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Now it happened in the
thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was
among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and
I saw visions of God. In the fifth of the month, which
was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of
Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of
Yahweh was there on him. I
looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud,
with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst
as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire. Out of its midst came the likeness
of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness
of a man. Everyone had
four faces, and each one of them had four wings. Their feet were straight feet; and
the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they
sparkled like burnished brass. They had the hands of a man under
their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and
their wings thus: their
wings were joined one to another; they didn’t turn when they went; each
one went straight forward. As for the likeness of their
faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a
lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the
left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their
wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and
two covered their bodies. Each one went straight forward:
where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn’t turn when they went.
As for the likeness of
the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire,
like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living
creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth
lightning. The living
creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Now as I saw the living
creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for
each of the four faces of it. The appearance of the wheels and
their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and
their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
When they went, they went
in their four directions: they didn’t turn when they went. As for their rims, they were high
and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around.
When the living creatures
went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were
lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit was to go,
they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up
beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
When those went, these
went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up
from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of
the living creature was in the wheels. Over the head of the living
creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to
look on, stretched forth over their heads above. Under the expanse were their
wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered
on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their
bodies. When they went, I
heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the
voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when
they stood, they let down their wings. There was a voice above the
expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their
wings. Above the expanse
that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance
of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne
was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above. I saw as it were glowing metal,
as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his
waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw
as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.
As the appearance of the
rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of
the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the
glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of
one that spoke.
He said to me, Son of
man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you. The Spirit entered into me when he
spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me.
He said to me, Son of man,
I send you to the children of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have
rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me
even to this very day. The
children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I am sending you to them; and you
shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh. They, whether they will hear, or
whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall
know that there has been a prophet among them. You, son of man, don’t be afraid
of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are
with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don’t be afraid of their
words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
You shall speak my words
to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they
are most rebellious. But
you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don’t be rebellious like that
rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you. When I looked, behold, a hand was
put forth to me; and, behold, a scroll of a book was therein; He spread it before me: and it
was written within and without; and there were written therein
lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
He said to me, Son of
man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house
of Israel. So I opened my
mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. He said to me, Son of man, cause
your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you.
Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said to me, Son of man, go to
the house of Israel, and speak my words to them. For you are not sent to a people
of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
not to many peoples of a
strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand.
Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not
listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel
are obstinate and hard-hearted. Behold, I have made your face hard
against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.
As an adamant harder than
flint have I made your forehead: don’t be afraid of them, neither be
dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. Moreover he said to me, Son of
man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and
hear with your ears. Go
to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to
them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or
whether they will forbear. Then the Spirit lifted me up, and
I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the
glory of Yahweh from his place. I heard the noise of the wings of
the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the
wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. So the Spirit lifted me up, and
took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the
hand of Yahweh was strong on me. Then I came to them of the
captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they
lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. It happened at the end of seven
days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 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. When I tell the wicked, You shall
surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from
his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and
he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall
die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man does
turn from his righteousness, and commit 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 righteous deeds which he has done shall not
be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the
righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall
surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.
The hand of Yahweh was
there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will
there talk with you. Then
I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the glory of Yahweh
stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on
my face. Then the Spirit
entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to
me, Go, shut yourself inside your house. But you, son of man, behold, they
shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go
out among them: and I
will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be
mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious
house. But when I speak
with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the
Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him
forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
You also, son of man,
take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even
Jerusalem: and lay siege
against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it;
set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.
Take for yourself an iron
pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your
face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against
it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. Moreover lie on your left side,
and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; according to the number
of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
For I have appointed the
years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred
ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Again, when you have
accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the
iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I
appointed it to you. You
shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm
uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it. Behold, I lay bands on you, and
you shall not turn you from one side to the other, until you have
accomplished the days of your siege. Take for yourself also wheat, and
barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one
vessel, and make bread of it; according to the number of the days that you
shall lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, you shall eat of
it. Your food which you
shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time you
shall eat it. You shall
drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time you
shall drink. You shall
eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung
that comes out of man. Yahweh said, Even thus shall the
children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will
drive them. Then I said,
Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth
up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is
torn of animals; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Then he said to me,
Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you shall
prepare your bread thereon. Moreover 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 fearfulness; and they shall drink water by
measure, and in dismay: that they may want bread and
water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
You, son of man, take
a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber’s razor to you, and shall
cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to
weigh, and divide the hair. A third part you shall burn in the
fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled;
and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and
a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword
after them. You shall take
of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts. Of these again you shall take, and
cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it
shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is
Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are
around her. She has
rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations,
and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for
they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not
walked in them. Therefore
thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations
that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept
my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that
are around you; therefore
thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will
execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. I will do in you that which I have
not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all
your abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat
the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I
will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter
to all the winds. Therefore, as I live, says the
Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your
detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also
diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.
A third part of you shall
die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the
midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword around you; and a
third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword
after them. Thus shall my
anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and
I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in
my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them. Moreover I will make you a
desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the
sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a
taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around
you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in
wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;) when I shall send on them the
evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to
destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your
staff of bread; and I
will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and
pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on
you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
The word of Yahweh
came to me, saying, Son of
man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them,
and say, You mountains of
Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the
mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys:
Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high
places. Your altars shall
become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast
down your slain men before your idols. I will lay the dead bodies of the
children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones
around your altars. In all
your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places
shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,
and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut
down, and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in the midst
of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Yet will I leave a remnant, in
that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you
shall be scattered through the countries. Those of you that escape shall
remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how
that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me,
and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they
shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have
committed in all their abominations. They shall know that I am Yahweh:
I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them. Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Strike
with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all
the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He who is far off shall die of
the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who
remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my
wrath on them. You shall
know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols
around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains,
and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where
they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols. I will stretch out my hand on
them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward
Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am
Yahweh.
Moreover the word of
Yahweh came to me, saying, You, son of man, thus says the
Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end has come on the four
corners of the land. Now
is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you
according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
My eye shall not spare
you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your
abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am
Yahweh. Thus says the Lord
Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. An end has come, the end has come;
it awakes against you; behold, it comes. Your doom has come to you,
inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of
tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my
wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you
according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
My eye shall not spare,
neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and
your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I,
Yahweh, do strike. Behold, the day, behold, it
comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.
Violence has risen up
into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their
multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among
them. The time has come,
the day draws near: don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn;
for wrath is on all its multitude. For the seller shall not return
to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is
touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any
strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. They have blown the trumpet, and
have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all
its multitude. The sword
is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the
field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and
pestilence shall devour him. But those of those who escape
shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all
of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. All hands shall be feeble, and
all knees shall be weak as water. They shall also clothe themselves
with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all
faces, and baldness on all their heads. They shall cast their silver in
the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and
their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of
Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels;
because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his
ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their
abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it
to them as an unclean thing. I will give it into the hands of
the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and
they shall profane it. My
face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place;
and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it. Make the chain; for the land is
full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Therefore I will bring the worst
of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the
pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.
Destruction comes; and
they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come on mischief,
and rumor shall be on rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet;
but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
The king shall mourn, and
the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people
of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and
according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know
that I am Yahweh.
It happened in the
sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in
my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord
Yahweh fell there on me. Then I saw, and behold, a likeness
as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward,
fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as
it were glowing metal. He
put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the
Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the
visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court
that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of
jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. Behold, the glory of the God of
Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.
Then he said to me, Son of
man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my
eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar
this image of jealousy in the entry. He said to me, Son of man, do you
see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do
commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall
again see yet other great abominations. He brought me to the door of the
court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, Son of man,
dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.
He said to me, Go in, and
see the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and see,
every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols
of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. There stood before them seventy
men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood
Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and
the odor of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, Son of man,
have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every
man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn’t see us; Yahweh
has forsaken the land. He
said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which
they do. Then he brought
me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north;
and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said to me, Have you seen
this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these.
He brought me into the
inner court of Yahweh’s house; and see, at the door of the temple of
Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with
their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east;
and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. Then he said to me, Have you seen
this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they
commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the
land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and
behold, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in
wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they
cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Then he cried in my
ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause those who are in charge of the city
to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. Behold, six men came from the way
of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his
slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen,
with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the
bronze altar. The glory of
the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the
threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had
the writer’s inkhorn by his side. Yahweh said to him, Go through the
midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the
foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that
are done in its midst. To
the others he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him, and
strike: don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity; kill utterly the old man, the
young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don’t come
near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they
began at the old men that were before the house. He said to them, Defile the house,
and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth! They went forth, and struck
in the city. It happened,
while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and
cried, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of
Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem? Then 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 full of perversion: for they say, Yahweh has
forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see. As for me also, my eye shall not
spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.
Behold, the man clothed
in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I
have done as you have commanded me.
Then I looked, and
see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared
above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the
appearance of the likeness of a throne. He spoke to the man clothed in
linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub,
and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and
scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. Now the cherubim stood on the
right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the
inner court. The glory of
Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the
house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of
the brightness of Yahweh’s glory. The sound of the wings of the
cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty
when he speaks. It came
to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire
from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went
in, and stood beside a wheel. The cherub stretched forth his
hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim,
and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen,
who took it and went out. There appeared in the cherubim
the form of a man’s hand under their wings. I looked, and behold, four wheels
beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside
another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.
As for their appearance,
the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in
their four directions: they didn’t turn as they went, but to the place
where the head looked they followed it; they didn’t turn as they went.
Their whole body, and
their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full
of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. As for the wheels, they were
called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. Every one had four faces: the
first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of
a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of
an eagle. The cherubim
mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.
When the cherubim went,
the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings
to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn’t turn from beside
them. When they stood,
these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the
spirit of the living creature was in them. The glory of Yahweh went forth
from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim lifted up their
wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and
the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of
Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
This is the living
creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I
knew that they were cherubim. Every one had four faces, and
every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under
their wings. As for the
likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river
Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight
forward.
Moreover the Spirit
lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, which
looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I
saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of
Benaiah, princes of the people. He said to me, Son of man, these
are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;
who say, The time is not
near to build houses: this is the caldron, and we are the meat. Therefore prophesy against them,
prophesy, son of man. The
Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, Thus says Yahweh:
Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into
your mind. You have
multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with
the slain. Therefore thus
says the Lord Yahweh: Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are
the meat, and this is the caldron; but you shall be brought out of its
midst. You have feared
the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh.
I will bring you forth
out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will
execute judgments among you. You shall fall by the sword; I
will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am
Yahweh. This shall not
be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge
you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am
Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed
my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are
around you. It happened,
when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down
on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will
you make a full end of the remnant of Israel? The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, your
brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house
of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Go
far away from Yahweh. This land has been given to us for a possession.
Therefore say, Thus says
the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations,
and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to
them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come.
Therefore say, Thus says
the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out
of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the
land of Israel. They
shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it
and all its abominations from there. I will give them one heart, and
I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of
their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; 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. But as for them whose heart
walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I
will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh. Then the cherubim lifted up
their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of
Israel was over them above. The glory of Yahweh went up from
the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side
of the city. The Spirit
lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into
Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up
from me. Then I spoke to
them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.
The word of Yahweh
also came to me, saying, Son of man, you dwell in the
midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who
have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, you son of
man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight; and
you shall move from your place to another place in their sight: it may be
they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. You shall bring forth your stuff
by day in their sight, as stuff for moving; and you shall go forth
yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile. Dig through the wall in their
sight, and carry your stuff out that way. In their sight you shall bear it
on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your
face, so that you don’t see the land: for I have set you for a sign to
the house of Israel. I
did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for
removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought
it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight. In the morning came the word of
Yahweh to me, saying, Son
of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you,
What are you doing? Say
to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This burden concerns the prince in
Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are. Say, I am your sign: like as I
have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into
captivity. The prince
who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go
forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall
cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes. My net also will I spread on
him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to
the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die
there. I will scatter
toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands;
and I will draw out the sword after them. They shall know that I am
Yahweh, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them
through the countries. But I will leave a few men of
them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they
may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and
they shall know that I am Yahweh. Moreover the word of Yahweh came
to me, saying, Son of
man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and
with fearfulness; and
tell the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their
bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may
be desolate, and all that is therein, because of the violence of all those
who dwell therein. The
cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a
desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, what
is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are
prolonged, and every vision fails? Tell them therefore, Thus says
the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more
use it as a proverb in Israel; but tell them, The days are at hand, and
the fulfillment of every vision. For there shall be no more any
false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am Yahweh; I will speak,
and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more
deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and
will perform it, says the Lord Yahweh. Again the word of Yahweh came to
me, saying, Son of man,
behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for
many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off. Therefore tell them, Thus says
the Lord Yahweh: None of my words shall be deferred any more, but the word
which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh
came to me, saying, Son
of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to
those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear the word of Yahweh:
Thus says the Lord
Yahweh, Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have
seen nothing! Israel,
your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places. You have not gone up into the
gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the
battle in the day of Yahweh. They have seen falsehood and
lying divination, who say, Yahweh says; but Yahweh has not sent them: and
they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed. Haven’t you seen a false
vision, and haven’t you spoken a lying divination, in that you say,
Yahweh says; but I have not spoken? Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore,
behold, I am against you, says the Lord Yahweh. My hand shall be against the
prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in
the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of
the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and
you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh. Because, even because they have
seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and when one
builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash: tell those who plaster it with
whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and
you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it.
Behold, when the wall
has fallen, shall it not be said to you, Where is the plaster with which
you have plastered it? Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there
shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath
to consume it. So will I
break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it
down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered; and it
shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst: and you shall know
that I am Yahweh. Thus
will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have plastered it
with whitewash; and I will tell you, The wall is no more, neither those
who plastered it; to
wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see
visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord Yahweh.
You, son of man, set
your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their
own heart; and prophesy against them, and say, Thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs
for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the
souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? You have profaned me among my
people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls
who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by
your lying to my people who listen to lies. Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the
souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will
let the souls go, even the souls whom you hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear,
and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your
hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. Because with lies you have
grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and
strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his
wicked way, and be saved alive: Therefore you shall no more see
false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of
your hand; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Then came certain of
the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, these
men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block
of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by
them? Therefore speak to
them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Every man of the house of
Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of
his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will
answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols; that I may take the house of
Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through
their idols. Therefore
tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Return, and turn
yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations. For
everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel,
who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and
puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the
prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself:
and I will set my face
against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a
proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall
know that I am Yahweh. If
the prophet is deceived and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that
prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from
the midst of my people Israel. They shall bear their iniquity:
the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks
him; that the house of
Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more
with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may
be their God, says the Lord Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, when
a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand
on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut
off from it man and animal; though these three men, Noah,
Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by
their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh. If I cause evil animals to pass
through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no
man may pass through because of the animals; though these three men were in
it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor
daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.
Or if I bring a sword on
that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it
man and animal; though
these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should
deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered
themselves. Or if I send
a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut
off from it man and animal; though Noah, Daniel, and Job,
were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither
son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their
righteousness. For thus
says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four severe judgments
on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the
pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal! Yet, behold, therein shall be
left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters:
behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and
their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have
brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.
They shall comfort you,
when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have
not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh
came to me, saying, Son
of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is
among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken of it to make
any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire
for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is
it profitable for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was
meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is
burned, shall it yet be meet for any work! Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given
to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them;
they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you
shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them. I will make the land desolate,
because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.
Again the word of
Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to
know her abominations; and say, Thus says the Lord
Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the
Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.
As for your birth, in the
day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water
to cleanse you; you weren’t salted at all, nor swaddled at all. No eye pitied you, to do any of
these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in
the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you
were born. When I passed
by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, Though you are
in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, Though you are in your blood,
live. I caused you to
multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew
great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were
fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare. Now when I passed by you, and
looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my
skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and
entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became
mine. Then washed I you
with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I
anointed you with oil. I
clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I
dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. I decked you with ornaments, and
I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. I put a ring on your nose, and
earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were decked 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 exceeding
beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. Your renown went forth among the
nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I
had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh. But you trusted in your beauty,
and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your
prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was. You took of your garments, and
made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the
prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall
it be so. You
also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had
given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute
with them; and you took
your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense
before them. My bread
also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed
you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it
was, says the Lord Yahweh. Moreover you have taken your
sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have
sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small
matter, that you have
slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through
the fire to them? In all your abominations and
your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you
were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood. It has happened after all your
wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh), that you have built for
yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in
every street. You have
built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty
an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and
multiplied your prostitution. You have also committed sexual
immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have
multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger. See therefore, I have stretched
out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and
delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the
Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. You have played the prostitute
also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played
the prostitute with them, and yet you weren’t satisfied. You have moreover multiplied
your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you
weren’t satisfied with this. How weak is your heart, says the
Lord Yahweh, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent
prostitute; in that you
build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty
place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you
scorn pay. A wife who
commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all
prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them,
that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution. You are different from
other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to
play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to
you, therefore you are different. Therefore, prostitute, hear the
word of Yahweh: Thus
says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your
nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and
because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your
children, that you gave to them; therefore see, I will gather all
your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have
loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against
you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may
see all your nakedness. I will judge you, as women who
break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood
of wrath and jealousy. I
will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted
place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your
clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked
and bare. They shall
also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones,
and thrust you through with their swords. They shall burn your houses with
fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will
cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no
hire any more. So will I
cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you,
and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. Because you have not remembered
the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things;
therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord
Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.
Behold, everyone who
uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the
mother, so is her daughter. You are the daughter of your
mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister
of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your
mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. Your elder sister is Samaria,
who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger
sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Yet have you not walked in their
ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a
very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your
ways. As I live, says
the Lord Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as
you have done, you and your daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of
your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in
her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor
and needy. They were
haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away
as I saw good. Neither has Samaria committed
half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than
they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you
have done. You also,
bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters;
through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they
are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame,
in that you have justified your sisters. I will turn again their
captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of
Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in their
midst; that you may bear
your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in
that you are a comfort to them. 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. For your sister Sodom was not
mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was
uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and
of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do
despite to you all around. You have borne your lewdness and
your abominations, says Yahweh. For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I
will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in
breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my
covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you
an everlasting covenant. Then you shall remember your
ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder
sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for
daughters, but not by your covenant. I will establish my covenant
with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; that you may remember, and be
confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame,
when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh
came to me, saying, Son
of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
and say, Thus says the
Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of
feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of
the cedar: he cropped off
the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic;
he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the
land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters;
he set it as a willow tree. It grew, and became a spreading
vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were
under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth
sprigs. There was also
another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this
vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him,
from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. It was planted in a good soil by
many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear
fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. Say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit,
that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and
not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.
Yes, behold, being
planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind
touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew. Moreover the word of Yahweh came
to me, saying, Say now
to the rebellious house, Don’t you know what these things mean? tell
them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king,
and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon: and he took of the seed royal,
and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took
away the mighty of the land; that the kingdom might be base,
that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it
might stand. But he
rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they
might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape
who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh,
surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he
despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of
Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his
mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up
mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. For he has despised the oath by
breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done
all these things; he shall not escape. Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant
that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head. I will spread my net on him, and
he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will
enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed
against me. All his
fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain
shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh,
have spoken it. Thus
says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and
will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender
one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain: in the mountain of the height of
Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit,
and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing;
in the shade of its branches shall they dwell. All the trees of the field shall
know that I, Yahweh, 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, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.
The word of Yahweh
came to me again, saying, What do you mean, that you use
this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten
sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh,
you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Behold, all souls are
mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the
soul who sins, he shall die. But if a man is just, and does
that which is lawful and right, and has not eaten on the
mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has come near
to a woman in her impurity, and has not wronged any, but has
restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given
his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; he who has not given forth on
interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from
iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, has walked in my statutes, and
has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live,
says the Lord Yahweh. If
he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one
of these things, and who
does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains,
and defiled his neighbor’s wife, has wronged the poor and needy,
has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his
eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, has given forth on interest, and
has taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he has done all
these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.
Now, behold, if he
fathers a son, who sees all his father’s sins, which he has done, and
fears, and does not such like; who has not eaten on the
mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has wronged any, has not
taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his
bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; who has withdrawn his hand from
the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my
ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity
of his father, he shall surely live. As for his father, because he
cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good
among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity. Yet you say, Why doesn’t 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. The
soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the
righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be on him. But if the wicked turn from all
his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that
which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that
he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness
that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death
of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return
from his way, and live? But when the righteous turns
away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to
all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his
righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that
he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he
die. Yet you say, The
way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not
equal? Aren’t your ways unequal? When the righteous man turns
away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in
his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turns
away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is
lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considers, and turns
away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely
live, he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says,
“The way of the Lord is not fair.” House of Israel, aren’t my ways
fair? Aren’t your ways unfair? Therefore I will judge you,
house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh.
Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity
shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your
transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new
heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the
death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves,
and live.
Moreover, take up a
lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say, What was your mother? A
lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she
nourished her cubs. She
brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to
catch the prey; he devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he
was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of
Egypt. Now when she saw
that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her
cubs, and made him a young lion. He went up and down among the
lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he
devoured men. He knew
their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and
its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him
on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he
was taken in their pit. They put him in a cage with
hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into
strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of
Israel. Your mother was
like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and
full of branches by reason of many waters. It had strong rods for the
scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the
thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of
their branches. But it
was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind
dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire
consumed them. Now it is
planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. Fire is gone out of the rods of
its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong
rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a
lamentation.
It happened in the
seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the
month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and
sat before me. The word
of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, speak to the elders
of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of
me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be
inquired of by you. Will
you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the
abominations of their fathers; and tell them, Thus says the Lord
Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house
of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore
to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God; in that day I swore to them, to
bring them forth out of 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. I said to them,
Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile
yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God. But they rebelled against me, and
would not listen to me; they each didn’t throw away the abominations of
their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I
would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in
the midst of the land of Egypt. But I worked for my name’s
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among
which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing
them forth out of the land of Egypt. So I caused them to go forth out
of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes, and
showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
Moreover also I gave
them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know
that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled
against me in the wilderness: they didn’t walk in my statutes, and they
rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my
Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on
them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I worked for my name’s
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose
sight I brought them out. Moreover also I swore to them in
the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had
given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
because they rejected my
ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths:
for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless my eye spared them,
and I didn’t destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the
wilderness. I said to
their children in the wilderness, Don’t walk in the statutes of your
fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with
their idols. I am Yahweh
your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;
and make my Sabbaths
holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that
I am Yahweh your God. But the children rebelled
against me; they didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances
to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my
Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my
anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew my hand,
and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the
sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth. Moreover I swore to them in the
wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them
through the countries; because they had not executed my
ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths,
and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. Moreover also I gave them
statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;
and I polluted them in
their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all
that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they
might know that I am Yahweh. Therefore, son of man, speak to
the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this
moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a
trespass against me. For
when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then
they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there
their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their
offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out
there their drink offerings. Then I said to them, What does
the high place where you go mean? So its name is called Bamah to this day.
Therefore tell the house
of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves in the way
of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations?
and when you offer your
gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute
yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by
you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be
inquired of by you; and
that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We
will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood
and stone. As I live,
says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you: and I will bring you out from
the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are
scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with
wrath poured out; and I
will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter
into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment
with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter
into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh. I will cause you to pass under
the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among
you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth
out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of
Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. As for you, house of Israel,
thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter
also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more
profane with your gifts, and with your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the
mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all
the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I
accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits
of your offerings, with all your holy things. As a pleasant aroma will I
accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of
the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified
in you in the sight of the nations. You shall know that I am Yahweh,
when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I
swore to give to your fathers. There you shall remember your
ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have
committed. You shall
know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake,
not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you
house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, set
your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south,
and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South; and tell the forest of the
South, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will
kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and
every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces
from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. All flesh shall see that I,
Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched. Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh!
they say of me, Isn’t he a speaker of parables?
The word of Yahweh
came to me, saying, Son
of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward
the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; and tell the land of Israel, Thus
says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of
its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
Seeing then that I will
cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go
forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
and all flesh shall know
that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not
return any more. Sigh
therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your thighs and with
bitterness you will sigh before their eyes. It shall be, when they tell you,
Why do you sigh? that you shall say, Because of the news, for it comes;
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 Yahweh. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man,
prophesy, and say, Thus says Yahweh: Say, A sword, a sword, it is
sharpened, and also furbished; it is sharpened that it may make
a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then
make mirth? the rod of my son, it condemns every tree. It is given to be furbished,
that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished,
to give it into the hand of the killer. Cry and wail, son of man; for it
is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered
over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh. For there is a trial; and what
if even the rod that condemns shall be no more? says the Lord Yahweh.
You therefore, son of
man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be
doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword
of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their rooms.
I have set the
threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and
their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed
for slaughter. Gather
yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the
left, wherever your face is set. I will also strike my hands
together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
The word of Yahweh came
to me again, saying, Also, you son of man, appoint
two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall
come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head
of the way to the city. You shall appoint a way for the
sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in
Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stood at
the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he
shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in
the liver. In his right
hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to
open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to
set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.
It shall be to them as a
false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he
brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken. Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your
transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear;
because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand. You, deadly wounded wicked one,
the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of
the end, thus says the
Lord Yahweh: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this shall
be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is
high. I will overturn,
overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose
right it is; and I will give it him. You, son of man, prophesy, and
say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and
concerning their reproach; and say, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the
slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as
lightning; while they
see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on
the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the
time of the iniquity of the end. Cause it to return into its
sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth,
will I judge you. I will
pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my
wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to
destroy. 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, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Moreover the word of
Yahweh came to me, saying, You, son of man, will you judge,
will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her
abominations. You shall
say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of
her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to
defile her! You have
become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your
idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and
have come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the
nations, and a mocking to all the countries. Those who are near, and those who
are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one and full of
tumult. Behold, the
princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to
shed blood. In you have
they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt
by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless
and the widow. You have
despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you
to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst
of you they have committed lewdness. In you have they uncovered their
fathers’ nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her
impurity. One has
committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another has lewdly
defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister,
his father’s daughter. In you have they taken bribes to
shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily
gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the
Lord Yahweh. Behold,
therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have
made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you. Can your heart endure, or can
your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh,
have spoken it, and will do it. I will scatter you among the
nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your
filthiness out of you. You shall be profaned in
yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am
Yahweh. The word of
Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel
has become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead,
in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will
gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and brass
and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire
on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I
will lay you there, and melt you. Yes, I will gather you, and blow
on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.
As silver is melted in
the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will
know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you. The word of Yahweh came to me,
saying, Son of man, tell
her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of
indignation. There is a
conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the
prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things;
they have made her widows many in its midst. Her priests have done violence
to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction
between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern
between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my
Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in its midst are
like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls,
that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for
them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them,
saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used
oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and
needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully. I sought for a man among them,
who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land,
that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my
indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their
own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.
The word of Yahweh
came again to me, saying, Son of man, there were two women,
the daughters of one mother: and they played the prostitute in
Egypt; they played the prostitute in their youth; there were their breasts
pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity. Their names were Oholah the
elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bore sons
and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem
Oholibah. Oholah played
the prostitute when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the
Assyrians her neighbors, who were clothed with blue,
governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on
horses. She bestowed her
prostitution on them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on
whoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither has she left her
prostitution since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay
with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out
their prostitution on her. Therefore I delivered her into
the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, on whom she doted.
These uncovered her
nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with
the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed
judgments on her. Her
sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she,
and in her prostitution which were more than the prostitution of her
sister. She doted on the
Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most
gorgeously, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.
I saw that she was
defiled; they both took one way. She increased her prostitution;
for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans
portrayed with vermilion, dressed with girdles on their
waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them princes to look
on, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their
birth. As soon as she
saw them she doted on them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea.
The Babylonians came to
her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution,
and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
So she uncovered her
prostitution, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from
her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her
prostitution, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played
the prostitute in the land of Egypt. She doted on their paramours,
whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue
of horses. Thus you
called to memory the lewdness of your youth, in the handling of your bosom
by the Egyptians for the breasts of your youth. Therefore, Oholibah, thus says
the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from
whom your soul is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every
side: the Babylonians
and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the
Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of
them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They shall come against you with
weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall
set themselves against you with buckler and shield and helmet all around;
and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according
to their judgments. I
will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury;
they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your residue shall fall
by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your
residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip you of
your clothes, and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus will I make your lewdness
to cease from you, and your prostitution brought from the land of
Egypt; so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt
any more. For thus says
the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you
hate, into the hand of them from whom your soul is alienated; 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 prostitution shall be uncovered, both your
lewdness and your prostitution. These things shall be done to
you, because you have played the prostitute after the nations, and because
you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in the way of
your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You
will drink of your sister’s cup, which is deep and large; you will be
ridiculed and held in derision; it contains much. You shall be filled with
drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with
the cup of your sister Samaria. You shall even drink it and
drain it out, and you shall gnaw the broken pieces of it, and shall tear
your breasts; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh. Therefore thus says the Lord
Yahweh: Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back,
therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution. Yahweh said moreover to me: Son
of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare to them their
abominations. For they
have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols
have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom
they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them to be devoured.
Moreover this they have
done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have
profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slain their
children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to
profane it; and behold, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
Furthermore you have
sent for men who come from far, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold,
they came; for whom you did wash yourself, paint your eyes, and decorate
yourself with ornaments, and sit on a stately bed, with a
table prepared before it, whereupon you set my incense and my oil. |
