Ezekiel

Vision of the Glory of God

1:1 In the thirtieth year,1 on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles at the Kebar River,2 the heavens opened3 and I saw visions4 of God. 1:2 (In the fifth day of the month--the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's exile-- 1:3 the word of the LORD came to the priest Ezekiel5 the son of Buzi,6 at the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.7 The hand8 of the LORD came on him there).

1:4 As I watched, I saw a windstorm9 coming from the north--an enormous cloud surrounded by a radiance10 and a fire flashing forth,11 and in the fire something like a glowing substance.12 1:5 In the fire were what looked like13 four living beings.14 As for their appearance,15 they had human form.16 1:6 Each had four faces and four wings, 1:7 their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like calves' feet. They gleamed17 like burnished bronze. 1:8 They had human hands18 under their wings on their four sides. Each of the four had faces and wings; 1:9 their wings touched each other. They did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead.

1:10 Their faces had this appearance: each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left and also the face of an eagle-- 1:11 thus were their faces.19 Their wings were spread out above; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies. 1:12 Each moved straight ahead--wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 1:1320 The appearance of the living beings was like burning coals of fire,21 like torches. The fire moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire. 1:14 The living beings ran backward and forward like flashes of lightning22.

1:15 As I looked at the living beings, I saw a wheel23 touching the earth24 beside each one of the four. 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like jasper,25 and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel.26 1:17 When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced; they did not turn as they moved. 1:18 Their rims were high and awesome27 and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.

1:19 When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too. 1:20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go,28 and the wheels would rise up beside them, because the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. 1:21 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them, because the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

1:22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like an expanse,29 glittering awesomely like ice30 stretched out over their heads. 1:23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings giving cover--each had two covering the body. 1:24 When they moved, I heard the sound31 of their wings--it was like the noise of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult32 like the sound of an army. When they stopped moving, they lowered their wings.

1:25 Then there was a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stopped moving, they lowered their wings. 1:26 Above the expanse over their heads was something like a throne made of sapphire. On the throne, high above, was a form that appeared to be a man. 1:27 I saw a glowing substance33 that looked like fire enclosed all around from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a brilliant light around it. 1:28 The appearance of the brilliant light all around him was like a rainbow in the clouds after the rain.34 This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of LORD. When I saw35 it, I threw myself down with my face to the ground, and I heard someone's voice speaking.

Commission of Ezekiel

2:1 He said to me, "Son of man,1 stand on your feet and I will speak with you."2 2:2 As he spoke to me, the Spirit came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.

2:3 He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a rebellious nation3 that has rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have transgressed4 against me to this very day. 2:4 The people5 to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted,6 and you must say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says.'7 2:5 And as for them,8 whether they hear or not9--for they are a rebellious10 house11--they will know that a prophet has been among them. 2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words, even though briers12 and thorns13 surround you and you live among scorpions. Do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you,14 for they are a rebellious house! 2:7 You must speak my words to them whether they pay attention or not, for they are rebellious. 2:8 As for you, son of man, hear what I say to you: Do not rebel like that rebellious house! Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

2:9 Then I saw15 a hand stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. 2:10 He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front16 and back;17 written on it were lamentation and mourning and woe.

3:1 He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you see in front of you1--eat this scroll--and then go and speak to the house of Israel." 3:2 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll.

3:3 He said to me, "Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you." So I ate it,2 and it was sweet as honey3 in my mouth.

3:4 He said to me, "Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 3:5 For I am not sending you to a people of obscure speech4 and difficult language,5 but6 to the house of Israel-- 3:6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand7--surely if8 I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you,9 because they are not willing to listen to me,10 for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.11

3:8 "I have set your face hard12 against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 3:9 I have made your face harder than flint--like diamond!13 Do not fear them or be dismayed by their looks,14 for they are a rebellious house."

3:10 And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully to all my words that I speak to you and take them to heart. 3:11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen,15 and speak to them--say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' whether they pay attention or not."

Ezekiel Before the Exiles

3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up16 and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me--Blessed be the glory of the LORD17 in his place!18-- 3:13 the sound of the living beings' wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a loud rumbling sound. 3:14 The Spirit lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, my spirit full of anger, and the hand of the LORD rested powerfully19 on me. 3:15 I came to the exiles at Tel Abib,20 who lived by the Kebar River. And I sat among them there, where they were living, for seven days, dumbfounded.21

3:16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me:22 3:17 "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman23 for the house of Israel, and whenever you hear a word from my mouth and you must give them a warning from me. 3:18 If I say to the wicked, "You will certainly die," and you do not warn him--you do not speak out to warn him24 to turn from his evil conduct so that he may live--that wicked person will die for25 his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death..26 3:19 But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil conduct, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.27

3:20 "When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set a stumbling block28 before him, he will die. Because you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be remembered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 3:21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he29 does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life."

Isolation and Silenced

3:22 The hand of the LORD rested on me there, and he said to me, "Get up, go out to the valley,30 and I will speak with you there." 3:23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the LORD was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River; and I threw myself down with my face to the ground.

3:24 Then the Spirit came into me and stood me on my feet. He spoke with me and said, "Go shut yourself in your house. 3:25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among the people. 3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak;31 you will be unable to reprove32 them, for they are a rebellious house. 3:27 But when I speak to you,33 I will loosen your tongue34 and you must say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says.' Whoever will pay attention, let him do so, and whoever refuses to pay attention, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

4:1 "And you, son of man, take a brick1 and set it in front of you. Inscribe2 a city on it--Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it3--build siege works against it, build a ramp against it; set camps against it, and surround it with battering rams. 4:3 Then take an iron baking plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it and it will be under siege, and you will besiege it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

4:4 "Then lie on your left side, and place the iniquity4 of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 4:5 I have set the the number of days5 you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel--three hundred ninety days6--to correspond to the number of years of their iniquity.

4:6 "When you have completed these days you will lie down a second time, but on your right side, and you will bear the iniquity of the house of Judah--I have assigned you forty days,7 one day for each year. 4:7 You will turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared,8 and prophecy against it. 4:8 Look, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.9

4:9 "Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,10 put them in a single container, and make them food11 for yourself. You must eat it12 the same number of days that you lie on your side--three hundred ninety days. 4:10 The food that you eat must be eight ounces13 a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times. 4:11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;14 you must drink it at fixed times. 4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake, you must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human dung."15 4:13 And the LORD said, "This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations16 where I will banish them."

4:14 And I said, "Alas, Sovereign LORD, I have never been defiled before; I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat17 has never entered my mouth."

4:15 So he said to me, "All right then, I will allow you to prepare your bread over cow's dung instead of human dung."18

4:16 Then he said to me, "Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread19 in Jerusalem. They will eat the bread weighed out and in anxiety, and drink water measured out and in horror, 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be aghast, and they will waste away in their iniquity.20

5:1 "As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber's razor1 and pass it over your head and your beard.2 Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 5:2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and beat it with a sword all around the city, and scatter a third to the wind, and I will unsheathe a sword after them. 5:3 But take a few strands of hair3 and tie them in the ends of your garment.4 5:4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire, and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

5:5 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem; I have placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 5:6 But she has rebelled against my laws and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations5 and the countries around her, for they have rejected my laws, and as for my statutes, they do not walk in them.

5:7 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you are more tumultuous than the nations which are around you,6 you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my laws. You have not even7 observed8 the laws of the nations which are around you!

5:8 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I--even I myself--am against you, and I will execute judgments among you while all the nations look on. 5:9 Because of all your abominations,9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. 5:10 Therefore fathers will eat their10 own children11 in your midst12 and children will eat their own fathers. I will execute judgments against you, and I will scatter to every wind any among you who survive.

5:11 "Therefore, as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, surely, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will mow you down,13 my eye will not spare you, nor will I have any pity.14 5:12 One third of you will die of plague and be overcome by famine in your midst;15 a third of you will fall by the sword around you;16 and one third I will scatter to every wind--I will chase them with a drawn sword. 5:13 Then my anger will be spent, and I will cause my fury to rest on them, and I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in my jealousy17 when I spend my fury on them.

5:14 "I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of every passer-by. 5:15 And you will be18 an object of reproach and taunting,19 a warning and an object of horror among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and fury and furious rebukes--I, the LORD, have spoken. 5:16 I will shoot against them cruel and destructive arrows of famine,20 which I will shoot to destroy you, and I will bring more and more famine on you and will break your staff of bread.21 5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you.22 Plague and bloodshed will pass through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

Judgment on the Mountains of Israel

6:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 6:2 "Son of man, turn your face toward1 the mountains of Israel and prophecy against them, 6:3 and say: `Mountains of Israel,2 Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD!3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I myself am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.4 6:4 Your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be shattered, and I will throw down your dead in front of your idols.5 6:5 I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6:6 In all the places where you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places desolated, so that your alters will be laid waste and desolate, your idols will be smashed and demolished, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out.6 6:7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the LORD.7

6:8 "`But I will spare some among you, those who escape the sword among the nations when you are scattered in foreign lands. 6:9 And your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I was crushed by their unfaithful8 hearts which turned from me and their eyes which lusted after their idols. Then they will loathe themselves9 because of the evil things they have done, for all their abominable practices. 6:10 And they will know that I am the LORD; I did not threaten in vain to bring this catastrophe10 on them.'

6:11 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, "Alas!" because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.11 6:12 The one who is far away will die by pestilence, the one who is close by will fall by sword, and any who are left, who have been spared, will die by famine. Thus I will spend my fury on them. 6:13 Then you will know that I am the LORD--when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every oak,12 the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 6:14 I will stretch out my hand against them13 and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Diblah,14 in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD!"

The End Has Come

7:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 7:2 "You, son of man--this is what the Sovereign LORD says to the land of Israel: An end!1 The end is coming on the four corners of the land!2 7:3 The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you; I will judge3 you according to your behavior, I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 7:4 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare you.4 For I will hold you responsible for your conduct, and the consequences of your abominable practices will be among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD!

7:5 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: A disaster5--a one-of-a-kind6 disaster--is coming! 7:6 An end has come;7 the end has come, the end is upon you. Look, it is coming! 7:7 Doom is coming upon you, you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day8 is near--sounds of tumult and not shouts of joy on the mountains. 7:8 Soon now I will pour out my fury9 on you; I will spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare you, according to your behavior I will repay10 you, and the consequences of your abominable practices will be among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who is striking you.

7:10 "Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom will go out--the rod has budded, pride11 has blossomed! 7:11 Violence12 has grown into a rod that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left--not from that crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence.13 7:12 The time has come; the day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for furious anger is upon their whole crowd.14 7:13 The seller will not regain what he has sold while both parties are alive, for the vision concerning their whole crowd15 will not be revoked. Not one of them will preserve his life in his iniquity.16

7:14 "They have blown the trumpet and got everyone ready, but no one goes to battle, because my furious anger is upon the whole crowd.17 7:15 Outside is the sword, inside the house are pestilence and famine; whoever is in the open field will die by the sword, and whoever is in the city will be consumed by famine and pestilence. 7:16 Their survivors will escape and will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning--each one over his sins. 7:17 All of their hands will grow weak, their knees will be wet with urine.18 7:18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all of their heads shaved bald. 7:19 They will throw their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated as an unclean thing.19 Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the of the LORD's furious anger. Their hunger will not be satisfied and their stomachs will not be full, because it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.20 7:20 They were proud of their beautiful ornaments,21 but they made them into their abominable images--their detestable idols. Therefore I will make these22 into something unclean for them. 7:21 I will give it all to strangers as booty, to the wicked of the earth as plunder; and they will profane it. 7:22 I will turn23 my face away from them so that they will desecrate my treasured place.24 Robbers will enter it and desecrate it.

7:23 "Make a chain,25 because the land is full of the crime26 of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. 7:24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses.27 I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. 7:25 Terror28 is coming! They will seek peace, but find none. 7:26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from the prophet; instruction in the law will vanish from the priest and counsel from the elders. 7:27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with desolation; the hands of the people of the land will shake with fear. According to their behavior I will deal with them, and according to their judgments I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the LORD!"

Abominations in the Temple

8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month,1 as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand of the Sovereign LORD fell on me there. 8:2 I saw a form that appeared to be a man.2 From what appeared to be his waist downward he was like fire, and from his waist upward his appearance was like the brightness of a glowing substance.3 8:3 The form4 of a hand stretched out and took me by the hair of my head.5 Then the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate which faces north--this was the location of the statue6 which provokes to jealously. 8:4 And the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

8:5 He said to me, "Son of man, look up toward7 the north." And I looked up toward the north, and there at the entrance, north of the altar gate, was this statue of jealousy.

8:6 He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing--the great abominations that the people8 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these."

8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court; and there I saw a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall." I dug into the wall, and there was an doorway.

8:9 He said to me, "Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here." 8:10 So I went in and saw the walls engraved all around with every kind of creeping thing, and beast, and detestable thing, and all the idols of the house of Israel.9 8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel10 stood in front of them, and Jaazaniah son of Shapan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and the fragrant11 cloud of incense12 was swirling upward.

8:12 He said to me, "Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in the rooms of the images?13 For they think, `The LORD does not see us. The LORD has abandoned the land.'" 8:13 He said to me, "You will see them practicing even greater abominations."

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the LORD's house, and I saw women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.14 8:15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these."

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the LORD's house. There at the entrance to the LORD's temple, between the porch and the altar,15 were about twenty-five16 men facing east, with their backs to the LORD's temple,17 and they were worshiping the sun18 toward the east.

8:17 He said to me, "Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they fill the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose!19 8:18 Therefore I will act20 in furious anger, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. Though they cry loudly in my ears, I will not listen."

Slaughter of Idolators

9:1 Then He shouted in my hearing1 with a loud voice, "Approach, you executioners of the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!" 9:2 I saw six men2 coming from the direction of the upper gate3 which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was one man dressed in linen with a writing kit4 at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.

9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple.5 He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 And the LORD said to him, "Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark6 on the foreheads of the men who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it."

9:5 To the others he said while I listened,7 "Go through the city after him and strike people down; you must neither show pity nor spare anyone!8 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women--wipe them out, all of them! But do not touch anyone who has the mark--begin at my sanctuary!" So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.9

9:7 He said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and struck down people throughout the city. 9:8 While they were killing, I was left alone, and I threw myself down with my face to the ground and cried out, "Alas, Sovereign LORD! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your furious anger on Jerusalem?"

9:9 He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice10 for they say, `The LORD has abandoned the land, and the LORD does not see!'11 9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare them; I will bring down their behavior on their heads."12

9:11 Then the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word: "I have done as you commanded me."

Glory of God Departs from the Temple

10:1 Then I saw that on the dome which was above the top of the cherubim was something like a sapphire, resembling the form of a throne in appearance. 10:2 The Lord1 said to the man dressed in linen, "Go into the wheelwork2 underneath the cherubim,3 fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them4 over the city." He did so as I watched.

10:3 The cherubim were standing on the south side5 of the entrance to the temple, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 10:4 The glory of the LORD rose up from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brilliance of the glory of the LORD. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the Sovereign God6 when he speaks.

10:6 When the Lord7 commanded the man dressed in linen, "Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim," the man8went in and stood by one of the wheels. 10:7 Then one of the cherubim stretched out his hand9 to the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and went back out. 10:8 (The cherubim appeared to have what looked like human hands under their wings.)

10:9 As I looked, I saw four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; the wheels gleamed like chrysolite.10 10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel.11 10:11 When the cherubim12 moved, they went in any of the four directions without turning as they moved, for in the direction the head would turn they would follow,13 they would not turn as they moved. 10:12 Their entire bodies,14 their backs, their hands, and their wings were full of eyes all around, as were the wheels belonging to the four of them. 10:13 As for their wheels, they were called "the wheelwork"15 as I listened. 10:14 Each of the cherubim16 had four faces: the first was the face of a cherub,17 the second was the face of man, the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle.

10:15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings18 I saw at the River Kebar. 10:16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 10:17 When the cherubim19 stood still, the wheels20 stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels21 rose up with them, for the spirit of the living beings22 was in the wheels.23

10:18 Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 10:19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and as I watched they rose up from the earth and the wheels went out alongside them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

10:20 These were the living creatures which I saw underneath the God of Israel at the Kebar River; I knew that they were cherubim. 10:21 Each had four faces, each had four wings, and what looked like human hands under the wings. 10:22 As for what their faces looked like, they were just like those I had seen at the River Kebar. Each one moved straight ahead.

Judgment of Leaders

11:1 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord's temple,1 that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I saw twenty-five men. Among them were Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.2 11:2 The LORD3 said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who plot iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city. 11:3 They say,4 `The time is not near to build houses;5 the city6 is a cooking pot7 and we are the meat in it.' 11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them--prophesy, son of man!"

11:5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell on me, and he told me to say, "This is what the LORD says: This is what you are thinking,8 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 11:6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with the dead.

11:7 "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: The corpses you have flung in the midst of the city are the meat, and this city is the cooking pot; but I will pull you out of it.9 11:8 You have feared the sword, so I will bring the sword against you,' declares the Sovereign LORD. 11:9 `I will drag you out of the city and hand you over to strangers, and I will execute judgments against you. 11:10 You will fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 11:11 This city10 will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 11:12 Then you will know that I am the LORD, whose decrees you have not followed and whose laws you have not obeyed. Instead you have behaved according to the laws of the nations around you!"

11:13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself down with my face to the ground and cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign LORD! Will you completely wipe out what remains of Israel?"

11:14 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 11:15 "Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles,11 and the whole house of Israel are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, `They have gone far away from the LORD; to us this land has been given as a possession.'

11:16 "Therefore say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have scattered them through foreign countries, I have been a sanctuary for them for a short while12 among the countries where they have gone.'

11:17 "Therefore say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will regather you from the peoples and will assemble you from the countries where you have been dispersed, and I will give you back the land of Israel.'

11:18 "When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations. 11:19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them;13 I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies14 and I will give them a heart of flesh, 11:20 so that they will obey my statues and guard my ordinances and observe them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.15 11:21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I will bring their behavior down on their own head, says the Sovereign LORD."

11:22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with their wheels alongside them, while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 11:23 The glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stopped16 over the mountain east of it. 11:24 Then the Spirit lifted me and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia,17 in the vision18 given to me by the Spirit of God.

Then the vision I had seen went up away from me. 11:25 So I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

The Exile Symbolized

12:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 12:2 "Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious people.1 They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear,2 because they are a rebellious people.

12:3 "Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if you were going into exile, and go into exile during the day, while they are watching. Go into exile from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will get the message, although they are a rebellious people. 12:4 During the day, while they are watching, carry out your belongings packed to go into exile. Go out at evening, while they are watching, as though you were going out to exile. 12:5 Dig for yourself a hole in the wall while they are watching and carry your belongings out through it. 12:6 While they are watching, lift up your baggage on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark.3 You must cover your face so that you cannot see the land, because I have made you a sign4 to the house of Israel."

12:7 So I did just as I was commanded. During the day I carried out my belongings packed to go into exile, and at evening I dug myself a hole through the wall with my hands. I went out in the darkness, carrying my baggage5 on my shoulder while they watched.

12:8 The word of the LORD came to me in the morning: 12:9 "Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious people,6 said to you, `What are you doing?' 12:10 Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This prophetic oracle7 concerns the prince in Jerusalem8 and all the house of Israel within it.' 12:11 Say, `I am a sign for you, just as I have done, it will be done to them: they will go into exile--into captivity.'

12:12 "The prince9 who is among them will carry his belongings10 on his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. They11 will dig a hole in the wall for him to go out through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. 12:13 But I will spread my net over him, and he will be captured in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans12 (but he will not see it),13 and there he will die.14 12:14 All his retinue--his attendants and his troops--I will scatter to every wind; I will chase them with a drawn sword.

12:15 "And when I disperse them among the nations, and scatter them among foreign countries, they will know that I am the LORD. 12:16 But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

12:17 The word of the LORD came to me: 12:18 "Son of man, tremble15 while you eat your bread, and drink your water while you shake with anxiety. 12:19 Then say to the people of the land, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it. 12:20 The inhabited towns will be left in ruins and the land will be devastated. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

12:21 The word of the LORD came to me: 12:22 "Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, `The days pass slowly, and every vision comes to nothing'? 12:23 Therefore tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will put an end16 to this proverb--they will not use it as a proverb in Israel any longer.' But say to them, `The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled.17 12:24 For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering divinations among the people18 of Israel. 12:25 But I--the LORD--will speak whatever word I want to speak, and it will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer; for in your days, you rebellious people,19 I will speak the word and will accomplish it, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

12:26 The word of the LORD came to me: 12:27 "Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, `The vision that he sees is a long time from now; he is prophesying about the distant future.' 12:28 Therefore say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will be accomplished, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

False Prophets Condemned

13:1 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 13:2 "Son of man, prophecy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophecy from their own imagination:1 `Hear the word of the LORD! 13:3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish2 prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing at all! 13:4 Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel. 13:5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel so it will stand strong in the battle on the day of the LORD. 13:6 Instead, their visions are false and their divination is a lie.3 They say, "declares the LORD," though the LORD has not sent them;4 yet they expect the fulfillment of their word. 13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination when you say, "declares the LORD," although I never spoke a word?

13:8 "`Therefore, thus says the Sovereign LORD: Because you have spoken false words and seen lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD. 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not be included in the council5 of my people, nor be written in the registry6 of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

13:10 "`Because, indeed, they have led my people astray saying, "Peace," when there is no peace; and when anyone builds a wall they coat it with whitewash. 13:11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it is going to fall. There will be a deluge of rain, great hailstones7 will fall, and a violent wind will break out.8 13:12 When the wall has collapsed, won't people ask you, "Where is the whitewash you coated it with?"

13:13 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my fury I will make a violent wind break out, and in my anger a deluge of rain, and hailstones in destructive fury. 13:14 I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash, and level it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it,9 and you will know that I am the LORD. 13:15 I will spend my fury against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, "The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more-- 13:16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it, when there was no peace," declares the Sovereign LORD.'

13:17 "As for you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own imagination. Prophecy against them 13:18 and say `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to those who sew bands10 on all their wrists and make veils for heads of every size to entrap people! Will you entrap my people, yet preserve your own lives? 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By your lies to my people, who listen to lies, you have put to death people11 who should not die and kept alive those who should not live.

13:20 "`Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people like birds--I will tear them from your arms and will free the people you hunt like birds. 13:21 I will tear off your veils and rescue my people from your power;12 they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 13:22 Because you have disheartened the righteous with lies (although I have not disheartened them), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and thus preserve his life, 13:23 therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you13 will know that I am the LORD.'"

God's Just Judgments

14:1 Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 14:2 The word of the LORD came to me: 14:3 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and placed the stumbling block of their iniquity1 right before their faces. Should I allow them to seek2 me at all? 14:4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any one from the house of Israel sets up his idols in his heart and places the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself according to the multitude of his idols, 14:5 in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who are estranged from me on account of all their idols.'

14:6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Abandon3 your idols; and turn away4 from your abominable practices. 14:7 For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and sets up his idols in his heart and places the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to ask something from me for him, I the LORD will answer him myself. 14:8 I will set my face against that man and will make him an example and a byword,5 and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

14:9 "`As for the prophet, if he is enticed to speak a prophetic word, I, the LORD, have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 14:10 They will bear their punishment;6 the punishment of the one who inquired will be the same as the punishment of the prophet. 14:11 Thus that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor defile themselves again by all their transgressions. They will be my people and I will be their God,7 declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

14:12 The word of the LORD came to me: 14:13 "Son of man, when a country sins against me by acting faithlessly,8 and I stretch out my hand against it, and break its staff of bread, cause it to experience famine, and kill both man and beast in it, 14:14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.

14:15 "If I were to send wild animals through the land and they killed its children, and it became desolate so that no one traveled across it because of the animals, 14:16 as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would be devastated.

14:17 "Or if I were to bring the sword of war against that land and say, `Let a sword pass through the land,' and I kill both man and beast in it, 14:18 even though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, they could not save their own sons or daughters, they would save only their own lives.

14:19 "Or if I should send a pestilence into that land, and poured out my furious anger on it with bloodshed, to kill both man and beast in it, 14:20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

14:21 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible9 judgments--sword, famine, wild animals, and plague--against Jerusalem to kill both man and beast in it! 14:22 Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who are brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem--for everything I brought on it. 14:23 They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done what I have done in it, declares the Sovereign LORD."

The Useless Vine

15:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 15:2 "Son of man, what will happen to the wood of the vine,1 the vine branch among the trees of the forest? 15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang objects on it? 15:4 It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? 15:5 If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be useful for anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

15:6 "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest which I have given as fuel for the fire, so I will give the residents of Jerusalem to destruction.2 15:7 I will set my face against them--although they escape from the fire,3 the fire will still consume them!4 Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 15:8 I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the Sovereign LORD."

God's Unfaithful Bride

16:1The word of the LORD came to me: 16:2 "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices, 16:3 and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 16:4 As for your birth, on the day you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt, nor wrapped with clothes.1 16:5 No eye had pity on you to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you; you were thrown out into the open2 field3 because you were detested on the day you were born.

16:6 "`I passed by you and saw you kicking around in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, "Live!" I said to you as you lay there in your blood, "Live!" 16:7 I made you abundant like plants in the field, and you grew and became tall and arrived at the age for fine ornaments.4 Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.

16:8 "`Then I passed by you again and saw that you had reached the age for love.5 I spread my cloak6 over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

16:9 "`Then I bathed you in water and washed away the blood on you and anointed you with fragrant oil. 16:10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put sandals made of fine leather on your feet. I bound you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry--I put bracelets on your hands, a necklace around your neck, 16:12 a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 16:13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the standing of royalty. 16:14 Your fame7 spread among the nations because of your beauty, for your beauty was perfect because of my splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the Sovereign LORD.

16:15 "`But you trusted in your beauty and became a prostitute by capitalizing on your fame. You gave your sexual favors freely to every passer-by--your beauty became his! 16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself brightly colored high places and engaged in acts of prostitution on them--such things have never happened nor will ever happen again! 16:17 You also took your beautiful jewels, some of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution8 with them. 16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them, and you offered my oil and my incense before them. 16:19 Also my food that I gave you--the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you with--you placed these things before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

16:20 "`You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them9 as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution was not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my sons and sacrificed them to the idols.10 16:22 But with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

16:23 "`After all of your evil-- Woe! Woe to you declares the Sovereign LORD-- 16:24 you built yourself a platform and made for yourself a lofty place in every public square. 16:25 At the head of every street you built your lofty place and you made your beauty disgusting when you spread11 your legs to every one who passed by, multiplying your prostitution endlessly. 16:26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your sexually aroused neighbors, increasing your promiscuity to provoke me to anger. 16:27 So I have stretched out my hand against you and cut your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your obscene conduct. 16:28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your sexual desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. 16:29 Then you extended your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Chaldea, but you were not satisfied there either.

16:30 "`How sick is your heart, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you performed all of these acts, the deeds of an arrogant prostitute. 16:31 When you built your platform at the head of every street and made your lofty place at every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment.12

16:32 "`Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband! 16:33 All prostitutes are given gifts,13 but instead you gave gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors. 16:34 You were different from other women in your prostitution because no one solicited you--you gave payment and no payment was given to you--yes, you were different!

16:35 "`Therefore O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: 16:36 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because your lust14 was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with all your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons you have given to them, 16:37 therefore, I am gathering all your lovers with whom you took pleasure and all whom you loved and all whom you have hated; I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.15 16:38 I will judge you with the judgments due an adulterer and one who sheds blood. I will bring blood on you with furious anger and passion. 16:39 I will give you into their hands and they will destroy your platforms and tear down your lofty places. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 16:40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 16:41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Then I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your clients. 16:42 I will exhaust my furious anger against you and my fury will turn from you; then I will be calmed and be angered no longer.

16:43 "`Because you did not remember the days of your youth and enraged me by all these deeds, I in turn will bring your behavior down on your own head, declares the Sovereign LORD. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?

16:44 "`Now everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like mother, like daughter." 16:45 You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her sons; and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north16 of you with her daughters; and your younger sister,17 who lives south18 of you, was Sodom19 with her daughters. 16:47 You not only copied their behavior and practiced their abominable deeds, but in a short time20 you were more depraved in all your conduct than they. 16:48 As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly21 as you and your daughters have done.

16:49 "`This was the sin22 of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, abundance of food, and careless ease, but did not help23 the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and committed abominable crimes before me. Therefore, when I saw it, I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they, and have made your sisters appear more righteous by all the abominable things you have done. 16:52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear your disgrace in making your sisters appear more righteous.

16:53 "`However, I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them) 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done when you become a comfort to them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 16:56 In your days of pride, was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth, 16:57 before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram24 and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines--those all around you who despise you. 16:58 You must bear your punishment for your lewdness and your abominable practices, declares the LORD.

16:59 "`For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant. 16:60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an eternal covenant with you. 16:61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older sisters and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. 16:62 I will establish my covenant with you, and then you will know that I am the LORD, 16:63 so that when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth again because of your shame, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Two Eagles and a Vine

17:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 17:2 "Son of man, offer a riddle,1 and tell a parable to the house of Israel. 17:3 Say to them: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:2

17:9 "`Say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

17:11 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 17:12 "Speak now to the rebellious house: `Don't you know what these things mean?'10 Say: `The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her princes prisoner and brought them to Babylon. 17:13 He took one of the royal descendants, made a treaty with him, and put him under oath.11 He then took the leaders of the land, 17:14 so it would be a lowly kingdom not to be exalted, to keep his covenant that it might stand. 17:15 But he rebelled against the king of Babylon12 by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the treaty and escape?

17:16 "`As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, surely in the city13 of the king of Babylon who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he violated--in Babylon he will die with him. 17:17 And Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help14 him in battle, when ramps are thrown up and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the treaty because he gave his hand15 and did all these things--he will not escape!

17:19 "`Therefore thus says the Sovereign LORD: As I live, I will certainly return on his own head my oath he despised and my covenant he broke! 17:20 I will spread my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me. 17:21 All the fugitives16 among his troops will fall by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken!

17:22 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

Individual Retribution

18:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 18:2 "What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,

18:3 "As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD,2 you will not use this proverb in Israel any more! 18:4 All lives are mine--the life of the father and the life of the son. The one who sins will die.

18:5 "If a man is righteous, and carries out justice and righteousness-- 18:6 if he does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains3 and does not petition the idols4 of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, does not approach5 a woman to have sexual relations with her while she is having her period, 18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back his pledge,6 does not commit robbery,7 but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not lend at usury nor take interest,8 but refrains from wrongdoing, carries out true justice between men, 18:9 obeys my statutes and guards my judgments so as to deal faithfully--that man is righteous; he will certainly live, declares the Sovereign LORD.

18:10 "If such a man has9 a violent son who sheds blood, and does any of these things to a fellow Israelite, 18:11 (though the father did not do any of them),10 who ate pagan sacrifices on the mountains, defiled his neighbor's wife, 18:12 oppressed the poor and the needy,11 committed robbery, did not give back a pledge, petitioned the idols, performed abominable acts, 18:13 loaned money at usury and took interest, will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die--he will bear the responsibility for his own death.12

18:14 "But if he in turn has a son who observed all the sins of his father that he committed; and when he saw them he did not do likewise-- 18:15 he did not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, did not petition the idols of the house of Israel, did not defile his neighbor's wife, 18:16 did not oppress nor take a pledge, did not commit robbery, gave his food to the hungry, and clothed the naked, 18:17 refrained from iniquity,13 did not take usury and interest, carried out my laws and obeyed my decrees--he will not die because of his father's iniquity; he will surely live. 18:18 As for the father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.

18:19 "Yet you say, `Why should the son not suffer14 his father's punishment?' When the son carries out justice and righteousness, and guards all my decrees and does them, he will certainly live. 18:20 The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer15 his father's punishment, and the father will not suffer16 his son's punishment; the righteousness of the righteous person will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be his own.

18:21 "But if the wicked man turns from all the sin he has committed and keeps all my statutes and carries out justice and righteousness, he will certainly live; he will not die. 18:22 None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. 18:23 Do I delight in the death of the wicked, declares the Sovereign LORD, and not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

18:24 "But if the righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All the righteous things he has done will not be remembered; because of the treachery he has committed and the sin he has committed, he will die.17

18:25 "Yet you say, `The Lord's conduct is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my conduct not just? Is it not your conduct that is not just? 18:26 When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it;18 because of the iniquity he committed he will die. 18:27 When a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has done and carries out justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. 18:28 Because he considered19 and turned from all the transgressions he had done; he will certainly live, he will not die. 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, `The Lord's conduct is not just.' Is my conduct not just, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is not just?

18:30 "Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; then iniquity will not be a stumbling block for you.20 18:31 Get rid of all your transgressions you have committed and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!21 Why will you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone,22 declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Lament for the Princes of Israel

19:1"And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say:

This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation."

Israel's Rebellion

20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month,1 some of the elders2 of Israel came to seek the LORD, and they sat down in front of me. 20:2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 20:3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Why do you come seeking me? As I live, I will not be sought by you,3 declares the Sovereign LORD.'

20:4 "Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Make known to them the abominable practices of their fathers, 20:5 and say to them: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel I swore4 to the descendants5 of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore6 to them, "I am the LORD your God." 20:6 On that day I swore7 to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land which I had searched out8 for them, a land flowing with milk and honey,9 the most beautiful of all lands. 20:7 And I said to them, "Each of you get rid of the detestable things before your eyes,10 and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God."

20:8 "`But they rebelled against me, and they did not wish to hear me; no one got rid of the detestable things before his eyes, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them and spend my anger against them in the land of Egypt. 20:9 But I acted for my name's sake, that my name should not be profaned in front of the nations among whom they were, among whom I had made myself known when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. 20:10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and I brought them to the wilderness. 20:11 I gave them my statutes11 and revealed my judgments to them--the one who does them will live by them.12 20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths13 to be a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, the LORD, make them holy.14

20:13 "`But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not obey my statutes, they rejected my judgments (which, if a man does them, he will live by them), and they utterly profaned my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my fury on them to destroy them in the wilderness. 20:14 But I acted for my name's sake, so it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations before whose eyes I had brought them out. 20:15 I also solemnly promised them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them--a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands-- 20:16 because they rejected my judgments, did not obey my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 20:17 Yet I had pity on15 them and did not destroy them, nor did I make an end of them in the wilderness. 20:18 I said to their sons in the wilderness, "Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, do not observe their judgments, nor be defiled by their idols. 20:19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, observe my judgments, and do them. 20:20 Set apart my Sabbaths and they will be a sign between me and you, so you will know that I am the LORD your God."

20:21 "`But the sons of Israel rebelled against me, did not walk in my statutes, did not observe my judgments to do them (the person who does them will live by them), and profaned my Sabbaths. I thought16 I would pour out my fury on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 20:22 But I refrained from doing so,17 and acted instead for my name's sake, so that my name would not be profaned in the sight of the nations in front of whom I led them out. 20:23 I also solemnly promised them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands,18 20:24 because they did not carry out my judgments, rejected my statutes, profaned my Sabbaths, and worshiped19 their fathers' idols. 20:25 I also gave them statutes which were not good and judgments by which they could not live. 20:26 I defiled them because of their sacrifices--they caused all their first born to pass through the fire20--to horrify them, so that they will know that I am the LORD.'21

20:27 "Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In this too your fathers blasphemed me, dealing treacherously with me. 20:28 After I had brought them to the land which I solemnly promised to give them, whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they made their sacrifices there and presented there their vexatious offering; they made their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings. 20:29 Then I said to them, What is the high place you go to?'" (So it is called Bamah22 to this day.)

20:30 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will you be defiled like your fathers by engaging in prostitution after their detestable things? 20:31 When you present your gifts--when you make your sons pass through the fire--you defile yourselves with all your idols until this very day. Will I be sought by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will not be sought by you.

20:32 "`What comes into your mind when you say, "We will be23 like the nations, like the families of the lands, who served gods of wood and stone"24--it will not happen! 20:33 As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, surely I will be king over you, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm,25 and with fury poured out. 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm and with fury poured out! 20:35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and 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, declares the Sovereign LORD. 20:37 I will make you pass under26 the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 20:38 And I will eliminate the rebels from your midst, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land I promised you.27 Then you will know that I am the LORD.

20:39 "`As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Each of you go and serve his idols, and hereafter if you will not listen to me. But my holy name will not be profaned28 again with your gifts and your idols. 20:40 For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, there all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them29 in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things. 20:41 When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, I will accept you with a soothing aroma and will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. 20:42 When I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I solemnly promised to give to your fathers, you will know that I am the LORD. 20:43 You will remember your conduct there, and your deeds by which you became defiled; you will despise yourselves30 for all the evil deeds you have done. 20:44 And you will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Prophecy Against Negeb

20:45 (21:1)31 The word of the LORD came to me: 20:46 "Son of man, turn toward32 the south, and preach against the south.33 Prophecy against the forest land of Negeb, 20:47 and say to the forest of Negeb, `Hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to start a fire in you,34 and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 20:48 And everyone35 will see that I, the LORD, have started it; it will not be extinguished.'"

20:49 Then I said, "O Sovereign LORD! They are saying of me, `Is he not just a maker of proverbs?'"

The Sword of Judgment

21:1 (21:6)1 The word of the LORD came to me: 21:2 "Son of man, turn toward2 Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophecy against the land of Israel 21:3 and say to them,3 `This is what the LORD says: I am against you--I will draw my sword4 from its sheath and cut out from you both the righteous and the wicked. 21:4 Because I will kill both the righteous and the wicked among you, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone5 from south to the north; 21:5 and everyone will know that I am the LORD, who drew my sword from its sheath--it will not be sheathed again!'

21:6 "And you, son of man, groan; with aching heart6 and bitterness, groan before their eyes. 21:7 And when they ask you, `Why do you groan?' you will reply, `Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand be weak, every spirit will faint and every knee be wet with urine.'7 It is coming and it will be, declares the Sovereign LORD."

21:8 And the word of the LORD came to me: 21:9 "Son of man, prophesy and say: `This is what the Lord says:

"`Or shall we rejoice, the rod of my son despising every tree?

21:13 "`For testing will come, and what if you despise the rod8--will it not happen? declares the Sovereign LORD.'

21:18 The word of the LORD came to me: 21:19 "And you, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon's sword to come; both of them will come from a single land. Make a signpost--make it at the beginning of the road leading to the city; 21:20 mark out the route for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in fortified Jerusalem. 21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork11 of the road--at the head of the two routes--to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim,12 he inspects13 the liver.14 21:22 Into his right hand has come the divination concerning Jerusalem, to set up battering rams, to give the signal15 for slaughter, to lift up the voice for the battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to throw up a ramp, to build a siege wall. 21:23 But they will view it as a false divination; they have sworn solemn oaths. However, he will remind them of their guilt by bringing about their capture.

21:24 "Therefore thus says the Sovereign LORD: `Because you have brought your iniquity to remembrance, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that your sins appear in all your deeds--because you have come to remembrance, you will be taken by the hand.

21:28 "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; say:

The Sins of Jerusalem

22:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 22:2 "And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city?1 Then make known to her all her abominable deeds. 22:3 And you will say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: A city shedding blood within itself, so that her time will come; and you make idols in it for defilement. 22:4 You have become guilty by the blood you have shed and defiled by the idols you have made; you have brought your day near,2 you have come to your time. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you of ill repute,3 full of turmoil.

22:6 "`See how the princes of Israel, each according to his power,4 have been within you to shed blood. 22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt5 within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow6 within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men are within you to shed blood. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, they commit lewdness among you. 22:10 Within you they uncover their father's nakedness; within you they have sex with women who are having their period. 22:11 Within you one commits an abominable act with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another has sex with his sister, his father's daughter.7 22:12 Within you they take bribes in order to shed blood; you take usury and interest, and you make dishonest profit from your neighbor by extortion, and you have forgotten me,8 declares the Sovereign LORD.

22:13 "`See, I strike my hand at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the blood which has been shed9 within you. 22:14 Can your heart endure,10 or can your hands be strong in the days when I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. 22:15 I will disperse you among the nations and will scatter you among various countries, and I will make an end of your uncleanness from you. 22:16 And when I am profaned by you in the sight of all the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.'"

22:17 And the word of the LORD came to me: 22:18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them--bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace11--they have become the dross of silver. 22:19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: `Because all of you have become dross, I will gather you in Jerusalem. 22:20 As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace to blow fire on them to melt them, thus I will gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will put you in Jerusalem12 and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my indignation, and you will be melted in it. 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace, thus you will be melted in it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my furious anger on you.'"

22:23 And the word of the LORD came to me: 22:24 "Son of man, say to it: `You are a land that is neither clean nor rained on in the day of indignation.' 22:25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in the land13 like a roaring lion tearing prey: they have devoured lives, they have taken treasure and precious things, and they have multiplied widows in it. 22:26 Her priests do violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, nor make any difference between the unclean and the clean. They hide their eyes from my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her princes are among her like wolves tearing the prey; they shed blood, destroying lives to get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets have coated whitewash for them,14 seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says,' when the LORD has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and the needy, and have oppressed the foreigner who lives among you without justice.

22:30 "I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.15 22:31 Thus I have poured my indignation on them, and consumed them with the fire of my furious anger. I have returned16 their conduct on their own head, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Two Sisters

23:1The word of the LORD came to me: 23:2 "Son of man, there were two sisters, the daughters of the same mother. 23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; they engaged in prostitution in their youth. There their breasts were pressed, and their virgin breasts were fondled. 23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah1 the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah2 is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

23:5 "Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine.3 She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians--warriors 23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria.4 She defiled herself with all whom she lusted after--with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the promiscuity she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her and fondled her virgin breasts and poured out their lust5 on her. 23:9 Therefore I delivered her into the power of her lovers, into the power of the sons of Assyria for whom she lusted. 23:10 They uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and daughters; and they killed her with the sword. She became a byword6 among women, and judgments were executed against her.

23:11 "Her sister Oholibah saw this,7 and she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her promiscuous acts were more numerous than those of her sister. 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians--governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 And I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her promiscuity; she saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red,8 23:15 girded with belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians9 whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them,10 she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.11 23:17 And the Babylonians came to her--to her bed of love. They defiled her with their lust;12 and after she defiled herself with them, she13 became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she uncovered her promiscuity and her nakedness, I14 was disgusted with her, just as I15 had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt 23:20 and lusted after their paramours whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose seminal emission was like that of horses. 23:21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your breasts because of your youth.

23:22 "Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Sovereign LORD: I will stir up against you your lovers with whom you were disgusted, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will all come against you with weapons,16 chariots, wagons, and with a huge army17; they will array themselves against you on every side with large shield, small shield, and helmet, and I will commit the punishment to them and they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct18 my jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in furious anger. They will cut off your nose and your ears,19 and your survivors will die by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire. 23:26 They will also strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry. 23:27 So I will put an end to your lewdness and your promiscuity from the land of Egypt; you will not petition them, or remember Egypt anymore.

23:28 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am giving you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those with whom you were disgusted; 23:29 and they will deal with you in hatred, take away all you have worked for,20 leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and your promiscuity 23:30 have brought this upon you, because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, because you polluted yourself with their idols. 23:31 You have followed the conduct of your sister; thus I will place her cup21 in your hand.

23:32 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.

23:35 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you must bear now the punishment23 of your lewdness and your promiscuity."

23:36 The LORD said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds. 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols; and the sons they have given me, they have sacrificed to them for food.24 23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day, and profaned my Sabbaths. 23:39 For on the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to defile it. This is what they have done in my house.

23:40 "They even sent for men from far away, sending a messenger, and they came. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry. 23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my oil. 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd was with her, and Sabeans25 were brought from the wilderness with lower-class men; and they put bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. 23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adulteries, `Now they will carry out their immoral acts with her. 23:44 For they have had sex with her as one does with a prostitute.' Thus they have gone to Oholah and to Oholibah, promiscuous women. 23:45 But righteous men will judge them with the judgment of adulteries and those who shed blood; because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

23:46 "For thus says the Sovereign LORD: Bring up an army26 against them and give them over to terror and plunder. 23:47 That army will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses with fire. 23:48 Thus I will put an end to the promiscuity in the land, that all the women may take warning and not carry out promiscuous actions. 23:49 They will repay you for your promiscuity, and you will bear the sins of your idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD."

The Boiling Pot

24:1The word of the LORD came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month1: 24:2 "Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege2 to Jerusalem this very day. 24:3 And speak a proverb to the rebellious house and say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

24:14 "`I the LORD have spoken; the judgment6 is coming and I will act. I will not relent, nor pity, nor be sorry. I will judge you7 according to your conduct--according to your deeds--declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Ezekiel's Wife Dies

24:15 The word of LORD came to me: 24:16 "Son of man, I am about to take the desire of your eyes with a single blow; but you must not mourn, you must not weep, nor will you shed tears. 24:17 Groan silently; you must not mourn your dead. Bind on your turban8 and put you sandals on your feet; do not cover your lip and do not eat common food."9

24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. And in the morning I did just as I was commanded. 24:19 Then the people said to me, "Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?"

24:20 So I said to them: "The word of the LORD came to me: 24:21 Say to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your life. Your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: you will not cover your lip or eat common food. 24:23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn nor weep, but you will pine away in your iniquities and groan among yourselves. 24:24 Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the LORD.'

24:25 "And you, son of man, will it not be on the day I take from them their stronghold, their joy and beauty, the desire of their eyes and the delight of their lives--their sons and daughters-- 24:26 on that day the one who escapes will come to you to report the news.10 24:27 On that day you will be able to speak again; you will talk with the one who escaped and be silent no longer. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD."

A Prophecy Against Ammon

25:1The word of the LORD came to me:1 25:2 "Son of man, turn toward2 the sons of Ammon3 and prophecy against them. 25:3 Say to the sons of Ammon, `Hear the word of the Sovereign LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you said "Aha!" over my sanctuary when it was profaned, over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when it went into exile, 25:4 therefore I am about to deliver you into slavery4 to the sons of the east. They will set their encampments among you and pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 25:5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the villages5 of Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 25:6 For thus says the Sovereign LORD: Because you clapped your hand and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the hatred within you against the land of Israel, 25:7 therefore I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will give you as plunder6 to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

A Prophecy Against Moab

25:8 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: `Because Moab7 and Seir say, "The house of Judah is like all the other nations," 25:9 therefore I will open the flank8 of Moab from the cities, from its frontier9 cities, the beauty of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. 25:10 I will give it to the sons of the east along with the Ammonites10 for a possession, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. 25:11 I will execute judgments on Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: `Because Edom11 has acted with revenge against the house of Judah and has become grievously guilty and taken vengeance on them,12 25:13 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill man and beast in her, and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. 25:14 I will take vengeance upon Edom at the hands of my people Israel. They will act in Edom according to my anger and fury; and they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

A Prophecy Against Philistia

25:15 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: `Because the Philistines13 have acted with vengeance and have taken revenge with personal contempt to destroy Judah14 with eternal enmity;15 25:16 therefore, thus says the Sovereign LORD: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines; I will kill the Cherethites and destroy those who remain on the seacoast. 25:17 I will execute great vengeance on them with rebukes of furious anger. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance on them.'"

A Prophecy Against Tyre

26:1In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month,1 the word of the LORD came to me: 26:2 "Son of man, because Tyre2 has said about Jerusalem, `Aha, the gateway of the people3 is broken; it has swung open to me; I will be satisfied, now that it has been destroyed,' 26:3 therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre! I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 26:4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers. I will scrape her dust from her and leave her a bare rock. 26:5 It will be a place for nets to be spread, surrounded by the sea. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. It will be as plunder for the nations, 26:6 and her daughters who are in the field will be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

26:7 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to bring King Nebuchadnezzar4 of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people. 26:8 He will kill your daughters in the field with the sword. He will build a siege wall against you, throw up a ramp against you, and raise a great shield against you. 26:9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his weapons.5 26:10 His horses will be so numerous that you will be covered with their dust. Your walls will shake from the noise of the horsemen, the wheels, and the chariots when he enters your gates like those who enter a breached city. 26:11 With his horses' hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will be thrown down to the ground. 26:12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your desirable homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw6 into the water. 26:13 I will silence the sound of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more. 26:14 I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place where nets are spread. You will never be built again,7 for I, the LORD, have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.

26:15 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Tyre: Won't the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, and when there is massive killing in your midst? 26:16 All the princes of the sea will vacate their thrones; they will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes. They will clothe themselves with terror; they will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be appalled at you. 26:17 And they will make a lamentation over you with these words:

26:19 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I make you a desolate city like the uninhabited cities, when I send the deep9 over you and the many waters overwhelm you, 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who descend to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you live in the lower parts of the earth, among the primeval ruins, with those who descend to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited. But I will establish beauty in the land of the living. 26:21 I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more! Though they will seek you, you will not be found again forever, declares the Sovereign LORD."

A Lament for Tyre

27:1The word of the LORD came to me: 27:2 "Now you, son of man, make a lamentation for Tyre, 27:3 and say to Tyre who sits at the entrance1 of the sea,2 merchant to the peoples on many coasts, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

27:12 "`Tarshish10 engaged in trade with you because of your abundance of wealth; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your products. 27:13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged slaves and bronze vessels for your merchandise. 27:14 Beth-gormah exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your goods. 27:15 The sons of Dedan were your traders; many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony. 27:16 Aram11 engaged in trade with you because of the abundance of your goods; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your merchandise. 27:17 Judah and the land of Israel engaged in trade with you; they traded wheat from Minnith,12 millet, honey, olive oil, and balm for your products. 27:18 Damascus engaged in trade with you because of the abundance of your goods--because of all your wealth--wine of Helbon and white wool. 27:19 Vedan and Javan from Uzal13 traded wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane for your merchandise. 27:20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 27:21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar did business with you; for lambs, rams, and goats, they engaged in trade with you. 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah engaged in trade with you; they traded the best kinds of spice along with precious stones, and gold, for your products. 27:23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad engaged in trade with you. 27:24 They traded with you choice garments, purple clothes and embroidered work, and multicolored carpets, bound and reinforced with cords; these were among your merchandise.14 27:25 The ships of Tarshish were the transports for your merchandise.

A Prophecy Against the King of Tyre

28:1The word of the LORD came to me: 28:2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

28:11 The word of the LORD came to me: 28:12 "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

A Prophecy Against Sidon

28:20 The word of the LORD came to me: 28:21 "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon8 and prophesy against it, 28:22 and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

28:24 "`And there will no longer be for the house of Israel a prickling brier10 or a painful thorn from among all those around her who treated he with contempt. And they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

28:25 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, and reveal my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 28:26 They will live in it securely, and they will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live securely11 when I execute my judgments on all those round about who treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.'"

A Prophecy Against Egypt

29:1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month,1 the word of the LORD came to me: 29:2 "Son of man, turn toward Pharaoh2 king of Egypt, and prophecy against him and against all Egypt; 29:3 tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

29:8 "`Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am bringing a sword7 against you, and will kill every man and beast among you; 29:9 the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Because he said, "The Nile is mine and I made it for myself," 29:10 therefore, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter wasteland and a desolation from Migdol8 to Syene,9 as far as the border with Ethiopia. 29:11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal's foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years. 29:12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the desolated lands; and her cities, in the midst of cities laid waste, will be desolate for forty years. I will disperse Egypt among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries.

29:13 "`For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: At the end of forty years10 I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered; 29:14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and will bring them back11 to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; and there they will be a lowly kingdom. 29:15 It will be the lowliest of the kingdoms, and will never again exalt itself over the nations; and I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 29:16 And it will never again be confidence for the house of Israel; they will remember the iniquity of their turning after them. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.'"

29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month,12 the word of the LORD came to me: 29:18 "Son of man, King Nebuchadnezzar13 of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre;14 every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he had carried out against it. 29:19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth and capture her loot and seize her plunder; and it will be the wages for his army. 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre15, because they did it for me, declares the Sovereign LORD. 29:21 On that day I will cause a horn16 to grow for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

A Lament Over Egypt

30:1The word of the LORD came to me: 30:2 "Son of man, prophecy, and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

30:5 Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya, and the people2 of the covenant land3 will die by the sword with them.

30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten secure Ethiopia; and anguish will overtake them on the day of Egypt's doom; for it is coming.

30:20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month,9 the word of the LORD came to me: 30:21 "Son of man, I have broken the arm10 of Pharaoh king of Egypt;11 it has not been bandaged for healing or bound with a splint so it will become strong enough to grasp a sword. 30:22 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break both his arms, the strong arm and the broken one; and I will make the sword drop from his hand. 30:23 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations, and scatter them among foreign countries. 30:24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will place my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before the king of Babylon12 with the groans of a man with a fatal wound. 30:25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He will extend it against the land of Egypt. 30:26 I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

A Cedar in Lebanon

31:1In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month,1 the word of the LORD came to me: 31:2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his hordes:

31:10 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because it was high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and it was proud of its height, 31:11 I gave it over to the leader of the nations; he has dealt with it thoroughly, as its wickedness deserves. I have thrown it out. 31:12 Strangers from the most ruthless nations have cut it down and left it to lie there. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land have gone down from its shade and left it. 31:13 On its ruin all the birds of the sky will live, and all the beasts of the field will be among its branches, 31:14 so that no trees so well irrigated will grow up so tall nor set their top among the clouds, nor will the well irrigated ones reach up to them in height. For all of them have been appointed for death, for the earth below; among mere mortals5, with those who descend to the pit.

31:15 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day it went down to Sheol I caused lamentations; I closed the deep over it and restrained its streams. Its many waters were restrained; I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field withered because of it. 31:16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I threw it down to Sheol, with those who descend to the pit.6 Then all the trees of Eden, the choice and the best of Lebanon, all that were well irrigated were comforted in the earth below. 31:17 Those who lived in its shade, its allies7 among the nations, also went down with it to Sheol, to those killed by the sword. 31:18 Which of the trees of Eden was like you in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword. This is the way it will be with Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt

32:1In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month,1 the word of the LORD came to me: 32:2 "Son of man, make a lamentation concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:

32:3 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

32:11 "`For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

32:17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month,8 the word of the LORD came to me: 32:18 "Son of man, wail9 over the hordes of Egypt and bring them down to the earth below, her and the daughters of powerful nations, with those who descend to the pit. 32:19 Say to them, `Whom do you surpass in beauty?10 Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!' 32:20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let them carry her and all her hordes away. 32:21 The valiant among the mighty men will speak from the midst of Sheol to Egypt and her accomplices: `They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.'

32:22 "Assyria is there and all her assembly, their graves are all around it, all of them killed by the sword, fallen by the sword, 32:23 whose graves are located in the uttermost parts of the pit.11 Its assembly is all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who had spread terror in the land of the living.

32:24 "Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the pit. 32:25 They have made a bed for her in the midst of the dead with all her hordes, their graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; because their terror had spread in the land of the living, and they will bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.

32:26 "Meshech and Tubal are there, and all her hordes, her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for they caused terror in the land of the living. 32:27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised,12 who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, their swords placed under their heads. The punishment of their iniquities rested on their bones, because the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living.

32:28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those killed by the sword.

32:29 "Edom is there and her kings and all their princes who for all their might are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and all those who descend to the pit.

32:30 "The chiefs of the north are there, all of them and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the dead in terror in spite of their might; they lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and will bear their disgrace with those going down to the pit.

32:31 "Pharaoh will see them and be comforted over all his hordes killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the Sovereign LORD. 32:32 Although I instilled a terror in him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his horde, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Ezekiel Israel's Watchman

33:1The word of the LORD came to me: 33:2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, `If I bring a sword on the land, and the people of the land take one man from their number and make him their watchman, 33:3 and if he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people,1 33:4 then one hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, he is taken in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person's death.'

33:7 "So, son of man, I have made you a watchman2 for the house of Israel--whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you will give them a warning from me. 33:8 When I say to the wicked, `O wicked man, you will certainly die,'3 and you do not speak to warn the wicked of his conduct, the wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his conduct, and he does not turn from his conduct, he will die in his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

33:10 "Now you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, `Thus you have said,: "Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away because of them; how can we then live?"' 33:11 Say to them, `As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked turn from his conduct and live--turn back, turn back from your evil conduct! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

33:12 "And you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, `The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble on account of it on the day he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness4 on the day he commits sin.' 33:13 When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, yet he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; on account of the iniquity he has committed he will die. 33:14 But when I say to the wicked, `You will certainly die,' yet he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness-- 33:15 if the wicked returns a pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity--he will certainly live, he will not die. 33:16 None of his sins which he has committed will be remembered against him; he has done justice and righteousness, he will certainly live.

33:17 "Yet the sons of your people say, `The conduct of the Lord is not just,'5 when it is their conduct that is not just. 33:18 When the righteous turn from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it. 33:19 When the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. 33:20 Yet you say, `The conduct of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his conduct."

The Fall of Jerusalem

33:21 In the twelfth month of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month,6 an escapee came to me from Jerusalem saying, "The city has been taken!"7 33:22 Now the hand of the LORD was on me8 in the evening before the escapee came, but the LORD9 opened my mouth by the time the escapee came to me in the morning; so he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak.10 33:23 The word of the LORD came to me: 33:24 "Son of man, the ones living in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, `Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land; but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.'11 33:25 Therefore say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You eat the meat with the blood, petition your idols, and shed blood; will you possess the land? 33:26 You rely12 on your swords, commit abominable deeds, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; will you possess the land?'

33:27 "So you must say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I live, surely those in the waste places will die by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of pestilence. 33:28 I will make the land a desolation and a waste, the pride of her power will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will pass through them. 33:29 Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.'13

33:30 "But as for you, son of man, your countrymen14 (who are talking with each other about you by the walls, and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, each to his neighbor, `Come and hear the word that comes from the LORD.' 33:31 They come to you as people come, and they sit in front of you as15 my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For they practice the lustful desires expressed by their mouths, but their heart is set on their unjust gain. 33:32 You are to them like love songs sung by one with a beautiful voice, who plays an instrument well; they hear your words, but they do not do them.16 33:33 When all this comes true--and it certainly will--then they will know that a prophet was among them."

A Prophecy Against False Shepherds

34:1The word of the LORD came to me: 34:2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds1 of Israel; prophesy, and say to them--to the shepherds: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals; but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the broken, brought back the strayed, nor sought the lost; but with force and harshness2 you have ruled over them. 34:5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd; and when they were scattered they became food for every wild beast. 34:6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, but there was no one to seek or search for them.

34:7 "`Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 34:8 As I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my sheep have become a prey, and have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, 34:9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 34:10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will make them stop feeding sheep; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

34:11 "`For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. 34:12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will deliver them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.3 34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from foreign countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. 34:14 In a good pasture I will feed them, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in good grazing ground,4 and they will feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 34:15 I will feed my sheep and I will make them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 34:16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed, I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy--I will feed them with judgment.

34:17 "`As for you, you flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. 34:18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you foul it by trampling the rest of the water with your feet? 34:19 As for my sheep, they must eat what you trampled with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet!

34:20 "`Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 34:21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak until you scattered them abroad,5 34:22 so I will save my sheep and they will no longer be a prey. I will judge between one sheep and another. 34:23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them--namely, my servant David.6 He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 34:24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince over them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

34:25 "`I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely7 in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.8 34:26 I will make them and the regions around my hill a blessing; and I will make showers come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.9 34:27 The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the earth will yield its crops. They will live on their land securely; and they will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 34:28 They will no longer be prey for the nations and the wild beasts will not devour them; they will live in security and no one will make them afraid. 34:29 I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will no longer be victims10 of famine in the land and will no longer bear the insults of the nations.11 34:30 They will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them,12 and that they, my people, are the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD. 34:31 And you, my sheep, are the sheep of my pasture, you are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

35:1The word of the LORD came to me: 35:2 "Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir,1 and prophesy against it, 35:3 and say to it, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

35:5 "`Because you have had an everlasting enmity, and delivered over the people of Israel to the power of the sword2 at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment; 35:6 therefore, as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will prepare you for bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 35:7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation; I will cut off from it the one who passes through and the one who returns. 35:8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your streams, those killed by the sword will fall. 35:9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will never be inhabited again. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

35:10 "`Because you have said, "These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,"3--although I the LORD was there-- 35:11 therefore, as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. I will make myself known among you when I judge you. 35:12 Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, "They are laid desolate, they are given to us for food." 35:13 And you exalted yourselves against me with your mouths and multiplied4 your words against me; I have heard it. 35:14 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. 35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you--you will be a desolation, Mount Seir, and all of Edom--all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"

Blessings on the Mountains of Israel

36:1"And you, son of man, prophecy to the mountains of Israel, and say: `O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 36:2 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the enemy has spoken against you, "Aha!" and, "The ancient high places have become our possession,"' 36:3 therefore prophesy and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because they have made you desolate and crushed you from all around, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations, and you have become the subject of talk1 and slander among the people, 36:4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, to the desolate wastes and the forsaken cities that have become a prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations around about-- 36:5 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Surely I am speaking in the fire of my jealousy against the remnant of the nations, and against all Edom, who with joy and utter contempt took my land for themselves as a possession, because of its pasture, to make it a prey.'

36:6 "Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the streams and valleys, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I have spoken in my jealousy and in my furious anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations; 36:7 therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I have sworn2 that surely the nations round about you will endure their insults themselves.

36:8 "`But you, O mountains of Israel, will put forth your branches, and bear your fruit for my people Israel; for they will arrive soon. 36:9 For I am for you; I will turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown. 36:10 I will multiply men on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the cities will be populated and the waste places rebuilt; 36:11 and I will increase the numbers of men and beasts on you. They will increase and be fruitful;3 and I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient time, and will do more good for you than at your beginning. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 36:12 Then I will lead people across you--my people Israel-- and they will possess you and you will become their inheritance. No longer will you bereave them of their children.

36:13 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because they say to you, "You are a devourer of men, and bereave nations of children," 36:14 therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Sovereign LORD; 36:15 I will no longer let you hear insults from the nations, no longer will you bear the disgrace of the peoples, and no longer will you cause your nation to stumble, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

36:16 The word of the LORD came to me: 36:17 "Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their deeds; their conduct before me was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period. 36:18 So I poured my fury on them4 for the blood they shed on the land and for the idols with which they defiled it.5 36:19 I scattered them among the nations and dispersed them throughout foreign countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds I judged them. 36:20 But when they came to the nations wherever they went, they profaned my holy name--it was said of them, `These are the people of the LORD, yet they have come out of his land.' 36:21 I had concern for my holy name, that the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they had gone.

36:22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name6 that you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 36:23 I will sanctify my great name, that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am sanctified among you in their sight.

36:24 "`I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you to your land.7 36:25 I will sprinkle pure water over you8 and you will be clean from all you uncleanness; I will purify you from all your idols. 36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone9 from your body and give you a heart of flesh. 36:27 I will put my spirit within you, and I will make you walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances, and you will do them.10 36:28 Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 36:29 I will save you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the grain and multiply it; I will not bring a famine on you. 36:30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 36:31 Then you will remember your evil conduct and your deeds which were not good; and you will loathe yourselves on account of your iniquities and your abominable deeds. 36:32 Let it be known to you that it is not for your sake I am about to act, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced of your conduct, O house of Israel.

36:33 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will save the cities and the waste places will be rebuilt. 36:34 The desolate land will be tilled, instead of being desolate in the sight of every passerby. 36:35 And they will say, "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden--the wasted, desolated, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited." 36:36 And the nations which remain from all around you will know that I, the LORD, have built the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken and I will do it.'

36:37 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will let the house of Israel ask this to be done for them too: I will increase their people like a flock.11 36:38 As flocks of offerings, as the sheep of Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the desolate cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

The Valley of Dry Bones

37:1The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set1 me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 37:2 He made me cross all around them, and there were very many bones in the valley and they were very dry. 37:3 And he said to me, "Son of man, will these bones live?" And I said to him, "O, Lord, you know." 37:4 Then he said to me, "Prophecy over these bones, and tell them: `Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 37:5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I am bringing a spirit into you and you will live. 37:6 I will put sinews on you and flesh over you and will cover you with skin, and I will place a spirit in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

37:7 So I prophesied just as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied, and a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 37:8 And I saw on them sinews and flesh, and skin covered over them from above, but the spirit was not in them.

37:9 And he said to me, "Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, spirit, and breathe on these corpses2 that they will live.'" 37:10 And I prophesied just as I was commanded, and the spirit came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.

37:11 Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. They say, `Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.' 37:12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am opening your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 37:13 Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, my people. 37:14 And I will place my spirit in you and you will live, and I will cause you to rest on your land. Then you will know that I am the LORD--I have spoken and I will act, declares the LORD.'"

37:15 And the word of the LORD came to me: 37:16 "And you, son of man, take for yourself one branch, and write on it, `To Judah, and to the sons of Israel associated with him'; and take another branch and write on it, `For Joseph, branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him'; 37:17 and join3 them as one stick; they will be as one in your hand. 37:18 And when the sons of your people speak to you,, `Will you not tell us what these things mean?' 37:19 tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am taking the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel and her associates, and I will set the stick of Judah on it and make them into one stick, and they will be one in my hand.'4 37:20 And the sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 37:21 Then tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am taking the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms.5 37:23 They will not make themselves unclean with idols, with their detestable things and with all their transgressions. I will save them from all their dwellings in which they sinned. I will purify them, and they will be my people and I will be their God.

37:24 "`And my servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will walk in my judgments and keep my laws and do them. 37:25 And they will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your father lived, and they will live in it, they and their sons and their grandsons forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever. 37:26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an eternal covenant with them.6 I will establish them,7 increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. 37:27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 37:28 Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel.'"8

A Prophecy Against Gog

38:1The word of the LORD came to me: 38:2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog,1 of the land of Magog,2 the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.3 Prophesy against him 38:3 and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; 38:4 I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws and will bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them armed with swords. 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 38:6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples are with you.

38:7 "`Be ready and stay ready, you and all your companies assembled around you, and you will be a guard for them. 38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the sword, with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long lain waste. Its people4 were brought out from the peoples, and all of them are living securely. 38:9 You will advance;5 you will come like a storm--you will be like a cloud covering the earth, you and all your troops and many other peoples with you.

38:10 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind,6 and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, "I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come to those living quietly in safety, all of them living without walls, and without bars and gates, 38:12 to capture spoil and seize plunder, to turn my hand against the inhabited waste places and against the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center7 of the earth." 38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its young warriors8 will say to you, "Have you come to capture spoil ? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture a great spoil?"'

38:14 "Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not know 38:15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army? 38:16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the earth. It will come about in the latter days that I will bring you against my land so that the nations may know me, when I show myself holy before their eyes, O Gog.

38:17 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them? 38:18 It will come about on that day, when God comes against the land of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, my fury will mount up in my anger. 38:19 In my jealousy, in the fire of my fury,9 I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake10 in the land of Israel; 38:20 the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all men who live on the face of the earth will tremble11 at my presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs12 will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 38:21 I will call for a sword against him on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD; every man's sword will be against his brother. 38:22 I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and bloodshed. I will rain on him and on his troops and on the many peoples who are with him with torrential rains, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 38:23 I will be exalted and sanctified, and will make myself known before many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'

39:1"And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! 39:2 I will turn you around and drag you along,1 summon you from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 39:3 I will strike your bow from your left hand, and make your arrows fall from your right hand. 39:4 You will drop dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I will give you as food to every kind of bird and prey to every wild beast. 39:5 You will drop dead in the open field; for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 39:6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands; and they will know that I am the LORD.

39:7 "`I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let my holy name be profaned any more; then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 39:8 It is coming and it will be done, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken about.

39:9 "`Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them--shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears--and they will burn them for seven years. 39:10 They will not take wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons.2 They will take the loot of those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

39:11 "`On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the valley of those who pass east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog. 39:12 For seven months the house of Israel will bury them, in order to cleanse the land. 39:13 All the people of the land will bury them; and it will be a memorial to them on the day I am glorified, declares the Sovereign LORD. 39:14 They will set apart men to pass continually through the land and bury those who were passing through, who remain on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At they end of seven months they will make their search. 39:15 As those who pass through the land go through it, anyone who sees a human bone will place a sign by it, until those who bury them have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. 39:16 (Also a city by the name of Hamonah will be there.) Thus they will cleanse the land.'

39:17 "And you, son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Speak to the birds of every kind and to all the wild beasts: `Assemble and come, gather from all around to my sacrifice which I am going to offer for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of mighty warriors3 and drink the blood of the princes of the earth--of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are filled, and drink blood until you are drunk,4 at my sacrifice which I have readied for you. 39:20 You will be filled at my table with horses and charioteers,5 with mighty warriors and all the soldiers,' declares the Sovereign LORD.

39:21 "I will display my glory among the nations; and all the nations will see my judgments which I have executed, and my hand I have placed on them. 39:22 The house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward. 39:23 And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt treacherously against me. So I hid my face from them and gave them into the power of their adversaries, and all of them died by the sword. 39:24 According to their uncleanness and transgressions I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

39:25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Now I will restore6 the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the house of Israel. I will be jealous for my holy name. 39:26 They will bear their shame, and all the treachery they practiced against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid. 39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be sanctified through them in the sight of many nations. 39:28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them there any longer. 39:29 I will not hide my face from them any longer, when I pour out my spirit on the house of Israel,7 declares the Sovereign LORD."

Vision of the New Temple

40:1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on this very day,1 the hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me there. 40:2 In the visions of God2 he brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain,3 and on it was a structure like a city to the south. 40:3 When he brought me there, I saw a man whose appearance was like that of bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. He was standing in the gateway. 40:4 The man said to me, "Son of man, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set your heart on everything I am showing you, for you have been brought here so that I might show it to you.4 Declare all that you see to the house of Israel."

40:5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple.5 In the man's hand was a measuring rod ten and a half feet6 long; so he measured the thickness of the wall,7 ten and a half feet;8 and its height, ten and a half feet. 40:6 Then he brought me to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate, ten and a half feet deep; the first threshold, ten and a half feet wide. 40:7 The alcoves were ten and a half feet long and ten and a half feet wide; and between the alcoves were eight and three-quarter feet;9 and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was ten and a half feet. 40:8 Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward, ten and a half feet. 40:9 He measured the porch of the gate, fourteen feet;10 and its jambs, three and a half feet;11 and the porch of the gate faced inward. 40:10 There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate; the three had the same measurement; and the jambs on either side had the same measurement.12 40:11 He measured the width of the entrance of the gateway, seventeen and a half feet;13 and the length of the gateway, twenty-two and three-quarter feet.14 40:12 There was a barrier in front of the alcoves, one and three-quarter feet15 on either side; and the alcoves were ten and a half feet16 on either side. 40:13 He measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other, a width of forty-three and three-quarter feet17 from one entrance to the opposite one. 40:14 He measured18 the jambs at one hundred five feet19 high;20 the gateway went all around to the jamb of the courtyard. 40:15 From the front of the entrance gate to the porch of the inner gate was eighty-seven and a half feet.21 40:16 There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. And there were windows all around inside; and on each jamb were palm trees.22

40:17 Then he brought me to the outer court; and there were chambers there, and a pavement made for the court all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement. 40:18 The pavement was beside the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. 40:19 Then he measured the width from before the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the interior court, one hundred seventy-five feet23on the east and on the north.

40:20 He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces north. 40:21 Its alcoves, three on each side, and its jambs and porches had the same measurement as the first gate; eighty-seven and a half feet24 long and forty-three and three-quarter feet25 wide. 40:22 Its windows, its porches, and its palm trees had the same measurement as the gate which faced east. Seven steps led up to it; and its porch was on the inside. 40:23 Opposite the gate on the north and the east, was a gate of the inner court; he measured the distance from gate to gate at one hundred seventy-five feet.26

40:24 Then he lead me toward the south, and there was a gate on the south; and he measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others. 40:25 There were windows all around it and its porches, like the windows of the others;27 eighty-seven and a half feet28 long and forty-three and three-quarter feet29 wide. 40:26 There were seven steps going up to it; its porches were in front of them. It had palm trees on its jambs, one on either side. 40:27 The inner court had a gate toward the south; and he measured it from gate to gate toward the south, one hundred seventy-five feet.30

40:28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same dimensions as the others. 40:29 Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others; and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was eighty-seven and a half feet31 and its width forty-three and three-quarter feet.32 40:30 There were porches all around, forty-three and three-quarter feet33 long and eight and three-quarter feet34 wide. 40:31 Its porches faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.

40:32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gate; it had the same dimensions as the others. 40:33 Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others; and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was eighty-seven and a half feet35 and its width forty-three and three-quarter feet.36 40:34 Its porches faced the outer court, it had palm trees on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps.

40:35 Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others-- 40:36 its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches. And it had windows all around it; its length was eighty-seven and a half feet37 and its width forty-three and three-quarter feet.38 40:37 Its jambs39 faced the outer court, and it had palm trees on its jambs, on either side; and its stairway had eight steps.

40:38 There was a chamber with its door by the jambs of the gates; there they washed the burnt offering. 40:39 In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. 40:40 On the outside of the porch as one goes up at the entrance of the north gate were two tables; and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. 40:41 Four tables were on each side of the gate, eight tables on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. 40:42 There were also four tables of carved stone for the burnt offering, two and two-thirds feet40 long, two and two-thirds feet41 wide, and one and three-quarter feet42 high, on which they placed the instruments used to slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice. 40:43 There were hooks43 three inches44 long, fastened in the house all around. And on the tables was the flesh of the offering.

40:44 On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one45 at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the east gate facing north. 40:45 He said to me, "This chamber which faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, 40:46 and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who may approach the LORD to minister to him." 40:47 He measured the court, one hundred seventy-five feet long and one hundred seventy-five feet wide,46 a square; and the altar was in front of the temple.

40:48 Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured the jambs of the porch, eight and three-quarter feet47 on either side; and the width of the gate was five and a quarter feet48 on each side. 40:49 The length of the porch was thirty-five feet49 and the width nineteen and a quarter feet50, and steps51 led up to it; there were pillars beside the jambs on either side.

The Inner Temple

41:1Then he brought me to the outer sanctuary, and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was ten and a half feet1 wide on each side. 41:2 The width of the entrance was seventeen and a half feet,2 and the sides of the entrance were eight and three-quarter feet3 on each side. He measured the length of the outer sanctuary, seventy feet,4 and its width, thirty-five feet.5

41:3 Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance, three and a half feet;6 and the entrance, ten and a half feet;7 and the width of the entrance, twelve and a quarter feet8 41:4 Then he measured its length, thirty-five feet,9 and its width, thirty-five feet,10 before the outer sanctuary. And he said to me, "This is the most holy place."

41:5 Then he measured the wall of the temple,11 ten and a half feet;12 and the width of the side chambers, seven feet,13 all around the temple. 41:6 The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty in each story. There were offsets in the wall all around to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that the supports were not in the wall of the temple. 41:7 The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story; for the structure14 surrounding the temple went up story by story all around the temple. For this reason the width of the temple increased as it went up; and thus one went up from the lowest story to the highest by the way of the middle story.

41:8 I saw that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full measuring rod15 of ten and a half feet16 high. 41:9 The width of the outer wall of the side chambers was eight and three-quarter feet,17 and the open area between the side chambers of the temple 41:10 and the chambers of the court was thirty-five feet18 in width all around the temple on every side. 41:11 There were entrances of the side chambers toward the open area, one entrance toward the north, and another entrance toward the south; and the width of the open area was eight and three-quarter feet19 all around.

41:12 The building that was facing the temple courtyard at the west side was one hundred twenty-two and a half feet20 wide; and the wall of the building was eight and three-quarter feet21 all around, and its length one hundred fifty-seven and a half feet.22

41:13 Then he measured the temple, one hundred seventy-five feet23 long; and the courtyard of the temple and the building and its walls, one hundred seventy-five feet24 long; 41:14 also the width of the front of the temple and the courtyard on the east, one hundred seventy-five feet.25

41:15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side, one hundred seventy-five feet.26

The outer sanctuary of the temple and the inner room and the porch of the court27 were paneled28 41:16 as well as the thresholds and narrow windows and galleries all around the three of them--facing the threshold of the temple everything was paneled with wood all around, from the ground up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 41:17 to the space above the entrance, until the inner room, and on the outside, and on all the walls in the inner room and outside, by measurement. 41:18 It was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between each cherub. Each cherub had two faces: 41:19 a human face toward the palm tree on one side and a lion's face toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around; 41:20 from the ground to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary. 41:21 The doorposts of the outer sanctuary were square. In front of the sanctuary one doorpost looked just like the other. 41:22 The altar was of wood, five and a quarter feet29 high, and its length three and a half feet;30 its corners, its length,31 and its walls were of wood. And he said to me, "This is the table that is before the LORD." 41:23 The outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary each had a double door. 41:24 Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging32 leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. 41:25 On the doors of the outer sanctuary were carved cherubim and palm trees, like those carved on the walls; and there was a canopy of wood on the front of the outside porch. 41:26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side of the side walls of the porch; this is what the side chambers of the temple and the canopies were like.

Chambers for the Temple

42:1Then he led me out to the outer court, toward the north, and brought me to the chamber which was opposite the open area and opposite the building on the north. 42:2 Its length was one hundred seventy-five feet1 on the north side,2 and its width eighty-seven and a half feet.3 42:3 Opposite the thirty-five feet4 that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories. 42:4 In front of the chambers was a walkway on the inner side, seventeen and a half feet5 wide at a distance of one and three-quarter feet,6 and their entrances were on the north. 42:5 Now the upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more space from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. 42:6 For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers7 were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones. 42:7 As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, it was eighty-seven and a half feet8 long. 42:8 For the chambers on the outer court were eighty-seven and a half feet9 long, while those facing the temple were one hundred seventy-five feet10 long. 42:9 Below these chambers was a passage on the east side as one enters from the outer court.

42:10 In the width of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the open area and facing the building were chambers 42:11 with a passage in front of them; they looked like the chambers on the north, of the same length and width, and all their exits according to their arrangements and entrances. 42:12 So the entrances to the chambers which were toward the south had an opening at the head of the passage, the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the east when one enters.

42:13 Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers which face the open area are holy chambers where the priests11 who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings; there they will place the most holy offerings--the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy. 42:14 When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are."

42:15 Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around. 42:16 He measured the east side with a measuring rod,12 eight hundred seventy-five feet13 by the measuring rod. 42:17 He measured the north side, eight hundred seventy-five feet14 by the measuring rod. 42:18 He measured the south side, eight hundred seventy-five feet15 by the measuring rod. 42:19 He turned to the west side and measured eight hundred seventy-five feet16 by the measuring rod. 42:20 He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, eight hundred seventy-five feet17 long and eight hundred seventy-five feet18 wide, to separate between the holy and common places.

The Glory Returns to the Temple

43:1Then he brought me to the gate that faced toward the east. 43:2 And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east;1 the sound was like the sound of many waters;2 and the earth shone with his glory. 43:3 And it was like the vision I had seen, like the appearance I saw when he3 came to destroy the city, and the vision I saw by the river Kebar; and I threw myself down with my face to the ground. 43:4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by the way of the gate that faces east. 43:5 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.4

43:6 Then I heard one speaking to me from the temple, while the man was standing beside me. 43:7 He said to me: "Son of man, this is the place of my throne5 and the place for the soles of my feet,6 where I will live among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel will no longer defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings by their spiritual prostitution, and by the corpses7 of their kings when they die. 43:8 When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts by my doorposts, with only the wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their abominable deeds they committed. So I consumed them in my anger. 43:9 Now let them put away their spiritual prostitution and the corpses of their kings from me, and I will live among them forever.

43:10 "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their abominable practices; and let them measure the pattern. 43:11 When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and entrances, and its whole plan--all its statutes and its entire plan and all its laws; write it down in their sight, so that they will observe its entire plan and carry out all its statutes.

43:12 "This is the law of the temple: the entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. This is the law of the temple.

The Altar

43:13 "And these are the measurements of the altar:8 its base9 will be one and three-quarter feet10 high,11 and one and three quarter feet12 wide, and its border nine inches13 on its edge. This will be the height14 of the altar. 43:14 From the base of the ground to the lower edge, three and a half feet,15 and the width one and three-quarter feet;16 and from the smaller ledge to the larger edge, seven feet,17 and the width one and three-quarter feet; 43:15 and the altar hearth, seven feet; and from the altar hearth four horns projecting upward. 43:16 Now the altar hearth18 will be square, twenty-one feet19 long and seven feet wide. 43:17 The ledge will be twenty-four and a half feet20 long and twenty-four and a half feet wide, on four sides, the border around it will be ten and a half inches,21 and its surrounding base one and three-quarter feet.22 Its steps will face east."

43:18 Then he said to me: "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built, to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it,23 43:19 you will give a young bull for a sin offering to the levitical priests who are descended from Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, declares the Sovereign LORD. 43:20 You will take some of its blood, and place it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border all around; thus you will cleanse it and make atonement for it.24 43:21 You will also take the bull for the sin offering, and it will be burned in the appointed place in the temple, outside the sanctuary.

43:22 "On the second day, you will offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. They will purify the altar just as they purified it with the bull. 43:23 When you have finished purifying it, you will offer an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. 43:24 You will present them before the LORD, and the priests will scatter salt on them25 and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.

43:25 "For seven days you will provide daily a goat for a sin offering; and a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish, will be provided. 43:26 For seven days they will make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, so they will consecrate26 it. 43:27 When they have completed the days, it will be on the eighth day and onward the priests will offer up on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings;27 and I will accept you, declares the Sovereign LORD."

The Closed Gate

44:1Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east; and it was shut. 44:2 The LORD said to me: "This gate will be shut; it will not be opened, and no one will enter it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered it; therefore it will remain shut. 44:3 Only the prince, as prince, may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out by the same way."

44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked and behold! the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's temple; and I threw myself down with my face to the ground. 44:5 The LORD said to me: "Son of man, mark well,1 see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the LORD's house and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary. 44:6 Say to the rebellious,2 to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel, 44:7 when you bring in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, to be in my sanctuary to profane it, even my house, when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You3 have broken my covenant with all your abominable practices. 44:8 You have not kept charge of my holy things; but you have set foreigners4 to keep charge in my sanctuary for you. 44:9 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.5

44:10 "`But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will bear their iniquity. 44:11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple; they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. 44:12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and were a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn6 against them, declares the Sovereign LORD, that they will bear their iniquity. 44:13 They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred; but they will bear their shame and the abominable deeds they have committed. 44:14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all of its service and all that will be done in it.

The Levitical Priests

44:15 "`But the levitical priests, the sons of Zadok7 who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; and they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. 44:16 They will enter my sanctuary, and they will approach my table to minister to me; they will keep my charge.

44:17 "`When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple. 44:18 Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen undergarments will be around their waists; they must not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.8 44:19 When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in the holy chambers; they must wear other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.9

44:20 "`They must not shave their heads10 nor let their hair grow long;11 they must only trim their heads. 44:21 No priest may drink wine when they enter the inner court. 44:22 They must not marry a widow nor a divorcee, but they may take a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest's widow. 44:23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.12

44:24 "`In a controversy they will act as judges;13 they will judge according to my judgments. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will sanctify my Sabbaths.

44:25 "`They must not come near a dead person to be defiled;14 however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister, they may defile themselves. 44:26 After he has become clean, they15 must count seven days for him. 44:27 On the day he enters the sanctuary, into the inner court to serve in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering, declares the Sovereign LORD.

44:28 "`This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you must give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.16 44:29 They may eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. 44:30 The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of any kind will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house. 44:31 The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or was torn to pieces.17

The Lord's Portion of the Land

45:1"`When you allot the land as an inheritance, you will offer an allotment1 to the LORD, a holy portion from the land; the length will be eight and a quarter miles2 and the width three and one-third miles.3 It will be holy within all its boundary, round about. 45:2 Of this area a square round about of eight hundred seventy-five feet4 by eight hundred seventy-five feet will be for the sanctuary, with eighty-seven and a half feet5 for its open space round about. 45:3 From this measured area you will measure a length of eight and a quarter miles6 and a width of three and one-third miles;7 and in it will be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 45:4 It will be a holy portion of the land; it will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who approach the LORD to minister to him; and it will be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.8 45:5 An area eight and a quarter miles9 in length and three and one-third miles10 in width will be for the Levites, who minister at the temple, as their possession of cities11 to live in.

45:6 "`Alongside the portion set apart as the holy allotment you will assign as a possession of the city an area one and two-thirds miles12 wide and eight and a quarter miles13 long; it will be for the whole house of Israel.

45:7 "`And for the prince will be land on both sides of the holy allotment and the possession of the city, alongside the holy allotment and the possession of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. 45:8 This will be his land as a possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people; but the land will be given to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

45:9 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Put an end to your evictions of my people,14 declares the Sovereign LORD. 45:10 You will have just balances,15 a just ephah,16 and a just bath.17 45:11 The ephah and the bath will be of the same measure, the bath will contain a tenth of a homer,18 and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the standard measure. 45:12 The shekel will be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will be a mina for you.

45:13 "`This is the offering that you will offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley, 45:14 and as the prescribed portion of olive oil, one tenth of a bath from each cor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths make a homer); 45:15 and one sheep from each flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel, for a grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offering, to make atonement for them, declares the Sovereign LORD. 45:16 All the people of the land will contribute19 to this offering for the prince of Israel. 45:17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offering, and the drink offering at festivals, on the new moons and Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he will provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

45:18 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you must take an unblemished young bull and purify the sanctuary. 45:19 The priest will take some of the blood of the sin offering and place it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. 45:20 Thus you must do on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins inadvertently or through ignorance; so you will make atonement for the temple.

45:21 "`In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will celebrate the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread will be eaten. 45:22 On that day the prince will provide for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 45:23 And during the seven days of the feast he will provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven bulls and seven rams, all without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 45:24 He will provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of olive oil for each ephah. 45:25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast,20 he will provide the same provisions for sin offering, burnt offering, and grain offering, and for the olive oil, for the seven days.

The Prince's Offerings

46:1"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner court that faces east1 will be closed six working days; but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. 46:2 The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from the outside, and will stand by the post of the gate. The priests will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he will bow down at the threshold of the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be closed until evening. 46:3 The people of the land will bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 46:4 The burnt offering which the prince will offer to the LORD on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram. 46:5 The grain offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to give,2 and a hin of olive oil with an ephah. 46:6 On the day of the new moon he will offer3 an unblemished young bull, and six lambs and a ram, all without blemish. 46:7 He will provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes,4 and a hin of olive oil with an ephah. 46:8 When the prince enters, he will come by way of the porch of the gate and will go out the same way.

46:9 "`When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will go out by way of the south gate; whoever enters by way of the south gate will go out by way of the north gate. No one will return by way of the gate they entered but will go out straight ahead. 46:10 When they come in, the prince will come in with them; and when they go out, he will go out.

46:11 "`At the festivals and at the appointed feasts the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the rams as much as one is able, and a hin of olive oil with an ephah. 46:12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east will be opened for him; and he will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings just as he did on the Sabbath. Then he will go out, and the gate will be closed after he goes out.

46:13 "`He will provide a lamb, a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering daily to the LORD; morning by morning he will provide it. 46:14 And he will provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a hin of olive oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the LORD; this is a perpetual statute. 46:15 Thus they will provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil morning by morning, as a continual burnt offering.

46:16 "`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: If the prince should give a gift to one of his sons from his inheritance, it will belong to his sons, it is their possession by inheritance. 46:17 But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty;5 then it will revert to the prince; his inheritance will only remain with his sons. 46:18 The prince will not take any of the people's inheritance, oppressing them from their possession; he will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own possession.'"

46:19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests which faced north; and there I saw a place at the extreme western end. 46:20 He said to me, "This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people."

46:21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court; and in every corner of the court there was a court. 46:22 In the four corners of the court were small6 courts, seventy feet7 in length and fifty-two and a half feet8 in width; the four were all the same size. 46:23 There was a row of masonry around each of the four courts, and boiling places were made under the rows all around. 46:24 The he said to me, "These are the boiling houses where the ministers of the temple boil the sacrifices of the people."

Water from the Temple

47:1Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). And the water was flowing down from under the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 47:2 Then he brought me by way of the north gate, and led me around the outside of the outer gate that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out from the south side.

47:3 When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured one thousand seven hundred and fifty feet,1 and then he led me through water, which came up to the ankles. 47:4 Again he measured one thousand seven hundred and fifty feet and led me through the water, which came up to the knees. Again he measured one thousand seven hundred and fifty feet and led me through the water, which came up to the waist. 47:5 Again he measured one thousand seven hundred and fifty feet and it was a river I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. 47:6 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?"

Then he led me and brought me back to the bank of the river. 47:7 When I had returned, on the banks of the river, on both sides, there stood a vast number of trees. 47:8 He said to me, "These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; and when they enter the sea, going out to the sea, the waters become fresh.2 47:9 Every living creature which swarms where the river3 goes will live, and there will be very many fish, for these waters go there. It will become fresh and everything will live where the river goes. 47:10 Fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for spreading nets; their fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.4 47:11 But its swamps and its marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 47:12 On both sides of the river's banks, every kind of tree will grow for food. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."5

Boundaries for the Land

47:13 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "This will be the boundary you will use to divide the land for the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will have two portions.6 47:14 You must divide it equally as I swore to give it to your forefathers,7 and this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

47:15 "This will be the boundary of the land:8 On the north side, from the Great Sea by 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, as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 47:17 The boundary will run from the sea to Hazar-enan, at the border of Damascus, and on the north toward the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. 47:18 On the east side, between Hauran and Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, will be the Jordan; you will measure from the border to the eastern sea. This is the east side. 47:19 On the south side toward the south, it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, from the wadi to the Great Sea. This is the south side. 47:20 On the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This is the west side.

47:21 "This is how you will divide this land among you for the tribes of Israel. 47:22 You must divide it by lot as an inheritance among yourselves and for the foreigners who reside among you, who have fathered sons among you. You must treat them as native-born among the people of Israel; they will be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.9 47:23 In whatever tribe the foreigner resides with you, there you will give him his inheritance," declares the Sovereign LORD.

The Tribal Portions

48:1"Now these are the names of the tribes: from the northern extremity beside the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the border of Damascus, toward the north beside Hamath), extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. 48:2 Adjoining the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher,1 one portion. 48:3 Adjoining the border of Asher from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 48:4 Adjoining the border of Naphtali from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 48:5 Adjoining the border of Manasseh from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 48:6 Adjoining the border of Ephraim from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 48:7 Adjoining the border of Reuben from the east side to the west, Judah,2 one portion.

48:8 "Adjoining the border of Judah from the east side to the west will be the allotment you must set apart, eight and a quarter miles3 wide, and the same length as one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, and the sanctuary will be in the middle of it. 48:9 The allotment you set apart to the LORD will be eight and a quarter miles4 in length and three and one-third miles5 in width. 48:10 And these will be the allotments for the holy portion: for the priests, toward the north eight and a quarter miles6 in length, toward the west three and one-third miles7 in width, toward the east three and one-third miles8 in width, and toward the south eight and a quarter miles9 in length; and the sanctuary of the LORD will be in the middle. 48:11 This will be for the priests who are sanctified from the sons of Zadok who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, like the Levites did. 48:12 It will be for them an allotment from the allotment of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the border of the Levites.

48:13 "Alongside the border of the priests, the Levites will have an allotment eight and a quarter miles10 in length and three and one-third miles11 in width. The whole length will be eight and a quarter miles12 and the width three and one-third miles.13 48:14 They must not sell or exchange any of it; they must not transfer this choice portion of land, for it is holy to the LORD.

48:15 "The remainder, one and two-thirds miles14 in width and eight and a quarter miles15 in length, will be for common use by the city, for houses and for open space. In the middle of it will be the city; 48:16 and these will be its measurements: the north side one and one-half miles,16 the south side one and one-half miles, the east side one and one-half miles, and the west side one and one-half miles. 48:17 The city will have open spaces: on the north four hundred thirty-seven and a half feet,17 on the south four hundred thirty-seven and a half feet, on the east four hundred thirty-seven and a half feet, and on the west four hundred thirty-seven and a half feet. 48:18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy allotment will be three and one-third miles18 to the east and three and one-third miles toward the west, and it will be beside the holy allotment. Its produce will be for food for the workers of the city. 48:19 The workers of the city from all the tribes of Israel will cultivate it. 48:20 The whole allotment will be eight and a quarter miles19 square, you must set apart the holy allotment with the possession of the city.

48:21 "The rest, on both sides of the holy allotment and the possession of the city, will belong to the prince. Extending from the eight and a quarter miles20 of the holy allotment to the east border, and westward from the eight and a quarter miles21 to the west border, alongside the portions, it will belong to the prince. And the holy allotment and the sanctuary of the temple will be in the middle of it, 48:22 and the possessions of the Levites and of the city will be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin will be for the prince.

48:23 "As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion. 48:24 Adjoining the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion. 48:25 Adjoining the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion. 48:26 Adjoining the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion. 48:27 Adjoining the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion. 48:28 Adjoining the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the Stream of Egypt22 and on to the Great Sea. 48:29 This is the land which you will divide by lot for the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Sovereign LORD.

48:30 "These are the exits of the city: On the north side, one and one-half miles23 by measure, 48:31 and the gates of the city24 will be named for the tribes of Israel, three gates to the north: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; and the gate of Levi, one. 48:32 On the east side, one and one-half miles, three gates, the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; and the gate of Dan, one. 48:33 On the south side, one and one-half miles by measurement, three gates, the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; and the gate of Zebulun, one. 48:34 On the west side, one and one-half miles, three gates, the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; and the gate of Naphtali, one. 48:35 The circumference of the city will be six miles.25 And the name of the city from that day forward will be: `The LORD is There.'"26