Ezekiel

Chapter 1

Ezek. 1:1  In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar river, the heavens were opened, and I saw a divine vision. 

Ezek. 1:2  On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),

Ezek. 1:3  the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans bythe Chebar river, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

Ezek. 1:4  As I looked, behold, a high wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a radiance around it, and in the midst of the fire a gleaming metal.

Ezek. 1:5  And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness,

Ezek. 1:6  but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.

Ezek. 1:7 Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like polished bronze.

Ezek. 1:8  Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

Ezek. 1:9  their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.

Ezek. 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face; The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.

Ezek. 1:11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.

Ezek. 1:12 And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.

Ezek. 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. It moved back and forth among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

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

Ezek. 1:15 As I looked at the living creatures, behold, there was one wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for each of the four of them.

Ezek. 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkle of beryl. And all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanshipwere as if one wheel were within another.

Ezek. 1:17 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went.

Ezek. 1:18 And their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around.

Ezek. 1:19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up.

Ezek. 1:20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Ezek. 1:21  When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Ezek. 1:22  Now over the heads of the living creatures there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads.

Ezek. 1:23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; And each creature had two wings covering its body.

Ezek. 1:24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

Ezek. 1:25 And a voice came from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

Ezek. 1:26 Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.

Ezek. 1:27 Then I saw from the appearance of his waist and upward something like amber that looked like fire all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.

Ezek. 1:28 Like the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face. Then I heard the voice of one speaking.

Chapter 2

Ezek. 2:1  And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

Ezek. 2:2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

Ezek. 2:3  And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the sons of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day.

Ezek. 2:4  Now the descendants are impudent and stubborn. I 

I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord LORD.’ [Adonay Yahweh]

Ezek. 2:5  As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Ezek. 2:6 And as for you, son of man, you are not to fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; you are not to fear their words nor be dismayed at their faces, since they are a rebellious house.

Ezek. 2:7  But you shall speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

Ezek. 2:8  As for you, son of man, listen to what I say to you.

do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”

Ezek. 2:9  And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 

Ezek. 2:10 He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front and back; written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.

Chapter 3

Ezek. 3:1  Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 

Ezek. 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.

Ezek. 3:3  And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ezek. 3:4  And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.

Ezek. 3:5  For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a difficult language, but to the house of Israel—

Ezek. 3:6  not to many peoples of foreign speech and a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you!

Ezek. 3:7  But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel are hard a forehead and hard hearted.

Ezek. 3:8  Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

Ezek. 3:9  Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”

Ezek. 3:10 And he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.

Ezek. 3:11 And go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord LORD.’ [Adonay Yahweh] whether they listen or not.”

Ezek. 3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the LORD rose from its place,

Ezek. 3:13 and the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they brushed one another, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound.

Ezek. 3:14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.

Ezek. 3:15  And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar river, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.

Ezek. 3:16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 

Ezek. 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.

Ezek. 3:18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way so that he may live, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Ezek. 3:19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul [nephesh].

Ezek. 3:20 And, when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits injustice and I set a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require from your hand.

Ezek. 3:21 However, if you have warned the righteous person that the righteous is not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall certainly live because he took warning; and you have saved yourself.”

Ezek. 3:22 Now the hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.”

Ezek. 3:23 So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory that I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.

Ezek. 3:24 But the Spirit entered me and set me up on my feet; and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

Ezek. 3:25 And as for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you do not go out among them.

Ezek. 3:26 And, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be unable to speak and will not be a man who reproves them, since they are a rebellious house.

Ezek. 3:27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD [Adonay Yahweh]:’ He who hears will hear, he who refuses to listen will refuse to listen, for they are a rebellious house. 

Chapter 4

Ezek. 4:1  “Now you, son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it—Jerusalem.

Ezek. 4:2  And put siege works against it, and build a siege wall against it, and pile up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and place battering rams against it all around.

Ezek 4:3  And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and direct your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

Ezek. 4:4 “Then you lie on your left side, and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity.

Ezek. 4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days for you—390 days. So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

Ezek. 4:6 When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days —I have assigned one day for each year.

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

Ezek. 4:8 I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.

Ezek. 4:9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer, and put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.

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

Ezek. 4:11 The water you drink shall be a sixth of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time.

Ezek. 4:12 And you must eat the food as you would a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung.”

Ezek. 4:13 And the LORD said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their unclean bread among the nations where I will drive them.”

Ezek. 4:14 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD [Adonay Yahweh]! Behold, I have never defiled myself. For from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has any tainted meat ever entered my mouth!”

Ezek. 4:15 Then he said to me, “See, I will give to you cow’s dung instead of human dung over which you may prepare your bread.”

Ezek. 4:16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water by measure in horror,

Ezek. 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one with the other will be terrified and they will rot for their iniquity.

Chapter 5     

Ezek. 5:1  “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair.

Ezek. 5:2  A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

Ezek. 5:3 And you shall take from these a small number of hairs and bind them in the skirts of your robe.

Ezek. 5:4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

Ezek. 5:5  “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

Ezek. 5:6  but she has rebelled against my regulations by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.  

Ezek. 5:7  Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are more riotous than the nations that are all around you, and you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations, nor have you acted out the regulations of the nations around you,

Ezek. 5:8  therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

Ezek. 5:9  And I will do with you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. 

Ezek. 5:10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter all your survivors to all the winds. 

Ezek. 5:11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will cut you off. My eye will not pity, nor will I spare you. 

Ezek. 5:12 A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

Ezek. 5:13 “Then my anger will be spent and I will satisfy my wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in my zeal, when I have spent my wrath upon.

Ezek. 5:14 Moreover, I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by.

Ezek. 5:15 You shall be an object of reproach and taunting, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes. I am the LORD; I have spoken.

Ezek. 5:16 I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will prolong a famine on you and will break the bread supply. 

Ezek. 5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I Yahweh; I have spoken.”

Chapter 6 

Ezek. 6:1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

Ezek. 6:3 and say, Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

Ezek. 6:4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

Ezek. 6:5 And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars.

Ezek. 6:6 In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places be desolated so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols will be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out.

Ezek. 6:7 And the slain shall fall among you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 

Ezek. 6:8 “However, I will leave a remnant, in that you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries.

Ezek. 6:9 Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations to which they will be taken captive, how I have been broken by their adulterous hearts which turned away from me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations.

Ezek. 6:10 And they shall know that I am Yahweh. I have not said in vain that I would do this disaster to them.”

Ezek. 6:11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, “Ah, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Ezek. 6:12 He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is spared  shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them.

Ezek. 6:13 And you shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every leafy oak, wherever they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols.

Ezek. 6:14 And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness to Riblah in all their dwelling places. Then they will know that I am the Yahweh.

Chapter 7

Ezek. 7:1  Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 7:2  “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.

Ezek. 7:3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.

Ezek. 7:4  And my eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am Yahweh!

Ezek. 7:5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes.

Ezek. 7:6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 

Ezek. 7:7  The doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day is near. Tumult and not shouts of joy, on the mountains.

Ezek. 7:8 Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your abominations.

Ezek. 7:9 My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will bring your ways upon you and your abominations in your midst. Then you will know that I am the LORD, who strikes you. 

Ezek. 7:10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Doom has gone out; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded.

Ezek. 7:11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.

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

Ezek. 7:13 The seller will not return to the sale, while both are alive. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.

Ezek. 7:14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude.

Ezek. 7:15 The sword is outside the city and the plague and the famine are within. Who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour.

Ezek. 7:16 And their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity.

Ezek. 7:17 All hands are feeble, and all their knees will run with urine. 

Ezek. 7:18 They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.

Ezek. 7:19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, because it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

Ezek. 7:20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things with it. Therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them.

Ezek. 7:21 And I will hand it over to the foreigners as plunder, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it.

Ezek. 7:22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.

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

Ezek. 7:24 Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will also put an end to the pride of the strong ones, and their holy places will be profaned.

Ezek. 7:25 Terror is coming! They will seek peace, but find none.

Ezek. 7:26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They will seek a vision from a prophet; while the law from the priests disappears, and counsel from the elders.

Ezek. 7:27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”

Chapter 8

Ezek. 8:1  Now it came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell upon me there.

Ezek. 8:2  Then I looked, and behold, something like the appearance of a man; from his waist and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from his waist and upward like the appearance of a glow, like gleaming metal.

Ezek. 8:3  He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of hair on my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

Ezek. 8:4  And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

Ezek. 8:5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy.

Ezek. 8:6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

Ezek. 8:7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall.

Ezek. 8:8  Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance.

Ezek. 8:9  And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.”

Ezek. 8:10 So I went in and looked and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable images, and all the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around.

Ezek. 8:11 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up.

Ezek. 8:12 Then he said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in his room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Ezek. 8:13 He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

Ezek. 8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

Ezek. 8:15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”

Ezek. 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east.

Ezek. 8:17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it too trivial a thing for the house of Judah to committhe abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? 

Yet behold, they are putting the branch to their nose!

Ezek. 8:18 Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Chapter 9

Ezek. 9:1  Then he shouted in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.”

Ezek. 9:2  And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Ezek. 9:3  Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the temple. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.

Ezek. 9:4  And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who moan and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

Ezek. 9:5  And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.

Ezek. 9:6  Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.

Ezek. 9:7  He also said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck and killed the people in the city.

Ezek. 9:8  And as they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out, saying, “Oh, Lord Yahweh! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel by pouring out your wrath on Jerusalem?”

Ezek. 9:9  Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’

Ezek. 9:10 As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”

Ezek. 9:11 And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

Chapter 10 

Ezek. 10:1 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne.

Ezek. 10:2  And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in before my eyes.

Ezek. 10:3  The cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.

Ezek. 10:4  Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Ezek. 10:5  And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

Ezek. 10:6  And it came about when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he entered and stood beside a wheel.

Ezek. 10:7  Then the cherub reached out with his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some coals and put them into the hands of the one clothed in linen; and he took them and went out.

Ezek. 10:8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.

Ezek. 10:9  Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone.

Ezek. 10:10  And as for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel.

Ezek. 10:11 When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.

Ezek. 10:12 And their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were covered with eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.

Ezek. 10:13 The wheels were called, as I heard, the whirling wheels.

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

Ezek. 10:15 Then the cherubim rose up. These are the living creatures that I saw by the river Chebar.

Ezek. 10:16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would move beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels themselves would not turn from beside them.

Ezek. 10:17 When they, the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

Ezek. 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

Ezek. 10:19 When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the ground in my sight with the wheels beside them; They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD’s temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

Ezek. 10:20 These are the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.

Ezek. 10:21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands.

Ezek. 10:22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.

Chapter 11

Ezek. 11:1 Now the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

Ezek. 11:2  Then he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and give evil advice in this city,

Ezek. 11:3  who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses.

This city is the cooking pot and we are the meat.’

Ezek. 11:4  Therefore, prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”

Ezek. 11:5  Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, This is what the LORD says: This is how you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts.

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

Ezek. 11:7  Therefore, this is what the LORD Yahweh says: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but I will bring you out of the midst.

Ezek. 11:8  You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you, the LORD Yahweh declares.

Ezek. 11:9  And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and

give you into the hand of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you.

Ezek. 11:10 You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Ezek. 11:11 This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel.

Ezek. 11:12 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not obeyed but you have acted in accordance with the rules of the nations around you.”

Ezek. 11:13 Now it came about, as I prophesied, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”

Ezek. 11:14 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 11:15 “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, men of your redemption, your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

Ezek. 11:16 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’

Ezek. 11:17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”

Ezek. 11:18 When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.

Ezek. 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

Ezek. 11:20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my regulations and do them. Then they will be my people, and I shall be their God.

Ezek. 11:21 But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I willbring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezek. 11:22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.

Ezek. 11:23 The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.

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

Ezek. 11:25 And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

Chapter 12

Ezek. 12:1  The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 12:2  “Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Ezek. 12:3 So as for you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; that is, go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.

Ezek. 12:4  You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight as baggage for exile. Then you shall go out at evening in their sight, as those who are going into exile.

Ezek. 12:5  In their sight dig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it.

Ezek. 12:6 Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the ground, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” 

Ezek. 12:7  Thus I did so, just as I had been commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile. Then in the evening I dug myself through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

Ezek. 12:8  And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 12:9  “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

Ezek. 12:10 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: This burden concerns to the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’

Ezek. 12:11 Say, I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’

Ezek. 12:12 And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder in the dark, and shall go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bringit out through it. He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes.

Ezek. 12:13 And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.

Ezek. 12:14 And I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword after them.

Ezek. 12:15 So they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.

Ezek. 12:16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine, and plague so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am Yahweh.

Ezek. 12:17 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

Ezek. 12:19 And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in horror, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it.

Ezek. 12:20 And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.”

12:21 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel, saying, The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’?

12:23 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.

12:24 For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

12:25 For I the LORD will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, you rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezek. 12:26 Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 12:27 “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’

Ezek. 12:28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: None of my words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,” declares the Lord Yahweh.

Chapter 13

Ezek. 13:1  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 13:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’

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

Ezek. 13:4  Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel.

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

Ezek. 13:6  They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Yahweh declares,’ when the LORD has not sent them, yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!

Ezek.13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Yahweh declares,’ yet I have not spoken?”

Ezek. 13:8  Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have spoken false words and have seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord Yahweh.

Ezek. 13:9  My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

Ezek. 13:10 It is definitely because they have misled my people by saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they smear it over with whitewash;

Ezek. 13:11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind break out.

Ezek. 13:12 Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’

Ezek. 13:13 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh: “I will make a violent wind break out in my wrath. There will also be in my anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath.

Ezek. 13:14 So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and hurl it down to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you will perish in its midst. And you will know that I am Yahweh.

Ezek. 13:15 So I will expend my wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and those who plastered it,

Ezek. 13:16 the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see a vision of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord Yahweh.

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

Ezek. 13:18 and say, ‘Thus say the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to capture 

people’s lives! Will you capture the lives of my people, but preserveyour own lives?

Ezek. 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people who should not die, and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!

Ezek. 13:20 “Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you capture lives there like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will release those lives, whom you capture like birds.

Ezek. 13:21 And I will also tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands as prey; and you will know that I am Yahweh.

Ezek. 13:22  Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not grieve him, but you have encouraged the hands of the wicked not to turn from his wicked way to keep him alive.

Ezek. 13:23 Therefore you will no longer see deceitful visions or practice divination, and I will deliver my people from your hands. So you will know that I am Yahweh.”

Chapter 14

Ezek. 14:1  Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

Ezek. 14:2 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 14:3  “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek me?

Ezek. 14:4  Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Any one of the house of Israel who erects his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols,

Ezek. 14:5  in order to take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from me on account of all their idols.”’

Ezek. 14:6  “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord (Adonay) Yahweh: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Ezek. 14:7 For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, and erects his idols in his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and then comes to the prophet to request something of me for himself, I Yahweh will answer him myself.

Ezek. 14:8  I will set my face against that person and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Ezek. 14:9  And if the prophet is deceived into speaking a prophetic word—I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

Ezek. 14:10 And they will bear the punishment for their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer so the iniquity of the prophet will be,

Ezek. 14:11 in order that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me and no longer defile themselves with all their offenses. So they will be my people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezek. 14:12 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 14:13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and destroy its supply of bread and send famine against it, and cut off from it man and beast,

Ezek. 14:14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord Yahweh.

Ezek. 14:15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave it of children and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts,

Ezek. 14:16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

Ezek. 14:17 “Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast,

Ezek. 14:18 though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

Ezek. 14:19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast,

Ezek. 14:20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.

Ezek. 14:21 “For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

Ezek. 14:22 Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.

Ezek. 14:23 Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done without reason everything I did to it,” declares the Lord Yahweh.

Chapter 15

Ezek. 15:1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 15:2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Ezek. 15:3  Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang a vessel on?

Ezek. 15:4  Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything?

Ezek. 15:5  Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!

Ezek. 15:6  Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh. Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Ezek. 15:7  And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

Ezek. 15:8  And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithful, declares the Lord Yahweh.”   

Chapter 16 

Ezek. 16:1  Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Ezek. 16:2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations,

Ezek. 16:3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Ezek. 16:4  And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

Ezek. 16:5  No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out into the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

Ezek. 16:6  “And when I passed by you and saw you kicking around in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

Ezek. 16:7  I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at the age of puberty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.

Ezek. 16:8  “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.

Ezek. 16:9  Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and anointed you with oil.

Ezek. 16:10  I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and I put sandals of fine leather on your feet. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

Ezek. 16:11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace on your neck.

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

Ezek. 16:13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty.

Ezek. 16:14 Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezek. 16:15 “But you trusted in your beauty and became a prostitute because of your fame and poured out your sexual favors on every passerby; it [your beauty] became his.

Ezek. 16:16 You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen.

Ezek. 16:17  You also took your beautiful jewels made of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution with them.

Ezek. 16:18 And you took your embroidered clothing to cover them, and offered my oil and my incense before them.

Ezek. 16:19 Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord (Adonay) Yahweh.

Ezek. 16:20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitutions so small a matter–

Ezek. 16:21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?

Ezek. 16:22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

Ezek. 16:23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord Yahweh),

Ezek. 16:24  you built yourself a chamber  and put up a pavilion in every public square.

Ezek. 16:25 At the head of every street you erected your pavilion, and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity.

Ezek. 16:26 You also committed prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your promiscuity to provoke me to anger.

Ezek. 16:27 So behold, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut back your portion and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior.

Ezek. 16:28 Moreover, you committed prostitution with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you committed prostitution with them and still were not satisfied.

Ezek. 16:29 You also multiplied your promiscuity with the land of merchants, Chaldea; yet even with this you were not satisfied.

Ezek. 16:30 “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord Yahweh, because you did all these things, the deeds of a bold prostitute,

Ezek. 16:31 when you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment.

Ezek. 16:32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!

Ezek. 16:33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you give your gifts to all your lovers bribing them to come to you from every side with your promiscuity.

Ezek. 16:34 So it is the opposite for you from those women in your prostitution. No one solicited you in your prostitution, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; so you are the opposite.”

Ezek. 16:35  Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD.

Ezek. 16:36 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children you have given to them,

Ezek. 16:37 therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

Ezek. 16:38 And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

Ezek. 16:39 I will give you into their hands, and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare.

Ezek. 16:40 They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

Ezek. 16:41 And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. Then I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay your lovers.

Ezek. 16:42 So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.

Ezek. 16:43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord Yahweh. Have you not committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

Ezek. 16:44 “Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you, saying, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

Ezek. 16:45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

Ezek. 16:46 Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters.

Ezek. 16:47 Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Ezek. 16:48 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done.

Ezek. 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Ezek. 16:50 So they were haughty and committed abominations before me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Ezek. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed.

Ezek. 16:52 Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

Ezek. 16:53 ‘‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them),

Ezek. 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, when you become a consolation to them.

Ezek. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state.

Ezek. 16:56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,

Ezek. 16:57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Aram and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you.

Ezek. 16:58 You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.

Ezek. 16:59 “For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,

Ezek. 16:60 but I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.

Ezek. 16:61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.

Ezek. 16:62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh,

Ezek. 16:63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord Yahweh.”

Chapter 17

Ezek. 17:1  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 17:2  “Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Ezek. 17:3  say, Thus says the Lord [adonday] Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings, long pinions, full in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.

Ezek. 17:4  He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders.

Ezek. 17:5  Then he took the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil, a meadow beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow. 

Ezek. 17:6 Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced shoots and sent out branches.

Ezek. 17:7  But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine turned its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, so that he might water it.

Ezek. 17:8  It had been planted in good soil beside abundant waters, so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.

Ezek. 17:9  “Say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? And it will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots.

Ezek. 17:10 Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?”

Ezek. 17:11 Then the word of the LORD came to me:

Ezek. 17:12 “Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these things mean? Say, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and leaders, and brought them to him in Babylon.

Ezek. 17:13 Then he took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the noble of the land,

Ezek. 17:14 so that the kingdom would be humbled, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant so that it might stand.

Ezek. 17:15 But he revolted against him by sending his messengers to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. 

Will he succeed? Will he who does these things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?

Ezek. 17:16 “As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall certainly die.

Ezek. 17:17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when siege ramps are erected and siege walls are built to kill many people.

Ezek. 17:18 He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape.

Ezek. 17:19 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahweh says: As I live, my oath which he despised and my covenant which he broke, I will certainly return it on his head.

Ezek. 17:20 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the treachery which he has committed against me.

Ezek. 17:21 And all the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I am Yahweh; I have spoken.”

Ezek. 17:22 Thus says the Lord GOD [Yahweh]: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

Ezek. 17:23 On the high mountain of  Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches.

Ezek. 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I am Yahweh; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.

Chapter 18

Ezek. 18:1  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 18:2  “What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,  ‘The fathers eat sour grapes,  And the children’s teeth become blunt?

Ezek. 18:3  As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.

Ezek. 18:4  Behold, all lives are mine; the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die.

Ezek. 18:5  “But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,

Ezek. 18:6  if he does not eat at the mountain shrines or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period—

Ezek. 18:7  and if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

Ezek. 18:8  does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 

Ezek. 18:9   walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares Yahweh.

Ezek. 18:10 “However he may father a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things

Ezek. 18:11 (though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife,

Ezek. 18:12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but raises his eyes to the idols and commits abomination,

Ezek. 18:13 lends at interest, and takes interest; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

Ezek. 18:14 “Now behold, suppose he has fathered a son who saw all his father’s sins which he committed, but he has seen them and does not do likewise;

Ezek. 18:15 he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife,

Ezek. 18:16 nor oppressed anyone, nor retained a pledge, nor committed robbery; he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,

Ezek. 18:17 withholds his hand from wrongdoing to the poor, takes no interest or profit, obeys my ordinances, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live.

Ezek. 18:18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

Ezek. 18:19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousnessand has kept all my statutes and done them, he shall surely live.

Ezek. 18:20 The person who sins, he shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

Ezek. 18:21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die

Ezek. 18:22 All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has done, he will live.

Ezek. 18:23 “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord [Adonay] Yahweh, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

Ezek. 18:24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does according to all the abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

Ezek. 18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

Ezek. 18:26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die.

Ezek. 18:27 But when a wicked person turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

Ezek. 18:28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Ezek. 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just. ’Are my ways not just, house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not just?

Ezek. 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord Yahweh. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that wrongdoing does not become a stumbling block to you.

Ezek. 18:31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, house of Israel?

Ezek. 18:32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord GOD. Therefore, repent and live!”

Chapter 19

Ezek. 19:1  And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Ezek. 19:2  and say, 

What was your mother? A lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

Ezek. 19:3  And she brought up one of her cubs;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

Ezek. 19:4  The nations heard about him;

he was caught in their pit,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

Ezek. 19:5  When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

she took another of her cubs

nd made him a young lion.

Ezek. 19:6  He walked among the lions;

he became a young lion,

    and he learned to tear prey;

   he devoured men,

Ezek. 19:7  and consorted with his widows.

He laid waste their cities,

  and the land was appalled 

and all who were in it

  at the sound of his roaring.

Ezek. 19:8  Then the nations set against him

from provinces on every side;

    they spread their net over him;

he was taken in their pit.

Ezek. 19:9 They put him in a 

      wooden collar with hooks 

  and brought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him in hunting nets,

    that his voice should no more be heard

on the mountains of Israel.

Ezek. 19:10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, 

  planted by the water,

      fruitful and full of branches

  because of abundant water.

Ezek. 19:11  Its strong stems became

  rulers’ scepters;

it towered aloft

  among the thick boughs;

it was seen in its height

  with the mass of its branches.

Ezek. 19:12 But it was uprooted in fury;

  It was cast down to the ground;

    The east wind dried up its fruit; 

  its strong branches broke off and withered— 

    a fire consumed them.

Ezek. 19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

Ezek. 19:14 And fire has gone out from its stem; 

It has consumed its shoots and fruit, 

    So that there is no strong stem in it, 

      nor a scepter for rule.

    This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Chapter 20

Ezek. 20:1  Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and they sat before me.

Ezek. 20:2 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Ezek. 20:3  “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.

Ezek. 20:4  Will you judge them, will you judge, son of man?

Let them know the abominations of their fathers,

Ezek. 20:5  and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God.

Ezek. 20:6  On that day, I swore to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.

Ezek. 20:7  And I said to them, ‘Throw away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.’

Ezek. 20:8  But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me; they did not throw away, each of them, the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Ezek. 20:9  But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Ezek. 20:10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

Ezek. 20:11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, then he will live by them.

Ezek. 20:12  Also I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Ezek. 20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths. “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them.

Ezek. 20:14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose eyes I had brought them out.

Ezek. 20:15 Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,

Ezek. 20:16 because they rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they did not walk in them; and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart followed their idols.

Ezek. 20:17 Yet, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

Ezek. 20:18 “And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Ezek. 20:19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules,

Ezek. 20:20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

Ezek. 20:21 But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths. “Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.

Ezek. 20:22 But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezek. 20:23 Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the lands,

Ezek. 20:24 because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.

Ezek. 20:25 I also gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life,

Ezek. 20:26  and I defiled them because of their sacrifices in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might devastate them in order that they might know that I am the LORD.

Ezek. 20:27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me.

Ezek. 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings.

Ezek. 20:29 Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.

Ezek. 20:30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go and engage in prostitution with detestable idols?

Ezek. 20:31 When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.

Ezek. 20:32 What comes into your mind shall never happen when you say ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’

Ezek. 20:33 “As I live, declares Adonay Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I shall be king over you.

Ezek. 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.

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

Ezek. 20:36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Adonay Yahweh.

Ezek. 20:37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

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

Ezek. 20:39 “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says Adonay Yahweh: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

Ezek. 20:40 For on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Lord Yahweh, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things.

Ezek. 20:41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will be prove myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.

Ezek. 20:42 And you will know that I am Yahweh, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers.

Ezek. 20:43 There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done.

Ezek. 20:44 And you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord Yahweh.”

Ezek. 20:45 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Ezek. 20:46 “Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev,

Ezek. 20:47 and say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh: thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface of the ground from south to north will be scorched by it.

Ezek. 20:48 All flesh shall see that I Yahweh have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”

Ezek. 20:49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’”

Chapter 21

Ezek. 21:1  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 21:2  “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem, and speak out against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;

Ezek. 21:3  and say to the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh,

Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you the righteous and wicked.

Ezek. 21:4  Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.

Ezek. 21:5  And all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.

Ezek. 21:6  “As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes.

Ezek. 21:7  And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming, every heart will melt and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will drip with water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord Yahweh. 

Ezek. 21:8  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying

Ezek. 21:9  “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:

“A sword, a sword is sharpened

and also polished,

Ezek. 21:10 sharpened to make a slaughter

polished to flash like lightning!

Or shall we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No!  It [the sword] despises every tree.

Ezek. 21:11 He gave it to be polished, 

          to be grasped in the hand—

the sword is sharpened, 

it is polished— 

giving it into the hand of the executioner.

Ezek. 21:12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.

Ezek. 21:13 For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more?” declares the Lord Yahweh. 

Ezek. 21:14 “And you, son of man, prophesy, 

and clap your hands together. 

Let the sword strike twice, even three times! 

It is a sword for slaughter, 

a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them,

Ezek. 21:15 so hearts melt and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the sword for slaughter. Oh! It is made for striking like lightning, it is taken up for slaughter.

Ezek. 21:16 Cut sharply on the right! Set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.

Ezek. 21:17 I will also clap my hands, and I will satisfy my wrath; I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

Ezek. 21:18 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezek. 21:19 “Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

Ezek. 21:20 You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

Ezek. 21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim, he looks at the liver.

Ezek. 21:22 Into his right hand comes the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ —to set up battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to pile up assault ramps, to build a siege wall.

Ezek. 21:23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be seized.

Ezek. 21:24 “Therefore, thus says Adonay Yahweh: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be seized by hand.

Ezek. 21:25 And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment,

Ezek. 21:26 Thus says Adonay Yahweh: Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low, bring low the exalted!

Ezek. 21:27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, to whom is the right, and I will give it to him.

Ezek. 21:28 “And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Adonay Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and their taunting,’ and say: A sword, a sword is drawn, sharpened for the slaughter polished to consume, to flash like lightning—

Ezek. 21:29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.

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

Ezek. 21:31 And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, skilled in destruction.

Ezek. 21:32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall no longer be remembered, for I Yahweh have spoken.”

Chapter 22 

Ezek. 22:1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 

Ezek. 22:2  “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.

Ezek. 22:3  You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!

Ezek. 22:4  You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, and you have come to your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.

Ezek. 22:5  Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

Ezek. 22:6  “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood. 

Ezek. 22:7  Father and mother are treated with contempt among you; the sojourner suffers oppression among you; the orphan and the widow are wronged among you. 

Ezek. 22:8  You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.

Ezek. 22:9 Slanderous men have been among you to shed blood and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines; they commit lewdness among you. 

Ezek. 22:10 Among you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have violated her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity.

Ezek. 22:11 One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister, his father’s daughter.

Ezek. 22:12 Among you they have taken bribes to shed blood; 

you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord Yahweh.

Ezek. 22:13 “Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been among you.

Ezek. 22:14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh have spoken, and I will do it.

Ezek. 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will eliminate your uncleanness out of you.

Ezek. 22:16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.”

Ezek. 22:17 And the word of the Yahweh came to me, saying,

Ezek. 22:18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the smelting furnace; they are the dross of silver.

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

Ezek. 22:20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.

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

Ezek. 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am Yahweh; I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

Ezek. 22:23 And the word of Yahweh came to me: 

Ezek. 22:24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.

Ezek. 22:25 The conspiracy of her princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

Ezek. 22:26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Ezek. 22:27 Her officials in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

Ezek. 22:28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,’ when Yahweh has not spoken.

Ezek. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

Ezek. 22:30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

Ezek. 22:31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord Yahweh.”