler and shield, all of them swordsmen;

38:5  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

38:6  Gomer and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north, and all his bands; and many people with you.

38:7  Be prepared; yea, prepare for yourself, you and all your assembly that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.

38:8  After many days you will be summoned. In the latter years you shall come into the land restored from war, gathered out of many people, on the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste. (But she has been brought out of the nations, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.)

38:9  And you shall go up, coming like a storm. You shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your bands, and many people with you."

38:10  Thus says the Lord GOD, "And it shall be in that day that things shall come into your heart, and you shall devise an evil plan.

38:11  And you shall say, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those that are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and there are no bars nor gates to them,

38:12  In order to take a spoil, and to steal a prize; to turn your hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.'

38:13  Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, and all her villages, shall say to you, 'Have you come to take a spoil? Have you gathered your company to steal a prize, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?' " '

38:14  Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "In that day when My people of Israel dwell securely, shall you not know it?

38:15  And you shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many people with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army.

38:16  And you shall come up on My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It shall be in the latter days, and I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified in you, O Gog, before their eyes."

38:17  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days, by the hand of My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?

38:18  And it shall come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "My hot anger will be aroused.

38:19  For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken, 'Surely in that day there shall be a great quaking in the land of Israel,

38:20  So that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men on the face of the earth, shall quake at My presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.'

38:21  And I will call for a sword against him upon all My mountains," says the Lord GOD. "Each man's sword shall be against his brother.

38:22  And I will judge him with pestilence and with blood. And I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.

38:23  Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself. And I will have Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD." ’ ”

Chapter 39

39:1  "Therefore, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal.

39:2  And I will turn you about, and lead you on. And I will bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel.

39:3  And I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.

39:4  You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your bands, and the people with you. I will give you for food to the birds of prey of every kind, and to the beasts of the field.

39:5  You shall fall upon the face of the open field, for I have spoken it," says the Lord GOD.

39:6  "And I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell in the isles. And they shall know that I am the LORD.

39:7  And I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel. And I will not let them profane My holy name any more. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

39:8  Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord GOD. "This is the day of which I have spoken.

39:9  And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go out and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the javelins, and the spears. And they shall burn them with fire seven years,

39:10  So that they shall take no wood out of the field, nor cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons. And they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them," says the Lord GOD.

39:11  "And it will be in that day that I will give to Gog a burial place there in Israel— the valley of those who pass by, east of the sea. And it shall block off those who pass by. And there they shall bury Gog and all his multitude. And they shall call it, The Valley of the Multitude of Gog.

39:12  And the house of Israel shall bury them, to cleanse the land, seven months.

39:13  And all the people of the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them a day of renown, the day that I shall be glorified," says the Lord GOD.

39:14  "And they shall employ men to continually search the land, burying those who remain on the face of the earth, to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they shall begin the search.

39:15  And as those who pass through the land, pass through, if any man sees a bone, then he shall set a sign beside it until the buriers have buried it in The Valley of the Multitude of Gog.

39:16  And also the name of the city there is Multitude. Thus they shall cleanse the land." ’

39:17  "And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to the birds of every kind, and to every beast of the field, "Gather yourselves and come; gather yourselves from all around to My sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood.

39:18  You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

39:19  And you shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

39:20  And you shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, all the men of war," ' says the Lord GOD.

39:21  And I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgments which I have executed, and My hand that I have laid on them.

39:22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

39:23  And the nations shall know that the house of Israel was exiled for their iniquity. Because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

39:24  According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have done to them, and hid My face from them.

39:25  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Now will I again bring back the captives of Jacob, and will have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name;

39:26  After they have borne their shame and all their sins by which they have sinned against Me, when they dwell securely in their land and no one terrified them;

39:27  When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

39:28  Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God who exiled them among the nations. But I have gathered them to their own land, and have not left any of them there.

39:29  Nor will I hide My face from them any more, for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel,' says the Lord GOD."

Chapter 40

40:1  In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was stricken, in the same day the hand of the LORD was on me, and brought me there.

40:2  In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel, and made me rest on a very high mountain, upon which was a structure like a city on the south.

40:3  And He brought me there, and behold, a man whose appearance was like the look of bronze, and a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed. And he stood in the gate.

40:4  And the man said to me, "Son of man, behold with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you. For you are brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel."

40:5  And behold, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man's hand was a measuring reed, six cubits long, with a cubit and a span. And he measured the building's breadth, one reed; and the height, one reed.

40:6  And he came to the gate which faced eastward, and went up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide, even the one threshold, one reed wide.

40:7  And a guardroom was one reed long and one reed wide. And between the guardrooms were five cubits. And the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing the house, one reed.

40:8  He also measured the porch of the gateway inside, one reed.

40:9  And he measured the porch of the gateway, eight cubits; and its pillars, two cubits; also the porch of the gate faced the house.

40:10  And the gate rooms eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; each three of them had the same measure; and the pillars from one side and to the other had the same measure.

40:11  And he measured the breadth of the gate-opening, ten cubits. The length of the gate was thirteen cubits.

40:12  And the border in front of the guardrooms was one cubit on one side, and the space was one cubit on the other side. And the guardrooms were six cubits on one side and six cubits on the other side.

40:13  And he measured the gate of the guardroom from one end of the roof to the other end of the roof, twenty-five cubits wide, from door to door.

40:14  He also made the pillars sixty cubits, even to the court-pillar, from the gate all around.

40:15  And from the front of the entrance gate to the face of the porch of the inner gate was fifty cubits;

40:16  And latticed windows were to the guardrooms and to their pillars inside the gate all around. And so for the porches; and windows were all around facing inward; and upon each pillar were palm trees.

40:17  And he brought me into the outer court, and lo, there were chambers, and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were fronted on the pavement.

40:18  And the pavement by the side of the gates was equal to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

40:19  And he measured the breadth from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside, a hundred cubits eastward and northward.

40:20  And the gate which faces toward the north of the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth.

40:21  And its guardrooms were three on one side and three on the other side. And its pillars and its porches were according to the same measure of the first gate: Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth, twenty-five cubits.

40:22  And their windows, and their porches, and their palm trees, were according to the measure of the gate facing the east. And they went up to it by seven steps; and its porches were in front of them.

40:23  And the gate of the inner court was across from the gate toward the north and toward the east. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

40:24  And he led me toward the south, and behold a gate facing south. And he measured its pillars and its porches according to these measures.

40:25  And there were windows in it and in its porches all around, like those windows. The length was fifty cubits, and the breadth, twenty-five cubits.

40:26  And seven steps were going up to it, and its arches were in front of them. And it had palm trees, one on one side and another on the other side, upon its pillars.

40:27  And there was a gate in the inner court southward. And he measured from gate to gate southward, a hundred cubits.

40:28  And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. And he measured the south gate according to these measures,

40:29  And its rooms and its pillars and its arches according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

40:30  And the arches all around were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.

40:31  And its arches were toward the outer court; and palm trees on its pillars. And its stairway had eight steps.

40:32  And he brought me into the inner court eastward. And he measured the gate according to these measures.

40:33  And its guardrooms, and its pillars, and its porches, were measured according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

40:34  And its arches were toward the outer court. And palm trees were on its pillars, from one side to the other side. And its stairway had eight steps.

40:35  And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures;

40:36  Its rooms, its pillars, and its arches, and its windows all around. The length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits.

40:37  And its pillars were faced toward the outer court. And palm trees were on its pillars, on one side and on the other side. And its stairway had eight steps.

40:38  And the chamber and its door was by the pillars of the gates, there they washed the burnt offering.

40:39  And in the porch of the gate were two tables on one side and two tables on the other side, for the slaughtering of the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.

40:40  And to the side outside, as one goes up to the door of the gate northward were two tables; and on the other side at the porch of the gate were two tables.

40:41  Four tables were on one side, and four tables were on the other side of the gate: eight tables whereupon they slaughter their sacrifices.

40:42  And the four tables for burnt offering were of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They also laid on them the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

40:43  And the double hooks of one span were fastened in the house all around, and on the tables the flesh of the offering.

40:44  And outside the inner court were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate. And one faced south: one at the side of the east gate faced north.

40:45  And he said to me, "This chamber facing south is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.

40:46  And the chamber facing north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar. They are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who come near the LORD to minister to Him."

40:47  And he measured the court, a square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide; and the altar was in front of the temple.

40:48  And he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured each pillar of the porch, five cubits on one side and five cubits on the other side. And the gate was three cubits wide on one side and three cubits on the other side.

40:49  The porch was twenty cubits long, and eleven cubits wide. And it was by the steps that it was ascended. And columns were by the pillars, one on one side and another on the other side.

Chapter 41

41:1  And he brought me to the temple and measured the pillars, six cubits wide on one side and six cubits wide on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.

41:2  And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door, five cubits on one side, and five cubits on the other side. And he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits.

41:3  And he went inside and measured the pillar of the door, two cubits; and the door was six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.

41:4  And he measured its length, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple. And he said to me, "This is the Holy of Holies."

41:5  And he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits; and the width of each side room was four cubits, all around the temple on every side.

41:6  And the side chambers were thus: a side chamber was over a side chamber, three stories, and thirty chambers in each story. And entrances in the wall of the temple for the side chambers all around, that they might be supported, but they were not supported by the wall of the temple.

41:7  The higher side chambers around the temple were wider than the lower chambers. The width of the side chambers as it went up from floor to floor increased. The access from the lowest to the highest went through the middle floor.

41:8  I also saw the height of the temple all around. The foundations of the side rooms were a full reed, six large cubits each joining one another.

41:9  The width of the outside wall, which was for the side chambers outside, was five cubits, and space was left between the side chambers and the temple.

41:10  And between the chambers and the temple was the width of twenty cubits, circling all around the temple.

41:11  And the doors of the side chambers facing the open space had one door that opened northward and one door that opened southward. And the width of the opening was five cubits on each chamber all around.

41:12  And the building that was facing the courtyard at the end of the way of the west was seventy cubits wide. And the wall of the building was five cubits wide all around, and its length, ninety cubits.

41:13  And he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long. And the courtyard, and the building, and its wall, were a hundred cubits long.

41:14  And the width of the front of the temple and of the courtyard eastward was a hundred cubits.

41:15  And he measured the length of the building to the front of the courtyard which was behind it with the galleries on the one side and on the other side, was a hundred cubits, including the inner temple and the porches of the court,

41:16  The doorposts, and the latticed narrow windows, and the galleries all around, their three stories across from the door, were overlaid with wood panelings all around, and from the ground up to the windows; and the windows were covered,

41:17  To the area above the door, even to the inside of the temple, and outside, and on all the walls around inside and outside, by measure.

41:18  And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub. And each cherub had two faces,

41:19  The face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. It was made throughout all the temple all around.

41:20  From the ground to the area above the door were cherubim and palm trees carved, and on the wall of the temple as well.

41:21  The temple doorposts were squared, as was the front of the Holy of Holies. The appearance of one side was like the other side.

41:22  The altar of wood was three cubits high, and its length two cubits. And its corners, and its length, and its sides, were of wood. And he said to me, "This is the table that is before the LORD."

41:23  And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.

41:24  And the doors had two leaves each, two turning doors, two for the one door, and two for the other door.

41:25  And on them, on the temple doors, were carved cherubim and palm trees like those on the walls, and thick wood was on the face of the porch outside.

41:26  And latticed windows, and palm trees, were on one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and on the side chambers of the temple, and wooden canopies.

Chapter 42

42:1  And he brought me out into the outer court, the way northward. And he brought me into the chamber that was across from the outer courtyard and which was in front of the building to the north.

42:2  The length of a hundred cubits was in front of the north door, and the width was fifty cubits.

42:3  Across from the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and across from the pavement which was for the outer court, gallery was upon gallery in three stories.

42:4  And before the chambers was a walk way of ten cubits width inside, a path of one cubit. And their doors faced north.

42:5  And the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries used up more space than the lower and middle ones in the building.

42:6  For they were in three stories, but there were no columns to them like the columns of the courts. So the third story was made narrower than the lower and the middle stories from the ground upward.

42:7  And the wall that was outside near the chambers, toward the outer court on the front of the chambers, its length was fifty cubits.

42:8  For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. And lo, in front of the temple was a hundred cubits.

42:9  And under these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court,

42:10  In the width of the wall of the court eastward, to the front of the separate area, and to the front of the building were chambers.

42:11  And the way in front of them looked like the chambers which were northward, as was their length, so was their width. And all their exits were as their patterns, and as their doors.

42:12  And by the doors of the chambers that faced southward was a door in the end of the pathway, even the pathway directly in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.

42:13  And he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers which are in front of the courtyard, they are holy chambers, where the priests shall eat, those who approach to the LORD shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, and the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering. For the place is holy.

42:14  When the priests enter, then they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but they shall lay their clothes there in which they minister, for they are holy. And they shall put on other clothes, and shall approach that which is for the people."

42:15  Now when he finished measuring the inner temple; he brought me out by the way of the gate whose view is toward the east, and measured it all around.

42:16  He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed, all around.

42:17  He measured the north side, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around.

42:18  He measured the south side, five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

42:19  He turned to the west side, measuring five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.

42:20  He measured it by the four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred long, and five hundred wide, to make a separation between the holy place and the common place.

Chapter 43

43:1  And he led me to the gate, the gate that faces eastward.

43:2  And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters. And the earth shined with His glory.

43:3  And it looked the same as the vision which I saw, even according to the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.

43:4  And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by the way of the gate whose view is eastward.

43:5  And the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner chamber. And behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

43:6  And I heard Him speaking to me from the temple. And standing by me was a Man.

43:7  And He said to me, "Son of man, the house of Israel shall no more defile the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel forever; neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places.

43:8  When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost; and the wall between Me and them, they have even defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have done. And I have consumed them in My anger.

43:9  Now let them put away their whoredom, and the dead bodies of their kings from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

43:10  You, son of man, show the house of Israel the temple, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. And let them measure its pattern.

43:11  And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, the form of the house, and its arrangement, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws, make known to them. And write them before their eyes, so that they may observe all its form, and all its ordinances, and do them.

43:12  This is the law of the temple. On the top of the mountain is all its border, all around it is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

43:13  And these are the measures of the altar by the cubit. The cubit is a cubit and a span; even the base shall be a cubit, and the width a cubit, and its border by its edge all around shall be a span. And this is the upper part of the altar.

43:14  And from the base on the ground even to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit. And from the smaller ledge even to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit.

43:15  And the altar hearth shall be four cubits, and from the altar hearth and upward shall be four horns.

43:16  And the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long, twelve wide, square in its four sides.

43:17  And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide in its four sides. And the border around it shall be half a cubit, and its base a cubit around. And its steps shall face eastward."

43:18  And He said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'These are the ordinances of the altar in the day of its being made to offer upon it burnt offerings, and to sprinkle blood upon it.

43:19  And you shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests the Levites, who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,' says the Lord GOD.

43:20  And you shall take of its blood and put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around. So you shall cleanse and purge it.

43:21  You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.

43:22  And on the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering. And they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull.

43:23  And when you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram out of the flock without blemish.

43:24  And you shall offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to the LORD.

43:25  Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering. They also shall prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.

43:26  Seven days they shall purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.

43:27  And when these days are expired, it shall be that on the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings before the altar, and your peace offerings. And I will accept you,' says the Lord GOD."

Chapter 44

44:1  And he brought me back by the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary which looks eastward. And it was shut.

44:2  And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it. Because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

44:3  It is for the prince; being a prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the same way."

44:4  And he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house. And I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.

44:5  And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, note carefully: see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the LORD, and all its laws. And mark well the entrance of the temple, with all the exits of the sanctuary.

44:6  And you shall say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "O house of Israel, let it be more than enough for you, of all your hateful deeds,

44:7  That you have brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood. And they have broken My covenant because of all your abominations.

44:8  And you have not kept the charge of My holy things, but you have set keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for themselves."

44:9  Thus says the Lord GOD, "No son of an alien, uncircumcised of heart and uncircumcised of flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, or any son of a stranger among the children of Israel.

44:10  But the Levites who have gone far away from Me, when Israel went astray; those who went astray from Me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.

44:11  Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as overseers at the gates of the temple and ministering at the temple. They shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

44:12  Because they ministered to them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have lifted up My hand against them," says the Lord GOD, "and they shall bear their iniquity.

44:13  And they shall not come near Me, to do the office of a priest to Me, nor to come near any of My holy things, in the most holy place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

44:14  But I will make them keepers of the charge of the temple for all its service, and for all that shall be done in it.

44:15  But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood," says the Lord GOD.

44:16  "They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

44:17  And it shall be, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with bleached linen clothing. And no wool shall come on them while they serve in the gates of the inner court, and within the temple.

44:18  Turbans of bleached linen shall be on their heads, and they shall have bleached linen undergarments on their loins. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.

44:19  And when they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court of the people, they shall put off their clothes in which they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other clothes, so that they shall not sanctify the people with their own clothes.

44:20  Nor shall they shave their heads nor allow their hair to grow long; they shall only trim their heads.

44:21  And the priests shall not drink wine when they enter the inner court.

44:22  Nor shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is divorced. But they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who had a priest before.

44:23  And they shall teach My people to discern between the holy and profane, and between the unclean and the clean.

44:24  And in a dispute they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to My judgments. And they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My assemblies, and they shall keep My Sabbaths holy.

44:25  And he shall not come near any dead person to defile himself; but he may defile themselves for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband.

44:26  And after he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.

44:27  And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering," says the Lord GOD.

44:28  "And it shall be to them for an inheritance. I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

44:29  They shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

44:30  And the first of all the firstfruits of all, and every offering of all, of every kind of your sacrifices, shall be the priest's. You shall also give the priest the first of your dough, so that he may cause the blessing to rest in your house.

44:31  The priests shall not eat of anything that died of itself, or is torn, whether it is bird or animal."

Chapter 45

45:1  "And, when you shall divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to the LORD, a holy portion of the land. The length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits long, and the width ten thousand. It shall be holy in all its borders all around.

45:2  Of this there shall be five hundred by five hundred cubits for the sanctuary, square all around; and fifty cubits around shall be for its open space.

45:3  And from this measure you shall measure the length of twenty-five thousand, and the width of ten thousand. And in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place.

45:4  It is the holy portion of the land for the priests, it shall be for the ministers of the sanctuary who come near to minister to the LORD. And it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

45:5  And the twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and the ten thousand in width, shall also be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, for themselves for a possession, twenty rooms.

45:6  And you shall give the possession of the city, five thousand cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand long, besides the offering of the holy portion. It shall be for the whole house of Israel.

45:7  And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side, of the holy district, and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy district, and to the front of the city's possession, from the west side, westward, and from the east side, eastward. And the length shall be alongside one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

45:8  It shall be for a land to him, for a possession in Israel; and My princes shall never again oppress My people. And they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes."

45:9  Thus says the Lord GOD, "Let it be sufficient for you, O princes of Israel. Remove violence and spoil, and do judgment and justice. Take away your demands on My people," says the Lord GOD.

45:10  "You shall have a just balance, a just ephah and a just bath.

45:11  The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer. Its measure shall be according to the homer.

45:12  And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your mina.

45:13  This is the heave offering that you shall offer: the sixth of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and the sixth of an ephah of an homer of barley.

45:14  And as to the statute of oil, the bath of oil, you shall offer the tenth of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer;

45:15  And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the watered pasture of Israel; for a grain offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them," says the Lord GOD.

45:16  "All the people of the land shall give this offering for the prince in Israel.

45:17  And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings and grain offerings and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the Sabbaths, in all appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering and the grain offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel."

45:18  Thus says the Lord GOD, "In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary.

45:19  And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.

45:20  And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for each man who goes astray, and for the simple. So you shall make atonement for the temple.

45:21  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover; for the festival of seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.

45:22  And on that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.

45:23  And the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams, without blemish, daily for the seven days, and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.

45:24  And he shall prepare a grain offering of an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil for an ephah.

45:25  In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast of tabernacles he shall prepare likewise for these seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the grain offering, and according to the oil."

Chapter 46

46:1  'Thus says the Lord GOD, "The gate of the inner court that faces eastward shall be shut the six working days. But on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

46:2  And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate outside, and shall stand by the gatepost. And the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. And he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until the sunset.

46:3  And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and in the new moons.

46:4  And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.

46:5  And the grain offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the grain offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

46:6  And in the day of the new moon it shall be a bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram. They shall be without blemish.

46:7  And he shall prepare a grain offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as his hand shall be able to get, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

46:8  And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and by its way he shall go out.

46:9  But when the people of the land come before the LORD in the appointed feasts, he who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate. And he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall leave opposite it.

46:10  And the prince shall go in among them when they go in. And when they go out, he shall go out.

46:11  And at the feasts and in the appointed seasons, the grain offering shall be an ephah to a bull, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

46:12  And when the prince shall prepare a freewill burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily to the LORD, one shall then open to him the gate that faces eastward, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the Sabbath day. And he shall go out. And after his going out, one shall shut the gate.

46:13  You shall daily prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, a lamb without blemish, a male of a year. Morning by morning you shall prepare it.

46:14  And you shall prepare a grain offering for it every morning, the sixth of an ephah, and the third of a hin of oil, to make the fine flour moist; a grain offering every day by an ordinance forever to the LORD.

46:15  So they shall prepare the lamb, and the grain offering, and the oil, every morning for a burnt offering continually."

46:16  'Thus says the Lord GOD, "If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, the inheritance of it shall be his sons'—it shall be their possession by inheritance.

46:17  But if he gives a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty. Afterwards, it shall return to the prince, but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them.

46:18  And the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, oppressing them out of their possession. But he shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own possession; so that My people may not be scattered, each man from his possession." ’ ”

46:19  And he brought me through the entry which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, facing north. And behold, there was a place at the end of the chamber westward.

46:20  And he said to me, "This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they may not bring them out into the outer court to sanctify the people."

46:21  And he led me out into the outer court and he made me pass by the four corners of the court. And behold, in every corner of the court there was an enclosed court.

46:22  In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide, one measure to the four of them, being made in corners.

46:23  And a row of building stones was all around in them, all around the four of them. And boiling places were made under the rows all around.

46:24  And he said to me, "These are the places for those who boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people."

Chapter 47

47:1  And he led me again to the door of the house. And behold, water came out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the front of the house is east, and the water came down from under the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

47:2  And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and led me around the way outside to the outer gate, by the way facing the east. And behold, water was running out of the right side.

47:3  When the man went out eastward, and a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits. And he brought me through the water. The water was to the ankles.

47:4  And he measured a thousand cubits, and brought me through the water—the water was up to the knees. And he measured a thousand, and brought me through water to the loins.

47:5  And he measured a thousand; and there was a river which I was not able to pass; for the water had risen, water to swim in, a river that could not be passed.

47:6  And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" And he led me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river.

47:7  When I returned, then behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees, on one side and on the other.

47:8  And he said to me, "These waters go out toward the east country, and go down into the Arabah, and go into the sea. They are brought out into the sea, and its waters shall be healed.

47:9  And it shall be that every living creature which swarms in every place, there where the rivers go, every thing shall live. And there shall be very many fish because these waters shall come there. And they shall be healed. And all shall live where the river goes.

47:10  And it will be, the fishermen shall stand on it from En Gedi even to En Eglaim, a spreading place for nets shall be there. Their fish shall be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.

47:11  But its swamps and its marshes shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.

47:12  And all trees for food shall go up by the river, on its bank on this side, and on that side. Its leaf shall not fade, nor its fruit fail. It will bear month by month because its waters come out from the sanctuary. And its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing."

47:13  Thus says the Lord GOD, "This s hall be the border by which you shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.

47:14  And you shall inherit it, each man like his brother, as I lifted up My hand to give to your fathers; even this land shall fall to you for an inheritance.

47:15  And this is the border of the land to the north side, from the Great Sea, the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad;

47:16  Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazar Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran.

47:17  And the border shall be from the sea to Hazar Enan, at the border of Damascus and the north, northward, even the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

47:18  And you shall measure the east side from between Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan, from the border to the Eastern Sea. And this is the east side.

47:19  And the south side, southward from Tamar, to the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, the river to the Great Sea. And this is the south side, southward.

47:20  And the west side is the Great Sea from the border until one is beside the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side.

47:21  And you shall divide this land for yourselves by the tribes of Israel.

47:22  And it will be, you shall make it fall by lot for an inheritance to yourselves, and to the strangers who live among you, who shall beget children among you. And they shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel. They shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

47:23  And it shall be, in the tribe in which the stranger resides, there you shall give his inheritance," says the Lord GOD.

Chapter 48

48:1  "And these are the names of the tribes. From the north end, at the hand of the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus northward, at the hand of Hamath. And there shall be to it an east side and a west: one part for Dan.

48:2  And by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, one part for Asher.

48:3  And by the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, one part for Naphtali.

48:4  And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, one part for Manasseh.

48:5  And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, one part for Ephraim.

48:6  And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, one part for Reuben.

48:7  And by the border of Reuben from the east side to the west side, one part for Judah.

48:8  And by the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the heave offering which you shall offer: twenty-five thousand cubits wide and long, as one of the parts, from the east side to the west side. And the sanctuary shall be in its middle.

48:9  The heave offering that you shall offer to the LORD shall be twenty-five thousand cubits long, and ten thousand cubits wide.

48:10  And for these shall be the holy heave offering for the priests; northward, twenty-five thousand; and westward ten thousand wide; and eastward ten thousand wide, and southward twenty-five thousand long. And the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the middle of it,

48:11  For the priests who are sanctified, of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

48:12  And the heave offering shall be theirs, from the heave offering of the land, the holiest of the holy places, by the border of the Levites.

48:13  And the Levites shall have alongside the border of the priests twenty-five thousand cubits long, and ten thousand wide. All the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the width ten thousand.

48:14  And they shall not sell any of it, nor trade it, nor cause the firstfruits of the land to pass away. For it is holy to the LORD

48:15  And the five thousand that are left in the width in front of the twenty-five thousand shall be common for the city, for dwelling and for open land. And the city shall be in its midst.

48:16  And these shall be its measures: the north side, four thousand and five hundred; and the south side, four thousand and five hundred; and on the east side, four thousand and five hundred; and the west side, four thousand and five hundred.

48:17  And the open land of the city shall be northward, two hundred and fifty, and southward, two hundred and fifty; and eastward, two hundred and fifty; and westward, two hundred and fifty.

48:18  And the rest in length alongside the heave offering of the holy parts shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward. And it shall be alongside the heave offering of the holy part. And its produce shall be for food to those who serve the city.

48:19  And he who serves the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

48:20  All the heave offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand, four-square. You shall offer the holy heave offering to the possession of the city.

48:21  And the rest shall be for the prince, on this side, and on that side of the holy heave offering, and of the possession of the city, in the front of the twenty-five thousand of the heave offering to the east border, and westward in the front of the twenty-five thousand to the west border, alongside the lots for the prince. And it shall be the holy heave offering. And the sanctuary of the house shall be in her midst.

48:22  And to the prince shall be from the possessions of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, amidst that for the prince; between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.

48:23  And the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one part.

48:24  And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one part.

48:25  And by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one part.

48:26  And by the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one part.

48:27  And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one part.

48:28  And by the border of Gad, at the south side, southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, and to the river toward the Great Sea.

48:29  This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their parts," says the Lord GOD.

48:30  "And these are the exits of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.

48:31  And the gates of the city shall be by the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward, one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.

48:32  And at the east side four thousand and five hundred, and three gates: and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.

48:33  And the south side, four thousand and five hundred measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.

48:34  The west side, four thousand and five hundred, their gates three: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.

48:35  All around it shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD There."