Ezekiel

Introduction

The priest Ezekiel was among the Judeans that Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon in 597 BC. Five years into this exile, God called Ezekiel to go to Israel (both those in Babylon and those back in Judea) and speak my words to them. Ezekiel often brought this message by composing finely polished poetic oracles and speaking (or perhaps singing) them in public. But he also told stories with symbolic meanings, performed symbolic actions, and described extraordinary visions that he had received.

The book of Ezekiel organizes these messages into three main parts: oracles of judgment against Israel, oracles against other nations, and then promises of Israel’s restoration. These divisions are marked by references to the prophet losing and then regaining his ability to speak. A key vision near the beginning describes how God removed his presence from the Jerusalem temple because of Israel’s evil. The oracles against the nations make it clear that though God’s temple was destroyed, no-one should conclude that God is not still in control of the world. Those who threaten his people will be defeated in the end. The book’s closing promises confirm that God will renew the hearts of his people and refresh all life on the face of the earth. Ezekiel’s visions fit the ongoing drama of the Bible: a broken world will be healed when the Lord returns to live with his people in a land that has become like the garden of Eden.

Chapter 1

Ezekiel’s inaugural vision

¹In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

²On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin – ³the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the River Kebar in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him.

⁴I looked, and I saw a violent storm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal, ⁵and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, ⁶but each of them had four faces and four wings. ⁷Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. ⁸Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, ⁹and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

¹⁰Their faces looked like this: each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. ¹¹Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upwards, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. ¹²Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. ¹³The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. ¹⁴The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

¹⁵As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. ¹⁶This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: they sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. ¹⁷As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. ¹⁸Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

¹⁹When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. ²⁰Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. ²¹When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²²Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. ²³Under the vault their wings were stretched out one towards the other, and each had two wings covering its body. ²⁴When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

²⁵Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. ²⁶Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. ²⁷I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. ²⁸Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Chapter 2

Ezekiel’s call to be a prophet

¹He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.’ ²As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

³He said: ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. ⁴The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says.” ⁵And whether they listen or fail to listen – for they are a rebellious people – they will know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. ⁷You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. ⁸But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.’

⁹Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, ¹⁰which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

Chapter 3

¹And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.’ ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴He then said to me: ‘Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel – ⁶not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. ⁸But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. ⁹I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.’

¹⁰And he said to me, ‘Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. ¹¹Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says,” whether they listen or fail to listen.’

¹²Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.¹³It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. ¹⁴The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. ¹⁵I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the River Kebar. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days – deeply distressed.

Ezekiel’s task as watchman

¹⁶At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. ¹⁸When I say to a wicked person, “You will surely die,” and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ¹⁹But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

²⁰‘Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling-block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ²¹But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.’

²²The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, ‘Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.’ ²³So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell face down.

²⁴Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: ‘Go, shut yourself inside your house. ²⁵And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. ²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. ²⁷But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says.” Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.

Chapter 4

Siege of Jerusalem symbolised

¹‘Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ²Then lay siege to it: erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering-rams around it. ³Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face towards it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

⁴‘Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. ⁵I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

⁶‘After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. ⁷Turn your face towards the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. ⁸I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.

⁹‘Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. ¹¹Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. ¹²Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.’ ¹³The Lord said, ‘In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.’

¹⁴Then I said, ‘Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.’

¹⁵‘Very well,’ he said, ‘I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.’

¹⁶He then said to me: ‘Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, ¹⁷for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.

Chapter 5

God’s razor of judgment

¹‘Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. ²When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword. ³But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. ⁴Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

⁵‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: this is Jerusalem, which I have set in the centre of the nations, with countries all around her. ⁶Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.

⁷‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: you have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.

⁸‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. ⁹Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. ¹⁰Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. ¹¹Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. ¹²A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.

¹³‘Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.

¹⁴‘I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. ¹⁵You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. ¹⁶When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. ¹⁷I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.’

Chapter 6

Doom for the mountains of Israel

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them ³and say: “You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. ⁴Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. ⁵I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. ⁷Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸‘ “But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. ⁹Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me – how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. ¹⁰And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.

¹¹‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out ‘Alas!’ because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. ¹²One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and any one who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them. ¹³And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak – places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. ¹⁴And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah – wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

Chapter 7

The end has come

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel:

‘ “The end! The end has come

upon the four corners of the land!

³The end is now upon you,

and I will unleash my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

⁴I will not look on you with pity;

I will not spare you.

I will surely repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.

‘ “Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

⁵‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Disaster! Unheard-of disaster!

See, it comes!

⁶The end has come!

The end has come!

It has roused itself against you.

See, it comes!

⁷Doom has come upon you,

upon you who dwell in the land.

The time has come! The day is near!

There is panic, not joy, on the mountains.

⁸I am about to pour out my wrath on you

and spend my anger against you.

I will judge you according to your conduct

and repay you for all your detestable practices.

⁹I will not look on you with pity;

I will not spare you.

I will repay you for your conduct

and for the detestable practices among you.

‘ “Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you.

¹⁰‘ “See, the day!

See, it comes!

Doom has burst forth,

the rod has budded,

arrogance has blossomed!

¹¹Violence has arisen,

a rod to punish the wicked.

None of the people will be left,

none of that crowd –

none of their wealth,

nothing of value.

¹²The time has come!

The day has arrived!

Let not the buyer rejoice

nor the seller grieve,

for my wrath is on the whole crowd.

¹³The seller will not recover

the property that was sold –

as long as both buyer and seller live.

For the vision concerning the whole crowd

will not be reversed.

Because of their sins, not one of them

will preserve their life.

¹⁴‘ “They have blown the trumpet,

they have made all things ready,

but no-one will go into battle,

for my wrath is on the whole crowd.

¹⁵Outside is the sword;

inside are plague and famine.

Those in the country

will die by the sword;

those in the city

will be devoured by famine and plague.

¹⁶The fugitives who escape

will flee to the mountains.

Like doves of the valleys,

they will all moan,

each for their own sins.

¹⁷Every hand will go limp;

every leg will be wet with urine.

¹⁸They will put on sackcloth

and be clothed with terror.

Every face will be covered with shame,

and every head will be shaved.

¹⁹‘ “They will throw their silver into the streets,

and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean.

Their silver and gold

will not be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s wrath.

It will not satisfy their hunger

or fill their stomachs,

for it has caused them to stumble into sin.

²⁰They took pride in their beautiful jewellery

and used it to make their detestable idols.

They made it into vile images;

therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them.

²¹I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners

and as loot to the wicked of the earth,

who will defile it.

²²I will turn my face away from the people,

and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure.

They will enter it

and will defile it.

²³‘ “Prepare chains!

For the land is full of bloodshed,

and the city is full of violence.

²⁴I will bring the most wicked of nations

to take possession of their houses.

I will put an end to the pride of the mighty,

and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

²⁵When terror comes,

they will seek peace in vain.

²⁶Calamity upon calamity will come,

and rumour upon rumour.

They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,

priestly instruction in the law will cease,

the counsel of the elders will come to an end.

²⁷The king will mourn,

the prince will be clothed with despair,

and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.

I will deal with them according to their conduct,

and by their own standards I will judge them.

‘ “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

Chapter 8

Idolatry in the temple

¹In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there. ²I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. ³He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. ⁴And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

⁵Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, look towards the north.’ So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.

⁶And he said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.’

⁷Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. ⁸He said to me, ‘Son of man, now dig into the wall.’ So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

⁹And he said to me, ‘Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.’ ¹⁰So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. ¹¹In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

¹²He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, “The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.” ’ ¹³Again, he said, ‘You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.’

¹⁴Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. ¹⁵He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.’

¹⁶He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs towards the temple of the Lord and their faces towards the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.

¹⁷He said to me, ‘Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! ¹⁸Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.’

Chapter 9

Judgment on the idolaters

¹Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, ‘Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.’ ²And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side ⁴and said to him, ‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’

⁵As I listened, he said to the others, ‘Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. ⁶Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.

⁷Then he said to them, ‘Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!’ So they went out and began killing throughout the city. ⁸While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell face down, crying out, ‘Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?’

⁹He answered me, ‘The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, “The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.” ¹⁰So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.’

¹¹Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, ‘I have done as you commanded.’

Chapter 10

God’s glory departs from the temple

¹I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. ²The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, ‘Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.’ And as I watched, he went in.

³Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. ⁴Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. ⁵The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶When the Lord commanded the man in linen, ‘Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,’ the man went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸(Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)

⁹I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz. ¹⁰As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. ¹¹As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. ¹²Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. ¹³I heard the wheels being called ‘the whirling wheels’. ¹⁴Each of the cherubim had four faces: one face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

¹⁵Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar. ¹⁶When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. ¹⁷When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

¹⁸Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. ¹⁹While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

²⁰These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I realised that they were cherubim. ²¹Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. ²²Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the River Kebar. Each one went straight ahead.

Chapter 11

God’s sure judgment on Jerusalem

¹Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ²The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. ³They say, “Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.” ⁴Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.’

⁵Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me to say: ‘This is what the Lord says: that is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. ⁶You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

⁷‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: the bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it. ⁸You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. ⁹I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you. ¹⁰You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. ¹²And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.’

¹³Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell face down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?’

The promise of Israel’s return

¹⁴The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵‘Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, “They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.”

¹⁶‘Therefore say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”

¹⁷‘Therefore say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.”

¹⁸‘They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. ¹⁹I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. ²⁰Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

²²Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. ²³The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. ²⁴The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God.

Then the vision I had seen went up from me, ²⁵and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.

Chapter 12

The exile symbolised

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.

³‘Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people. ⁴During the daytime, while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening, while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile. ⁵While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it. ⁶Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the Israelites.’

⁷So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹‘Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, “What are you doing?”

¹⁰‘Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: this prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.” ¹¹Say to them, “I am a sign to you.”

‘As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.

¹²‘The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. ¹³I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. ¹⁴I will scatter to the winds all those around him – his staff and all his troops – and I will pursue them with drawn sword.

¹⁵‘They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. ¹⁶But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸‘Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. ¹⁹Say to the people of the land: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: they will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. ²⁰The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

There will be no delay

²¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²²‘Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing”? ²³Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.” Say to them, “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. ²⁵But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfil whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

²⁶The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷‘Son of man, the Israelites are saying, “The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.”

²⁸‘Therefore say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: none of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Chapter 13

False prophets condemned

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: “Hear the word of the Lord! ³This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! ⁴Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. ⁵You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, ‘The Lord declares’, and expect him to fulfil their words. ⁷Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, ‘The Lord declares’, though I have not spoken?

⁸‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. ⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰‘ “Because they lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace’, when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, ¹¹therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. ¹²When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you covered it with?’

¹³‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: in my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. ¹⁴I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, ¹⁶those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ”

¹⁷‘Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸and say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? ¹⁹You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.

²⁰‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. ²¹I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ²²Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, ²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practise divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

Chapter 14

Idolaters condemned

¹Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. ²Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³‘Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling-blocks before their faces. Should I let them enquire of me at all? ⁴Therefore speak to them and tell them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: when any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling-block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. ⁵I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.”

⁶‘Therefore say to the people of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!

⁷‘ “When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling-block before their faces and then go to a prophet to enquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. ⁸I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹‘ “And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰They will bear their guilt – the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. ¹¹Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Jerusalem’s judgment inescapable

¹²The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³‘Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, ¹⁴even if these three men – Noah, Daniel and Job – were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵‘Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no-one can pass through it because of the beasts, ¹⁶as surely 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 alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.

¹⁷‘Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, “Let the sword pass throughout the land,” and I kill its people and their animals, ¹⁸as surely 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 alone would be saved.

¹⁹‘Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, ²⁰as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: how much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments – sword and famine and wild beasts and plague – to kill its men and their animals! ²²Yet there will be some survivors – sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem – every disaster I have brought on it. ²³You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 15

Jerusalem as a useless vine

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? ³Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? ⁴And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? ⁵If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

⁶‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: as I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. ⁷I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 16

Jerusalem as an adulterous wife

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices ³and say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ⁴On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. ⁵No-one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

⁶‘ “Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’⁷I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.

⁸‘ “Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

⁹‘ “I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. ¹⁰I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. ¹¹I adorned you with jewellery: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace round your neck, ¹²and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. ¹⁴And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendour I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵‘ “But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favours on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. ¹⁶You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.¹⁷You also took the fine jewellery I gave you, the jewellery made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. ¹⁸And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. ¹⁹Also the food I provided for you – the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat – you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.

²⁰‘ “And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? ²¹You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ²²In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

²³‘ “Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, ²⁴you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. ²⁵At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. ²⁶You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbours with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. ²⁷So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. ²⁸You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. ²⁹Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰‘ “I am filled with fury against you, declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! ³¹When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

³²‘ “You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! ³³All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favours. ³⁴So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no-one runs after you for your favours. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

³⁵‘ “Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! ³⁶This is what the Sovereign Lord says: because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, ³⁷therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. ³⁸I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. ³⁹Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewellery and leave you stark naked. ⁴⁰They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. ⁴²Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

⁴³‘ “Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?

⁴⁴‘ “Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶Your elder sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. ⁴⁷You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. ⁴⁸As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

⁴⁹‘ “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. ⁵¹Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. ⁵²Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

⁵³‘ “However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, ⁵⁴so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. ⁵⁵And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. ⁵⁶You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbours and the daughters of the Philistines – all those around you who despise you. ⁵⁸You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the Lord.

⁵⁹‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. ⁶⁰Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. ⁶¹Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. ⁶²So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶³Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Chapter 17

Two eagles and a vine

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. ³Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: a great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colours came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, ⁴he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.

⁵‘ “He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, ⁶and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned towards him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.

⁷‘ “But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots towards him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. ⁸It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.”

⁹‘Say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. ¹⁰It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it – wither away in the plot where it grew?” ’

¹¹Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²‘Say to this rebellious people, “Do you not know what these things mean?” Say to them: “The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. ¹³Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, ¹⁴so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?

¹⁶‘ “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. ¹⁷Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. ¹⁸He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: as surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. ²⁰I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. ²¹All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.

²²‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. ²⁴All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

‘ “I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.” ’

Chapter 18

The one who sins will die

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

‘ “The parents eat sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?

³‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. ⁴For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child – both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

⁵‘Suppose there is a righteous man

who does what is just and right.

⁶He does not eat at the mountain shrines

or look to the idols of Israel.

He does not defile his neighbour’s wife

or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.

⁷He does not oppress anyone,

but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.

He does not commit robbery,

but gives his food to the hungry

and provides clothing for the naked.

⁸He does not lend to them at interest

or take a profit from them.

He withholds his hand from doing wrong

and judges fairly between two parties.

⁹He follows my decrees

and faithfully keeps my laws.

That man is righteous;

he will surely live,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰‘Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things¹¹(though the father has done none of them):

‘He eats at the mountain shrines.

He defiles his neighbour’s wife.

¹²He oppresses the poor and needy.

He commits robbery.

He does not return what he took in pledge.

He looks to the idols.

He does detestable things.

¹³He lends at interest and takes a profit.

Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁴‘But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

¹⁵‘He does not eat at the mountain shrines

or look to the idols of Israel.

He does not defile his neighbour’s wife.

¹⁶He does not oppress anyone

or require a pledge for a loan.

He does not commit robbery,

but gives his food to the hungry

and provides clothing for the naked.

¹⁷He withholds his hand from ill-treating the poor

and takes no interest or profit from them.

He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.

He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. ¹⁸But his father will die for his own sin, because he practised extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

¹⁹‘Yet you ask, “Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?” Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. ²⁰The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

²¹‘But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²²None of the offences they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. ²³Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

²⁴‘But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.

²⁵‘Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not just.” Hear, you Israelites: is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. ²⁸Because they consider all the offences they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²⁹Yet the Israelites say, “The way of the Lord is not just.” Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰‘Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹Rid yourselves of all the offences you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³²For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Chapter 19

A lament over Israel’s princes

¹‘Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel ²and say:

‘ “What a lioness was your mother

among the lions!

She lay down among them

and reared her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs,

and he became a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

⁴The nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

⁵‘ “When she saw her hope unfulfilled,

her expectation gone,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a strong lion.

⁶He prowled among the lions,

for he was now a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

⁷He broke down their strongholds

and devastated their towns.

The land and all who were in it

were terrified by his roaring.

⁸Then the nations came against him,

those from regions round about.

They spread their net for him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

⁹With hooks they pulled him into a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon.

They put him in prison,

so his roar was heard no longer

on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰‘ “Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard

planted by the water;

it was fruitful and full of branches

because of abundant water.

¹¹Its branches were strong,

fit for a ruler’s sceptre.

It towered high

above the thick foliage,

conspicuous for its height

and for its many branches.

¹²But it was uprooted in fury

and thrown to the ground.

The east wind made it shrivel,

it was stripped of its fruit;

its strong branches withered

and fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the desert,

in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire spread from one of its main branches

and consumed its fruit.

No strong branch is left on it

fit for a ruler’s sceptre.”

This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.’

Chapter 20

Rebellious Israel purged

¹In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.

²Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³‘Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: have you come to enquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you enquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

⁴‘Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors ⁵and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: on the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ ⁶On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ⁷And I said to them, ‘Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’

⁸‘ “But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. ⁹But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. ¹⁰Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. ¹²Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.

¹³‘ “Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws – by which the person who obeys them will live – and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. ¹⁴But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands – ¹⁶because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. ¹⁷Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁸I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁰Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’

²¹‘ “But the children rebelled against me: they did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them,’ and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ²²But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, ²⁴because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. ²⁵So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; ²⁶I defiled them through their gifts – the sacrifice of every firstborn – that I might fill them with horror so that they would know that I am the Lord.”

²⁷‘Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: in this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: ²⁸when I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹Then I said to them: what is this high place you go to?” ’ (It is called Bamah to this day.)

Rebellious Israel renewed

³⁰‘Therefore say to the Israelites: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? ³¹When you offer your gifts – the sacrifice of your children in the fire – you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you enquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you enquire of me.

³²‘ “You say, ‘We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen. ³³As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. ³⁴I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered – with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. ³⁵I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. ³⁶As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³⁷I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹‘ “As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterwards you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. ⁴⁰For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. ⁴¹I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. ⁴³There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. ⁴⁴You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Prophecy against the south

⁴⁵The word of the Lord came to me: ⁴⁶‘Son of man, set your face towards the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. ⁴⁷Say to the southern forest: “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. ⁴⁸Everyone will see that I the Lord have kindled it; it will not be quenched.” ’

⁴⁹Then I said, ‘Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me, “Isn’t he just telling parables?” ’

Chapter 21

Babylon as God’s sword of judgment

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel ³and say to her: “This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁴Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. ⁵Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.”

⁶‘Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. ⁷And when they ask you, “Why are you groaning?” you shall say, “Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.” It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

⁸The word of the Lord came to me: ⁹‘Son of man, prophesy and say, “This is what the Lord says:

‘ “A sword, a sword,

sharpened and polished –

¹⁰sharpened for the slaughter,

polished to flash like lightning!

‘ “Shall we rejoice in the sceptre of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.

¹¹‘ “The sword is appointed to be polished,

to be grasped with the hand;

it is sharpened and polished,

made ready for the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry out and wail, son of man,

for it is against my people;

it is against all the princes of Israel.

They are thrown to the sword

along with my people.

Therefore beat your breast.

¹³‘ “Testing will surely come. And what if even the sceptre, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.”

¹⁴‘So then, son of man, prophesy

and strike your hands together.

Let the sword strike twice,

even three times.

It is a sword for slaughter –

a sword for great slaughter,

closing in on them from every side.

¹⁵So that hearts may melt with fear

and the fallen be many,

I have stationed the sword for slaughter

at all their gates.

Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,

it is grasped for slaughter.

¹⁶Slash to the right, you sword,

then to the left,

wherever your blade is turned.

¹⁷I too will strike my hands together,

and my wrath will subside.

I the Lord have spoken.’

¹⁸The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁹‘Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. ²⁰Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. ²¹For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: he will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. ²²Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering-rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering-rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works. ²³It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.

²⁴‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do – because you have done this, you will be taken captive.

²⁵‘ “You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, ²⁶this is what the Sovereign Lord says: take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. ²⁷A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.”

²⁸‘And you, son of man, prophesy and say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:

‘ “A sword, a sword,

drawn for the slaughter,

polished to consume

and to flash like lightning!

²⁹Despite false visions concerning you

and lying divinations about you,

it will be laid on the necks

of the wicked who are to be slain,

whose day has come,

whose time of punishment has reached its climax.

³⁰‘ “Let the sword return to its sheath.

In the place where you were created,

in the land of your ancestry,

I will judge you.

³¹I will pour out my wrath on you

and breathe out my fiery anger against you;

I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,

men skilled in destruction.

³²You will be fuel for the fire,

your blood will be shed in your land,

you will be remembered no more;

for I the Lord have spoken.” ’

Chapter 22

Judgment on Jerusalem’s sins

¹The word of the Lord came to me:

²‘Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices ³and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: you city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, ⁴you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughing-stock to all the countries. ⁵Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.

⁶‘ “See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. ⁷In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and ill-treated the fatherless and the widow. ⁸You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. ⁹In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. ¹⁰In you are those who dishonour their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. ¹¹In you one man commits a detestable offence with his neighbour’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. ¹²In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbours. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹³‘ “I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. ¹⁴Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. ¹⁵I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. ¹⁶When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

¹⁷Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸‘Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. ¹⁹Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. ²¹I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. ²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.” ’

²³Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴‘Son of man, say to the land, “You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.” ²⁵There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. ²⁶Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. ²⁸Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says” – when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land practise extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and ill-treat the foreigner, denying them justice.

³⁰‘I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found no-one. ³¹So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 23

Two adulterous sisters

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. ³They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. ⁴The elder one was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

⁵‘Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians – warriors ⁶clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. ⁷She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. ⁸She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.

⁹‘Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. ¹⁰They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.

¹¹‘Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. ¹²She too lusted after the Assyrians – governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. ¹³I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.

¹⁴‘But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans portrayed in red, ¹⁵with belts round their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.¹⁶As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. ¹⁹Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. ²⁰There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. ²¹So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.

²²‘Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side – ²³the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. ²⁴They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. ²⁵I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. ²⁶They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewellery. ²⁷So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.

²⁸‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. ²⁹They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity ³⁰have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.

³²‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘You will drink your sister’s cup,

a cup large and deep;

it will bring scorn and derision,

for it holds so much.

³³You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,

the cup of ruin and desolation,

the cup of your sister Samaria.

³⁴You will drink it and drain it dry

and chew on its pieces –

and you will tear your breasts.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

³⁵‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.’

³⁶The Lord said to me: ‘Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, ³⁷for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them. ³⁸They have also done this to me: at that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths. ³⁹On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house.

⁴⁰‘They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, applied eye makeup and put on your jewellery. ⁴¹You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.

⁴²‘The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, “Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.” ⁴⁴And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. ⁴⁵But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder. ⁴⁷The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.

⁴⁸‘So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. ⁴⁹You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 24

Jerusalem as a cooking pot

¹In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Put on the cooking pot; put it on

and pour water into it.

⁴Put into it the pieces of meat,

all the choice pieces – the leg and the shoulder.

Fill it with the best of these bones;

⁵take the pick of the flock.

Pile wood beneath it for the bones;

bring it to the boil

and cook the bones in it.

⁶‘ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Woe to the city of bloodshed,

to the pot now encrusted,

whose deposit will not go away!

Take the meat out piece by piece

in whatever order it comes.

⁷‘ “For the blood she shed is in her midst:

she poured it on the bare rock;

she did not pour it on the ground,

where the dust would cover it.

⁸To stir up wrath and take revenge

I put her blood on the bare rock,

so that it would not be covered.

⁹‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I, too, will pile the wood high.

¹⁰So heap on the wood

and kindle the fire.

Cook the meat well,

mixing in the spices;

and let the bones be charred.

¹¹Then set the empty pot on the coals

till it becomes hot and its copper glows,

so that its impurities may be melted

and its deposit burned away.

¹²It has frustrated all efforts;

its heavy deposit has not been removed,

not even by fire.

¹³‘ “Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

¹⁴‘ “I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Ezekiel’s wife dies

¹⁵The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶‘Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. ¹⁷Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your moustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.’

¹⁸So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.

¹⁹Then the people asked me, ‘Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?’

²⁰So I said to them, ‘The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹say to the people of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary – the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. ²²And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your moustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. ²³You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. ²⁴Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

²⁵‘And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire, and their sons and daughters as well – ²⁶on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. ²⁷At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.’

Chapter 25

A prophecy against Ammon

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them. ³Say to them, “Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: because you said ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴therefore I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. ⁵I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting-place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, ⁷therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will wipe you out from among the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

A prophecy against Moab

⁸‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Look, Judah has become like all the other nations,’ ⁹therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier towns – Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim – the glory of that land. ¹⁰I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations; ¹¹and I will inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

A prophecy against Edom

¹²‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because Edom took revenge on Judah and became very guilty by doing so, ¹³therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill both man and beast. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. ¹⁴I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

A prophecy against Philistia

¹⁵‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, ¹⁶therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. ¹⁷I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them.” ’

Chapter 26

A prophecy against Tyre

¹In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, “Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,” ³therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. ⁴They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. ⁵Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishing nets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, ⁶and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: from the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. ⁸He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you. ⁹He will direct the blows of his battering-rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. ¹⁰His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. ¹¹The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. ¹²They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. ¹³I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more. ¹⁴I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you? ¹⁶Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. ¹⁷Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you:

‘ “How you are destroyed, city of renown,

peopled by men of the sea!

You were a power on the seas,

you and your citizens;

you put your terror

on all who lived there.

¹⁸Now the coastlands tremble

on the day of your fall;

the islands in the sea

are terrified at your collapse.”

¹⁹‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: when I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you, ²⁰then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living. ²¹I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 27

A lament over Tyre

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. ³Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “You say, Tyre,

‘I am perfect in beauty.’

⁴Your domain was on the high seas;

your builders brought your beauty to perfection.

⁵They made all your timbers

of juniper from Senir;

they took a cedar from Lebanon

to make a mast for you.

⁶Of oaks from Bashan

they made your oars;

of cypress wood from the coasts of Cyprus

they made your deck, adorned with ivory.

⁷Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail

and served as your banner;

your awnings were of blue and purple

from the coasts of Elishah.

⁸Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen;

your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.

⁹Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board

as shipwrights to caulk your seams.

All the ships of the sea and their sailors

came alongside to trade for your wares.

¹⁰‘ “Men of Persia, Lydia and Put

served as soldiers in your army.

They hung their shields and helmets on your walls,

bringing you splendour.

¹¹Men of Arvad and Helek

guarded your walls on every side;

men of Gammad

were in your towers.

They hung their shields around your walls;

they brought your beauty to perfection.

¹²‘ “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.

¹³‘ “Greece, Tubal and Meshek did business with you; they traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.

¹⁴‘ “Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise.

¹⁵‘ “The men of Rhodes traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.

¹⁶‘ “Aram did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.

¹⁷‘ “Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.

¹⁸‘ “Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar ¹⁹and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus.

²⁰‘ “Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.

²¹‘ “Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.

²²‘ “The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.

²³‘ “Harran, Kanneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Kilmad traded with you. ²⁴In your market-place they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicoloured rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.

²⁵‘ “The ships of Tarshish serve

as carriers for your wares.

You are filled with heavy cargo

as you sail the sea.

²⁶Your oarsmen take you

out to the high seas.

But the east wind will break you to pieces

far out at sea.

²⁷Your wealth, merchandise and wares,

your mariners, sailors and shipwrights,

your merchants and all your soldiers,

and everyone else on board

will sink into the heart of the sea

on the day of your shipwreck.

²⁸The shorelands will quake

when your sailors cry out.

²⁹All who handle the oars

will abandon their ships;

the mariners and all the sailors

will stand on the shore.

³⁰They will raise their voice

and cry bitterly over you;

they will sprinkle dust on their heads

and roll in ashes.

³¹They will shave their heads because of you

and will put on sackcloth.

They will weep over you with anguish of soul

and with bitter mourning.

³²As they wail and mourn over you,

they will take up a lament concerning you:

‘Who was ever silenced like Tyre,

surrounded by the sea?’

³³When your merchandise went out on the seas,

you satisfied many nations;

with your great wealth and your wares

you enriched the kings of the earth.

³⁴Now you are shattered by the sea

in the depths of the waters;

your wares and all your company

have gone down with you.

³⁵All who live in the coastlands

are appalled at you;

their kings shudder with horror

and their faces are distorted with fear.

³⁶The merchants among the nations scoff at you;

you have come to a horrible end

and will be no more.” ’

Chapter 28

A prophecy against the king of Tyre

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “In the pride of your heart

you say, ‘I am a god;

I sit on the throne of a god

in the heart of the seas.’

But you are a mere mortal and not a god,

though you think you are as wise as a god.

³Are you wiser than Daniel?

Is no secret hidden from you?

⁴By your wisdom and understanding

you have gained wealth for yourself

and amassed gold and silver

in your treasuries.

⁵By your great skill in trading

you have increased your wealth,

and because of your wealth

your heart has grown proud.

⁶‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Because you think you are wise,

as wise as a god,

⁷I am going to bring foreigners against you,

the most ruthless of nations;

they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom

and pierce your shining splendour.

⁸They will bring you down to the pit,

and you will die a violent death

in the heart of the seas.

⁹Will you then say, ‘I am a god,’

in the presence of those who kill you?

You will be but a mortal, not a god,

in the hands of those who slay you.

¹⁰You will die the death of the uncircumcised

at the hands of foreigners.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

¹¹The word of the Lord came to me: ¹²‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “You were the seal of perfection,

full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

¹³You were in Eden,

the garden of God;

every precious stone adorned you:

carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,

topaz, onyx and jasper,

lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.

Your settings and mountings were made of gold;

on the day you were created they were prepared.

¹⁴You were anointed as a guardian cherub,

for so I ordained you.

You were on the holy mount of God;

you walked among the fiery stones.

¹⁵You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created

till wickedness was found in you.

¹⁶Through your widespread trade

you were filled with violence,

and you sinned.

So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,

and I expelled you, guardian cherub,

from among the fiery stones.

¹⁷Your heart became proud

on account of your beauty,

and you corrupted your wisdom

because of your splendour.

So I threw you to the earth;

I made a spectacle of you before kings.

¹⁸By your many sins and dishonest trade

you have desecrated your sanctuaries.

So I made a fire come out from you,

and it consumed you,

and I reduced you to ashes on the ground

in the sight of all who were watching.

¹⁹All the nations who knew you

are appalled at you;

you have come to a horrible end

and will be no more.” ’

A prophecy against Sidon

²⁰The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹‘Son of man, set your face against Sidon; prophesy against her ²²and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “I am against you, Sidon,

and among you I will display my glory.

You will know that I am the Lord,

when I inflict punishment on you

and within you am proved to be holy.

²³I will send a plague upon you

and make blood flow in your streets.

The slain will fall within you,

with the sword against you on every side.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

²⁴‘ “No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbours who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

²⁵‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: when I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbours who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.” ’

Chapter 29

A prophecy against Egypt

Judgment on Pharaoh

¹In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, the word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³Speak to him and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

you great monster lying among your streams.

You say, ‘The Nile belongs to me;

I made it for myself.’

⁴But I will put hooks in your jaws

and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.

I will pull you out from among your streams,

with all the fish sticking to your scales.

⁵I will leave you in the desert,

you and all the fish of your streams.

You will fall on the open field

and not be gathered or picked up.

I will give you as food

to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.

⁶Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

‘ “You have been a staff of reed for the people of Israel. ⁷When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.

⁸‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring a sword against you and kill both man and beast. ⁹Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

‘ “Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’ ¹⁰therefore I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush.¹¹The foot of neither man nor beast will pass through it; no-one will live there for forty years. ¹²I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.

¹³‘ “Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: at the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. ¹⁴I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Nebuchadnezzar’s reward

¹⁷In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸‘Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon drove his army in a hard campaign against Tyre; every head was rubbed bare and every shoulder made raw. Yet he and his army got no reward from the campaign he led against Tyre. ¹⁹Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army. ²⁰I have given him Egypt as a reward for his efforts because he and his army did it for me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

²¹‘On that day I will make a horn grow for the Israelites, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Chapter 30

A lament over Egypt

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, prophesy and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “Wail and say,

‘Alas for that day!’

³For the day is near,

the day of the Lord is near –

a day of clouds,

a time of doom for the nations.

⁴A sword will come against Egypt,

and anguish will come upon Cush.

When the slain fall in Egypt,

her wealth will be carried away

and her foundations torn down.

⁵Cush and Libya, Lydia and all Arabia, Kub and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt.

⁶‘ “This is what the Lord says:

‘ “The allies of Egypt will fall

and her proud strength will fail.

From Migdol to Aswan

they will fall by the sword within her,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

⁷They will be desolate

among desolate lands,

and their cities will lie

among ruined cities.

⁸Then they will know that I am the Lord,

when I set fire to Egypt

and all her helpers are crushed.

⁹‘ “On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the day of Egypt’s doom, for it is sure to come.

¹⁰‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt

by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

¹¹He and his army – the most ruthless of nations –

will be brought in to destroy the land.

They will draw their swords against Egypt

and fill the land with the slain.

¹²I will dry up the waters of the Nile

and sell the land to an evil nation;

by the hand of foreigners

I will lay waste the land and everything in it.

I the Lord have spoken.

¹³‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “I will destroy the idols

and put an end to the images in Memphis.

No longer will there be a prince in Egypt,

and I will spread fear throughout the land.

¹⁴I will lay waste Upper Egypt,

set fire to Zoan

and inflict punishment on Thebes.

¹⁵I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,

the stronghold of Egypt,

and wipe out the hordes of Thebes.

¹⁶I will set fire to Egypt;

Pelusium will writhe in agony.

Thebes will be taken by storm;

Memphis will be in constant distress.

¹⁷The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis

will fall by the sword,

and the cities themselves will go into captivity.

¹⁸Dark will be the day at Tahpanhes

when I break the yoke of Egypt;

there her proud strength will come to an end.

She will be covered with clouds,

and her villages will go into captivity.

¹⁹So I will inflict punishment on Egypt,

and they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

Pharaoh’s arms are broken

²⁰In the eleventh year, in the first month on the seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me: ²¹‘Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up to be healed or put in a splint so that it may become strong enough to hold a sword. ²²Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. ²³I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. ²⁴I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a mortally wounded man. ²⁵I 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 put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt. ²⁶I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Chapter 31

Pharaoh as a felled cedar of Lebanon

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

‘ “Who can be compared with you in majesty?

³Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,

with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;

it towered on high,

its top above the thick foliage.

⁴The waters nourished it,

deep springs made it grow tall;

their streams flowed

all around its base

and sent their channels

to all the trees of the field.

⁵So it towered higher

than all the trees of the field;

its boughs increased

and its branches grew long,

spreading because of abundant waters.

⁶All the birds of the sky

nested in its boughs,

all the wild animals

gave birth under its branches;

all the great nations

lived in its shade.

⁷It was majestic in beauty,

with its spreading boughs,

for its roots went down

to abundant waters.

⁸The cedars in the garden of God

could not rival it,

nor could the junipers

equal its boughs,

nor could the plane trees

compare with its branches –

no tree in the garden of God

could match its beauty.

⁹I made it beautiful

with abundant branches,

the envy of all the trees of Eden

in the garden of God.

¹⁰‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, ¹¹I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, ¹²and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. ¹³All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches. ¹⁴Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.

¹⁵‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: on the day it was brought down to the realm of the dead I covered the deep springs with mourning for it; I held back its streams, and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of the field withered away. ¹⁶I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the realm of the dead to be with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. ¹⁷They too, like the great cedar, had gone down to the realm of the dead, to those killed by the sword, along with the armed men who lived in its shade among the nations.

¹⁸‘ “Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendour and majesty? Yet you, too, 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 Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Chapter 32

A lament over Pharaoh

¹In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

‘ “You are like a lion among the nations;

you are like a monster in the seas

thrashing about in your streams,

churning the water with your feet

and muddying the streams.

³‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “With a great throng of people

I will cast my net over you,

and they will haul you up in my net.

⁴I will throw you on the land

and hurl you on the open field.

I will let all the birds of the sky settle on you

and all the wild animals gorge themselves on you.

⁵I will spread your flesh on the mountains

and fill the valleys with your remains.

⁶I will drench the land with your flowing blood

all the way to the mountains,

and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.

⁷When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens

and darken their stars;

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not give its light.

⁸All the shining lights in the heavens

I will darken over you;

I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign Lord.

⁹I will trouble the hearts of many peoples

when I bring about your destruction among the nations,

among lands you have not known.

¹⁰I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you,

and their kings will shudder with horror because of you

when I brandish my sword before them.

On the day of your downfall

each of them will tremble

every moment for his life.

¹¹‘ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘ “The sword of the king of Babylon

will come against you.

¹²I will cause your hordes to fall

by the swords of mighty men –

the most ruthless of all nations.

They will shatter the pride of Egypt,

and all her hordes will be overthrown.

¹³I will destroy all her cattle

from beside abundant waters

no longer to be stirred by the foot of man

or muddied by the hooves of cattle.

¹⁴Then I will let her waters settle

and make her streams flow like oil,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵When I make Egypt desolate

and strip the land of everything in it,

when I strike down all who live there,

then they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁶‘This is the lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Egypt’s descent into the realm of the dead

¹⁷In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸‘Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit. ¹⁹Say to them, “Are you more favoured than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.” ²⁰They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged off with all her hordes. ²¹From within the realm of the dead the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, “They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.”

²²‘Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. ²³Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.

²⁴‘Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. ²⁵A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

²⁶‘Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living. ²⁷But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war – their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones – though these warriors also had terrorised the land of the living.

²⁸‘You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

²⁹‘Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰‘All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹‘Pharaoh – he and all his army – will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³²Although I allowed him to spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 33

Renewal of Ezekiel’s call as watchman

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: “When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, ³and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, ⁴then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. ⁵Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. ⁶But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.”

⁷‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. ⁸When I say to the wicked, “You wicked person, you will surely die,” and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ⁹But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

¹⁰‘Son of man, say to the Israelites, “This is what you are saying: ‘Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’ ” ¹¹Say to them, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?”

¹²‘Therefore, son of man, say to your people, “If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.” ¹³If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. ¹⁴And if I say to a wicked person, “You will surely die,” but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right – ¹⁵if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil – that person will surely live; they will not die. ¹⁶None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.

¹⁷‘Yet your people say, “The way of the Lord is not just.” But it is their way that is not just. ¹⁸If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. ¹⁹And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. ²⁰Yet you Israelites say, “The way of the Lord is not just.” But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.’

Jerusalem’s fall explained

²¹In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, ‘The city has fallen!’ ²²Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.

²³Then the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴‘Son of man, the people living in those ruins 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 as our possession.” ²⁵Therefore say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? ²⁶You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbour’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”

²⁷‘Say this to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: as surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague. ²⁸I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no-one will cross them. ²⁹Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.”

³⁰‘As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.” ³¹My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. ³²Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

³³‘When all this comes true – and it surely will – then they will know that a prophet has been among them.’

Chapter 34

The Lord will be Israel’s shepherd

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ³You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. ⁴You have not strengthened the weak or healed those who are ill or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. ⁵So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no-one searched or looked for them.

⁷‘ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

¹¹‘ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. ¹²As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

¹⁷‘ “As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. ¹⁸Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

²⁰‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: see, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, ²²I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵‘ “I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. ²⁷The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. ²⁸They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no-one will make them afraid. ²⁹I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³¹You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Chapter 35

A prophecy against Edom

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it ³and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. ⁴I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵‘ “Because you harboured an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, ⁶therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. ⁸I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines. ⁹I will make you desolate for ever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰‘ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours and we will take possession of them,’ even though I the Lord was there, ¹¹therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. ¹²Then you will know that I the Lord have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said, ‘They have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour.’ ¹³You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it. ¹⁴This is what the Sovereign Lord says: while the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. ¹⁵Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’

Chapter 36

Hope for the mountains of Israel

¹‘Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, “Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ²This is what the Sovereign Lord says: the enemy said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession.’ ” ³Therefore prophesy and say, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: because they ravaged and crushed you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, ⁴therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord: this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you – ⁵this is what the Sovereign Lord says: in my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pasture-land.” ⁶Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. ⁷Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.

⁸‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. ⁹I am concerned for you and will look on you with favour; you will be ploughed and sown, ¹⁰and I will cause many people to live on you – yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹²I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children.

¹³‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: because some say to you, ‘You devour people and deprive your nation of its children,’ ¹⁴therefore you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁵No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’

Israel’s restoration assured

¹⁶Again the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷‘Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. ¹⁸So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. ²⁰And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, “These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.” ²¹I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

²²‘Therefore say to the Israelites, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: it is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. ²³I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

²⁴‘ “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the corn and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ³¹Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. ³²I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!

³³‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: on the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. ³⁵They will say, ‘This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”

³⁷‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, ³⁸as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Chapter 37

The valley of dry bones

¹The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me to and fro among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’

I said, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’

⁴Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” ’

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.” ’ ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.

¹¹Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” ¹²Therefore prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” ’

One nation under one king

¹⁵The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶‘Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, “Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.” Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, “Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.” ¹⁷Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

¹⁸‘When your people ask you, “Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?” ¹⁹say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph – which is in Ephraim’s hand – and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.” ²⁰Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on ²¹and say to them, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. ²²I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offences, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴‘ “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. ²⁵They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there for ever, and David my servant will be their prince for ever. ²⁶I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them for ever. ²⁷My dwelling-place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them for ever.” ’

Chapter 38

The Lord’s great victory over the nations

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²‘Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him ³and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. ⁴I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army – your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. ⁵Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, ⁶also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops – the many nations with you.

⁷‘ “Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. ⁸After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. ⁹You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

¹⁰‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: on that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. ¹¹You will say, ‘I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. ¹²I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the centre of the land.’ ¹³Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?’ ”

¹⁴‘Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: in that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? ¹⁵You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. ¹⁶You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

¹⁷‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: you are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. ¹⁸This is what will happen in that day: when Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁹In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. ²²I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulphur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. ²³And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Chapter 39

¹‘Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. ²I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. ³Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. ⁴On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. ⁵You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. ⁶I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷‘ “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel. ⁸It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day I have spoken of.

⁹‘ “Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up – the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. ¹⁰They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹¹‘ “On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travellers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.

¹²‘ “For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. ¹³All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁴People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground.

‘ “After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. ¹⁵As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, ¹⁶near a town called Hamonah. And so they will cleanse the land.”

¹⁷‘Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: “Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls – all of them fattened animals from Bashan. ¹⁹At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. ²⁰At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,” declares the Sovereign Lord.

²¹‘I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them. ²²From that day forward the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. ²³And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. ²⁴I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offences, and I hid my face from them.

²⁵‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. ²⁶They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed towards me when they lived in safety in their land with no-one to make them afraid. ²⁷When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. ²⁸Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. ²⁹I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 40

The temple area restored

¹In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city – on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. ²In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ³He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. ⁴The man said to me, ‘Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.’

The east gate to the outer court

⁵I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

⁶Then he went to the east gate. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. ⁷The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

⁸Then he measured the portico of the gateway; ⁹it was eight cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements. ¹¹Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.¹²In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. ¹³Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from one parapet opening to the opposite one. ¹⁴He measured along the faces of the projecting walls all around the inside of the gateway – sixty cubits. The measurement was up to the portico facing the courtyard.¹⁵The distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits.¹⁶The alcoves and the projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings all round, as was the portico; the openings all round faced inward. The faces of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.

The outer court

¹⁷Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all round the court; there were thirty rooms along the pavement. ¹⁸It abutted the sides of the gateways and was as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. ¹⁹Then he measured the distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.

The north gate

²⁰Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. ²¹Its alcoves – three on each side – its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²²Its openings, its portico and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. ²³There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.

The south gate

²⁴Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate. He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. ²⁵The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all round, like the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²⁶Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side. ²⁷The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits.

The gates to the inner court

²⁸Then he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. ²⁹Its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰(The porticoes of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.) ³¹Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.

³²Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. ³³Its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

³⁵Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, ³⁶as did its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico, and it had openings all round. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

The rooms for preparing sacrifices

³⁸A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings were washed. ³⁹In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings were slaughtered. ⁴⁰By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. ⁴¹So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other – eight tables in all – on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴²There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high. On them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³And double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were attached to the wall all round. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

The rooms for the priests

⁴⁴Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms, one at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the side of the south gate and facing north. ⁴⁵He said to me, ‘The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple, ⁴⁶and the room facing north is for the priests who guard the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.’

⁴⁷Then he measured the court: it was square – a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.

The new temple

⁴⁸He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits wide on either side. ⁴⁹The portico was twenty cubits wide, and twelve cubits from front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs, and there were pillars on each side of the jambs.

Chapter 41

¹Then the man brought me to the main hall and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits on each side.²The entrance was ten cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.

³Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide. ⁴And he measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall. He said to me, ‘This is the Most Holy Place.’

⁵Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room round the temple was four cubits wide. ⁶The side rooms were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all round the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. ⁷The side rooms all round the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upwards. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.

⁸I saw that the temple had a raised base all round it, forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six long cubits. ⁹The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open area between the side rooms of the temple ¹⁰and the priests’ rooms was twenty cubits wide all round the temple. ¹¹There were entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all round.

¹²The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side was seventy cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all round, and its length was ninety cubits.

¹³Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits long, and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred cubits long. ¹⁴The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front of the temple, was a hundred cubits.

¹⁵Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits.

The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing the court, ¹⁶as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows and galleries round the three of them – everything beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered. ¹⁷In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all round the inner and outer sanctuary ¹⁸were carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each cherub had two faces: ¹⁹the face of a human being towards the palm tree on one side and the face of a lion towards the palm tree on the other. They were carved all round the whole temple. ²⁰From the floor to the area above the entrance, cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.

²¹The main hall had a rectangular door-frame, and the one at the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. ²²There was a wooden altar three cubits high and two cubits square; its corners, its base and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, ‘This is the table that is before the Lord.’ ²³Both the main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors. ²⁴Each door had two leaves – two hinged leaves for each door. ²⁵And on the doors of the main hall were carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a wooden overhang on the front of the portico. ²⁶On the side walls of the portico were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the temple also had overhangs.

Chapter 42

The rooms for the priests

¹Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. ²The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide.³Both in the section twenty cubits from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. ⁴In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north. ⁵Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. ⁶The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. ⁷There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. ⁸While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. ⁹The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms ¹¹with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north ¹²were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.

¹³Then he said to me, ‘The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings – the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings – for the place is holy. ¹⁴Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.’

¹⁵When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around: ¹⁶he measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits.,¹⁷He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ¹⁸He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ¹⁹Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. ²⁰So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall round it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.

Chapter 43

God’s glory returns to the temple

¹Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, ²and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. ³The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell face down. ⁴The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. ⁵Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. ⁷He said: ‘Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites for ever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name – neither they nor their kings – by their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings at their death.⁸When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. ⁹Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them for ever.

¹⁰‘Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, ¹¹and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple – its arrangement, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

¹²‘This is the law of the temple: all the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.

The great altar restored

¹³‘These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits, that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a kerb of one span around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: ¹⁴from the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes round the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide. From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes round the altar it is four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide.¹⁵Above that, the altar hearth is four cubits high, and four horns project upwards from the hearth. ¹⁶The altar hearth is square, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide. ¹⁷The upper ledge also is square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide. All round the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a kerb of half a cubit. The steps of the altar face east.’

¹⁸Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: these will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing blood against the altar when it is built: ¹⁹you are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who come near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. ²⁰You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge and all round the rim, and so purify the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

²²‘On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. ²³When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. ²⁴You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

²⁵‘For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. ²⁶For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. ²⁷At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.’

Chapter 44

The priesthood restored

¹Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. ²The Lord said to me, ‘This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no-one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. ³The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.’

⁴Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell face down.

⁵The Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶Say to rebellious Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: enough of your detestable practices, people of Israel! ⁷In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant. ⁸Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary. ⁹This is what the Sovereign Lord says: no foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.

¹⁰‘ “The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin. ¹¹They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them. ¹²But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹³They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. ¹⁴And I will appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.

¹⁵‘ “But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok and who guarded my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and serve me as guards.

¹⁷‘ “When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woollen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. ¹⁸They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments round their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. ¹⁹When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their garments.

²⁰‘ “They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. ²¹No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²²They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests. ²³They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴‘ “In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed festivals, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.

²⁵‘ “A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. ²⁶After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days. ²⁷On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.

²⁸‘ “I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. ²⁹They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything in Israel devoted to the Lord will belong to them. ³⁰The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household. ³¹The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal, found dead or torn by wild animals.

Chapter 45

Israel fully restored

¹‘ “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide; the entire area will be holy. ²Of this, a section 500 cubits square is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits around it for open land. ³In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.

⁶‘ “You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.

⁷‘ “The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions. ⁸This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.

⁹‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: you have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁰You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah and an accurate bath.¹¹The ephah and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both. ¹²The shekel is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.

¹³‘ “This is the special gift you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley. ¹⁴The prescribed portion of olive oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath from each cor (which consists of ten baths or one homer, for ten baths are equivalent to a homer). ¹⁵Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶All the people of the land will be required to give this special offering to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths – at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites.

¹⁸‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: in the first month on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary. ¹⁹The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court. ²⁰You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.

²¹‘ “In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover, a festival lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast. ²²On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. ²³Every day during the seven days of the Festival he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord, and a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁴He is to provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin of olive oil for each ephah.

²⁵‘ “During the seven days of the Festival, which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.

Chapter 46

¹‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: the gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened. ²The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening. ³On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway. ⁴The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. ⁵The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin of olive oil for each ephah. ⁶On the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect. ⁷He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah. ⁸When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.

⁹‘ “When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out by the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out by the north gate. No-one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out by the opposite gate. ¹⁰The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out. ¹¹At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.

¹²‘ “When the prince provides a freewill offering to the Lord – whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings – the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

¹³‘ “Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular burnt offering.

¹⁶‘ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: if the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance. ¹⁷If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. ¹⁸The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.” ’

¹⁹Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north, which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. ²⁰He said to me, ‘This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating the people.’

²¹He then brought me to the outer court and led me round to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. ²²In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide; each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. ²³Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all round under the ledge. ²⁴He said to me, ‘These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.’

Chapter 47

The river from the temple

¹The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. ²He then brought me out through the north gate and led me round the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

³As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no-one could cross. ⁶He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. ⁸He said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. ⁹Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. ¹⁰Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds – like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. ¹²Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.’

The boundaries of the land

¹³This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘These are the boundaries of the land that you will divide among the twelve tribes of Israel as their inheritance, with two portions for Joseph. ¹⁴You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with uplifted hand to give it to your ancestors, this land will become your inheritance.

¹⁵‘This is to be the boundary of the land:

‘On the north side it will run from the Mediterranean Sea by the Hethlon road past Lebo Hamath to Zedad, ¹⁶Berothah and Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer Hattikon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷The boundary will extend from the sea to Hazar Enan, along the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern boundary.

¹⁸On the east side the boundary will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Dead Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.

¹⁹On the south side it will run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Wadi of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. This will be the southern boundary.

²⁰On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the western boundary.

²¹‘You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²²You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.

Chapter 48

The division of the land

¹‘These are the tribes, listed by name:

‘at the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion; it will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo Hamath; Hazar Enan and the northern border of Damascus next to Hamath will be part of its border from the east side to the west side.

²Asher will have one portion; it will border the territory of Dan from east to west.

³Naphtali will have one portion; it will border the territory of Asher from east to west.

⁴Manasseh will have one portion; it will border the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

⁵Ephraim will have one portion; it will border the territory of Manasseh from east to west.

⁶Reuben will have one portion; it will border the territory of Ephraim from east to west.

⁷Judah will have one portion; it will border the territory of Reuben from east to west.

⁸‘Bordering the territory of Judah from east to west will be the portion you are to present as a special gift. It will be 25,000 cubits wide, and its length from east to west will equal one of the tribal portions; the sanctuary will be in the centre of it.

⁹‘The special portion you are to offer to the Lord will be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. ¹⁰This will be the sacred portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the centre of it will be the sanctuary of the Lord. ¹¹This will be for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites, who were faithful in serving me and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. ¹²It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land, a most holy portion, bordering the territory of the Levites.

¹³‘Alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites will be allotted a portion of land 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. Its total length will be 25,000 cubits and its width 10,000 cubits. ¹⁴They must not sell or exchange any of it. This is the best of the land and must not pass into other hands, because it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵‘The remaining area, 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for the common use of the city, for houses and for pasture-land. The city will be in the centre of it ¹⁶and will have these measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500 cubits, the east side 4,500 cubits, and the west side 4,500 cubits. ¹⁷The pasture-land for the city will be 250 cubits on the north, 250 cubits on the south, 250 cubits on the east, and 250 cubits on the west. ¹⁸What remains of the area, bordering on the sacred portion and running the length of it, will be 10,000 cubits on the east side and 10,000 cubits on the west side. Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹The workers from the city who farm it will come from all the tribes of Israel. ²⁰The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits on each side. As a special gift you will set aside the sacred portion, along with the property of the city.

²¹‘What remains on both sides of the area formed by the sacred portion and the property of the city will belong to the prince. It will extend eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the sacred portion to the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. Both these areas running the length of the tribal portions will belong to the prince, and the sacred portion with the temple sanctuary will be in the centre of them. ²²So the property of the Levites and the property of the city will lie in the centre of the area that belongs to the prince. The area belonging to the prince will lie between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin.

²³‘As for the rest of the tribes:

‘Benjamin will have one portion; it will extend from the east side to the west side.

²⁴Simeon will have one portion; it will border the territory of Benjamin from east to west.

²⁵Issachar will have one portion; it will border the territory of Simeon from east to west.

²⁶Zebulun will have one portion; it will border the territory of Issachar from east to west.

²⁷Gad will have one portion; it will border the territory of Zebulun from east to west.

²⁸The southern boundary of Gad will run south from Tamar to the waters of Meribah Kadesh, then along the Wadi of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.

²⁹‘This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these will be their portions,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.

The gates of the new city

³⁰‘These will be the exits of the city:

‘beginning on the north side, which is 4,500 cubits long, ³¹the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi.

³²On the east side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan.

³³On the south side, which measures 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴On the west side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali.

³⁵‘The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits.

‘And the name of the city from that time on will be, “The Lord is there.” ’