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1 Ezekiel was a priest (the son of Buzi) who lived with the Jewish exiles beside the Chebar Canal in Babylon.

2 One day late in June, when I was thirty years old, the heavens were suddenly opened to me and I saw visions from God.

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4 I saw, in this vision, a great storm coming toward me from the north, driving before it a huge cloud glowing with fire, with a mass of fire inside that flashed continually; and in the fire there was something that shone like polished brass.

5 Then from the center of the cloud, four strange forms appeared that looked like men,

6 except that each had four faces and two pairs of wings!

7 Their legs were like those of men, but their feet were cloven like calves' feet, and shone like burnished brass.

8 And beneath each of their wings I could see human hands.

9 The four living beings were joined wing to wing, and they flew straight forward without turning.

10 Each had the face of a man in front, with a lion's face on the right side of his head, and the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back!

11 Each had two pairs of wings spreading out from the middle of his back. One pair stretched out to attach to the wings of the living beings on each side, and the other pair covered his body.

12 Wherever their spirit went they went, going straight forward without turning.

13 Going up and down among them were other forms that glowed like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and it was from these the lightning flashed.

14 The living beings darted to and fro, swift as lightning.

15 As I stared at all of this, I saw four wheels on the ground beneath them, one wheel belonging to each.

16 The wheels looked as if they were made of polished amber, and each wheel was constructed with a second wheel crosswise inside.

17 They could go in any of the four directions without having to face around.

18 The four wheels had rims and spokes, and the rims were filled with eyes around their edges.

19 When the four living beings flew forward, the wheels moved forward with them. When they flew upwards, the wheels went up too.

20 When the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped. For the spirit of the four living beings was in the wheels; so wherever their spirit went, the wheels and the living beings went there too.

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22 The sky spreading out above them looked as though it were made of crystal; it was inexpressibly beautiful.

23 The wings of each stretched straight out to touch the others' wings, and each had two wings covering his body.

24 And as they flew, their wings roared like waves against the shore, or like the voice of God, or like the shouting of a mighty army. When they stopped, they let down their wings.

25 And every time they stopped, there came a voice from the crystal sky above them.

26 For high in the sky above them was what looked like a throne made of beautiful blue sapphire stones, and upon it sat someone who appeared to be a Man.

27 From his waist up, he seemed to be all glowing bronze, dazzling like fire; and from his waist down he seemed to be entirely flame, and there was a glowing halo

28 like a rainbow all around him. That was the way the glory of the Lord appeared to me. And when I saw it, I fell face downward on the ground and heard the voice of someone speaking to me:

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1 And he said to me: "Stand up, son of dust, and I will talk to you."

2 And the Spirit entered into me as he spoke, and set me on my feet.

3 "Son of dust," he said, "I am sending you to the nation of Israel, to a nation rebelling against me. They and their fathers have kept on sinning against me until this very hour.

4 For they are a hardhearted, stiff-necked people. But I am sending you to give them my messages--the messages of the Lord God.

5 And whether they listen or not (for remember, they are rebels), they will at least know they have had a prophet among them.

6 "Son of dust, don't be afraid of them; don't be frightened even though their threats are sharp and barbed and sting like scorpions. Don't be dismayed by their dark scowls. For remember, they are rebels!

7 You must give them my messages whether they listen or not (but they won't, for they are utter rebels).

8 Listen, son of dust, to what I say to you. Don't you be a rebel too! Open your mouth and eat what I give you."

9 Then I looked and saw a hand holding out to me a scroll,

10 with writing on both sides. He unrolled it, and I saw that it was full of warnings and sorrows and pronouncements of doom.

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1 And he said to me: "Son of dust, eat what I am giving you--eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel."

2 So I took the scroll.

3 "Eat it all," he said. And when I ate it, it tasted sweet as honey.

4 Then he said: "Son of dust, I am sending you to the people of Israel with my messages.

5 I am not sending you to some far-off foreign land where you can't understand the language--

6 no, not to tribes with strange, difficult tongues. (If I did, they would listen!)

7 I am sending you to the people of Israel, and they won't listen to you any more than they listen to me! For the whole lot of them are hard, impudent, and stubborn.

8 But see, I have made you hard and stubborn too--as tough as they are.

9 I have made your forehead as hard as rock. So don't be afraid of them, or fear their sullen, angry looks, even though they are such rebels."

10 Then he added: "Son of dust, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first; listen to them carefully for yourself.

11 Then, afterward, go to your people in exile, and whether or not they will listen, tell them: 'This is what the Lord God says!' "

12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and the glory of the Lord began to move away, accompanied by the sound of a great earthquake.

13 It was the noise of the wings of the living beings as they touched against each other, and the sound of their wheels beside them.

14 The Spirit lifted me up, and took me away to Tel Abib, another colony of Jewish exiles beside the Chebar River. I went in bitterness and anger, but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. And I sat among them, overwhelmed, for seven days.

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16 At the end of the seven days, the Lord said to me:

17 "Son of dust, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel; whenever I send my people a warning, pass it on to them at once.

18 If you refuse to warn the wicked when I want you to tell them, "You are under the penalty of death; therefore repent and save your life," they will die in their sins, but I will punish you. I will demand your blood for theirs.

19 But if you warn them, and they keep on sinning and refuse to repent, they will die in their sins, but you are blameless--you have done all you could.

20 And if a good man becomes bad, and you refuse to warn him of the consequences, and the Lord destroys him, his previous good deeds won't help him--he shall die in his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his death and punish you.

21 But if you warn him and he repents, he shall live, and you have saved your own life too."

22 I was helpless in the hand of God, and when he said to me, "Go out into the valley and I will talk to you there"--

23 I arose and went, and oh, I saw the glory of the Lord there, just as in my first vision! And I fell to the ground on my face.

24 Then the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet. He talked to me and said: "Go, imprison yourself in your house,

25 and I will paralyze you so you can't leave;

26 and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you can't reprove them; for they are rebels.

27 But whenever I give you a message, then I will loosen your tongue and let you speak, and you shall say to them: 'The Lord God says.' Let anyone listen who wants to, and let anyone refuse who wants to, for they are rebels.

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1 "And now, son of dust, take a large brick and lay it before you and draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 Draw a picture of siege mounds being built against the city, put enemy camps around it and battering rams surrounding the walls.

3 And put an iron plate between you and the city, like a wall of iron. Demonstrate how an enemy army will capture Jerusalem! "There is special meaning in each detail of what I have told you to do. For it is a warning to the people of Israel.

4 "Now lie on your left side for 390 days, to show that Israel will be punished for 390 years by captivity and doom. Each day you lie there represents a year of punishment ahead for Israel.

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6 Afterwards, turn over and lie on your right side for forty days, to signify the years of Judah's punishment. Each day will represent one year.

7 "Meanwhile continue your demonstration of the siege of Jerusalem; lie there with your arm bared to signify great strength and power in the attack against her. This will prophesy her doom.

8 And I will paralyze you so that you can't turn over from one side to the other until you have completed all the days of your siege.

9 "During the first 390 days eat bread made of flour mixed from wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and spelt. Mix the various kinds of flour together in a jar.

10 You are to ration this out to yourself at the rate of eight ounces at a time, one meal a day.

11 And use one quart of water a day; don't use more than that.

12 Each day take flour from the barrel and prepare it as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire, using dried human dung as fuel, and eat it.

13 For the Lord declares, Israel shall eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I exile them!"

14 Then I said, "O Lord God, must I be defiled by using dung? For I have never been defiled before in all my life. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or that I found injured or dead; and I have never eaten any of the kinds of animals our law forbids."

15 Then the Lord said, "All right, you may use cow dung instead of human dung."

16 Then he told me, "Son of dust, bread will be tightly rationed in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. And the water will be portioned out in driblets, and the people will drink it with dismay.

17 I will cause the people to lack both bread and water; they will look at one another in frantic terror and waste away beneath their punishment.

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1 "Son of dust, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor to shave your head and beard; use balances to weigh the hair into three equal parts.

2 Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After your siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and slash at it with a knife. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will chase my people with the sword.

3 Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe;

4 then take a few hairs out and throw them into the fire, for a fire shall come from this remnant and destroy all Israel."

5 The Lord God says, "This illustrates what will happen to Jerusalem, for she has turned away from my laws and has been even more wicked than the nations surrounding her."

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8 Therefore the Lord God says, I, even I, am against you and will punish you publicly while all the nations watch.

9 Because of the terrible sins you have committed, I will punish you more terribly than I have ever done before or ever will again.

10 Fathers will eat their own sons, and sons will eat their fathers; and those who survive will be scattered into all the world.

11 "For I promise you: Because you have defiled my Temple with idols and evil sacrifices, therefore I will not spare you nor pity you at all.

12 One-third of you will die from famine and disease; one-third will be slaughtered by the enemy; and one-third I will scatter to the winds, sending the sword of the enemy chasing after you.

13 Then at last my anger will be appeased. And all Israel will know that what I threaten I do.

14 "So I will make a public example of you before all the surrounding nations and before everyone traveling past the ruins of your land.

15 You will become a laughingstock to the world and an awesome example to everyone, for all to see what happens when the Lord turns against an entire nation in furious rebuke. I, the Lord, have spoken it!

16 "I will shower you with deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more serious until every bit of bread is gone.

17 And not only famine will come, but wild animals will attack and kill you and your families; disease and war will stalk your land, and the sword of the enemy will slay you; I, the Lord, have spoken it!"

6

1 Again a message came from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, look over toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

3 Say to them, 'O mountains of Israel, hear the message of the Lord God against you and against the rivers and valleys. I, even I the Lord, will bring war upon you to destroy your idols.

4 All your cities will be smashed and burned, and the idol altars abandoned. Your gods will be shattered;

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7 the bones of their worshipers will lie scattered among the altars. Then at last you will know I am the Lord.

8 'But I will let a few of my people escape--to be scattered among the nations of the world.

9 Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me, for I will take away their adulterous hearts--their love of idols--and I will blind their lecherous eyes that long for other gods. Then at last they will loathe themselves for all this wickedness.

10 They will realize that I alone am God and that I wasn't fooling when I told them that all this would happen to them.' "

11 The Lord God says: "Raise your hands in horror and shake your head with deep remorse and say, 'Alas for all the evil we have done!' For you are going to perish from war and famine and disease.

12 Disease will strike down those in exile; war will destroy those in the land of Israel; and any who remain will die by famine and siege. So at last I will expend my fury on you.

13 When your slain lie scattered among your idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and great oak where they offered incense to their gods--you will realize that I alone am God.

14 I will crush you and make your cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to Riblah in the north. Then you will know I am the Lord.' "

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1 This further message came to me from God:

2 "Tell Israel, 'Wherever you look--east, west, north or south--your land is finished.

3 No hope remains, for I will loose my anger on you for your worshiping of idols.

4 I will turn my eyes away and show no pity; I will repay you in full, and you shall know I am the Lord.' "

5 The Lord God says: "With one blow after another I will finish you. The end has come; your final doom is waiting.

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7 O Israel, the day of your damnation dawns; the time has come; the day of trouble nears. It is a day of shouts of anguish, not shouts of joy!

8 Soon I will pour out my fury and let it finish its work of punishing you for all your evil deeds.

9 I will not spare nor pity you, and you will know that I, the Lord, am doing it.

10 The day of judgment has come; the morning dawns,

11 for your wickedness and pride have run their course and reached their climax--none of these rich and wicked men of pride shall live. All your boasting will die away, and no one will be left to bewail your fate.

12 "Yes, the time has come; the day draws near. There will be nothing to buy or sell, for the wrath of God is on the land.

13 And even if a merchant lives, his business will be gone, for God has spoken against all the people of Israel; all will be destroyed. Not one of those whose lives are filled with sin will recover.

14 "The trumpets shout to Israel's army, 'Mobilize!' but no one listens, for my wrath is on them all.

15 If you go outside the walls, there stands the enemy to kill you. If you stay inside, famine and disease will devour you.

16 Any who escape will be lonely as mourning doves hiding on the mountains, each weeping for his sins.

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

18 You shall clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and horror and shame shall cover you; you shall shave your heads in sorrow and remorse.

19 "Throw away your money! Toss it out like worthless rubbish, for it will have no value in that day of wrath. It will neither satisfy nor feed you, for your love of money is the reason for your sin.

20 I gave you gold to use in decorating the Temple, and you used it instead to make idols! Therefore, I will take it all away from you.

21 I will give it to foreigners and to wicked men as booty. They shall defile my Temple.

22 I will not look when they defile it, nor will I stop them. Like robbers, they will loot the treasures and leave the Temple in ruins.

23 "Prepare chains for my people, for the land is full of bloody crimes. Jerusalem is filled with violence, so I will enslave her people.

24 I will crush your pride by bringing to Jerusalem the worst of the nations to occupy your homes, break down your fortifications you are so proud of, and defile your Temple.

25 For the time has come for the cutting off of Israel. You will sue for peace, but you won't get it.

26 Calamity upon calamity will befall you; woe upon woe, disaster upon disaster! You will long for a prophet to guide you, but the priests and elders

27 and the kings and princes will stand helpless, weeping in despair. The people will tremble with fear, for I will do to them the evil they have done and give them all their just deserts. They shall learn that I am the Lord."

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1 Then, late in August of the sixth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, as I was talking with the elders of Judah in my home, the power of the Lord God fell upon me.

2 I saw what appeared to be a Man; from his waist down, he was made of fire; from his waist up, he was all amber-colored brightness.

3 He put out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. And the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and seemed to transport me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where the large idol was that had made the Lord so angry.

4 Suddenly the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.

5 He said to me, "Son of dust, look toward the north." So I looked and, sure enough, north of the altar gate in the entrance stood the idol.

6 And he said: "Son of dust, do you see what they are doing? Do you see what great sins the people of Israel are doing here, to push me from my Temple? But come, and I will show you greater sins than these!"

7 Then he brought me to the door of the Temple court, where I could see an opening in the wall.

8 "Now dig into the wall," he said. I did and uncovered a door to a hidden room.

9 "Go in," he said, "and see the wickedness going on in there!"

10 So I went in. The walls were covered with pictures of all kinds of snakes, lizards, and hideous creatures, besides all the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel.

11 Seventy elders of Israel were standing there along with Ja-azaniah (son of Shaphan) worshiping the pictures. Each of them held a censer of burning incense, so there was a thick cloud of smoke above their heads.

12 Then the Lord said to me: "Son of dust, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in their minds? For they say, 'The Lord doesn't see us; he has gone away!' "

13 Then he added, "Come, and I will show you greater sins than these!"

14 He brought me to the north gate of the Temple, and there sat women weeping for Tammuz, their god.

15 "Have you seen this?" he asked. "But I will show you greater evils than these!"

16 Then he brought me into the inner court of the Temple, and there at the door, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men standing with their backs to the Temple of the Lord, facing east, worshiping the sun!

17 "Have you seen this?" he asked. "Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these terrible sins, leading the whole nation into idolatry, thumbing their noses at me and arousing my fury against them?

18 Therefore, I will deal with them in fury. I will neither pity nor spare. And though they scream for mercy, I will not listen."

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1 Then he thundered, "Call those to whom I have given the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!"

2 Six men appeared at his call, coming from the upper north gate, each one with his sword. One of them wore linen clothing and carried a writer's case strapped to his side. They all went into the Temple and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 And the glory of the God of Israel rose from between the Guardian Angels where it had rested and stood above the entrance to the Temple. And the Lord called to the man with the writer's case

4 and said to him, "Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who weep and sigh because of all the sins they see around them."

5 Then I heard the Lord tell the other men: "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead isn't marked. Spare not nor pity them--

6 kill them all--old and young, girls, women and little children; but don't touch anyone with the mark. And begin right here at the Temple." And so they began by killing the seventy elders.

7 And he said, "Defile the Temple! Fill its courts with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" And they went out through the city and did as they were told.

8 While they were fulfilling their orders, I was alone. I fell to the ground on my face and cried out: "O Lord God! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?"

9 But he said to me, "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very great and all the land is full of murder and injustice, for they say, 'The Lord doesn't see it! He has gone away!'

10 And so I will not spare them nor have any pity on them, and I will fully repay them for all that they have done."

11 Just then the man in linen clothing, carrying the writer's case, reported back and said, "I have finished the work you gave me to do."

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1 Suddenly a throne of beautiful blue sapphire appeared in the sky above the heads of the Guardian Angels.

2 Then the Lord spoke to the man in linen clothing and said: "Go in between the whirling wheels beneath the Guardian Angels, and take a handful of glowing coals and scatter them over the city." He did so while I watched.

3 The Guardian Angels were standing at the south end of the Temple when the man went in. And the cloud of glory filled the inner court.

4 Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the Guardian Angels and went over to the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with the cloud of glory, and the court of the Temple was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.

5 And the sound of the wings of the Guardian Angels was as the voice of Almighty God when he speaks and could be heard clear out in the outer court.

6 When the Lord told the man in linen clothing to go between the Guardian Angels and take some burning coals from between the wheels, the man went in and stood beside one of the wheels,

7 and one of the Guardian Angels reached out his hand (for each of the mighty angels had, beneath his wings, what looked like human hands) and took some live coals from the flames between the Angels and put them into the hands of the man in linen clothes, who took them and went out.

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9 Each of the four Guardian Angels had a wheel beside him--"The Whirl-Wheels," as I heard them called, for each one had a second wheel crosswise within--sparkling like chrysolite, giving off a greenish-yellow glow.

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12 Because of the construction of these wheels, the Angels could go straight forward in each of four directions; they did not turn when they changed direction but could go in any of the four ways their faces looked.

13 Each of the four wheels was covered with eyes, including the rims and spokes.

14 Each of the four Guardian Angels had four faces--the first was that of an ox; the second, a man's; the third, a lion's; and the fourth, an eagle's.

15 These were the same beings I had seen beside the Chebar Canal, and when they rose into the air, the wheels rose with them and stayed beside them as they flew.

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17 When the Guardian Angels stood still, so did the wheels, for the spirit of the Guardian Angels was in the wheels.

18 Then the glory of the Lord moved from the door of the Temple and stood above the Guardian Angels.

19 And as I watched, the Guardian Angels flew with their wheels beside them to the east gate of the Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

20 These were the living beings I had seen beneath the God of Israel beside the Chebar Canal. I knew they were the same,

21 for each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings.

22 Their faces too were identical to the faces of those I had seen at the Canal, and they traveled straight ahead, just as the others did.

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1 Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me over to the east gate of the Temple, where I saw twenty-five of the most prominent men of the city, including two officers, Jaazaniah (son of Azzur) and Pelatiah (son of Benaiah).

2 Then the Spirit said to me, "Son of dust, these are the men who are responsible for all of the wicked counsel being given out in this city.

3 For they say to the people, 'It is time to rebuild Jerusalem, for our city is an iron shield and will protect us from all harm.'

4 Therefore, son of dust, prophesy against them loudly and clearly."

5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and told me to say: "The Lord says to the people of Israel: Is that what you are saying? Yes, I know it is, for I know everything you think--every thought that comes into your minds.

6 You have murdered endlessly and filled your streets with the dead."

7 Therefore the Lord God says: "You think this city is an iron shield? No, it isn't! It will not protect you. Your slain will lie within it, but you will be dragged out and slaughtered.

8 I will expose you to the war you have so greatly feared, says the Lord God,

9 and I will take you from Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners who will carry out my judgments against you.

10 You will be slaughtered all the way to the borders of Israel, and you will know I am the Lord.

11 No, this city will not be an iron shield for you, and you safe within. I will chase you even to the borders of Israel,

12 and you will know I am the Lord--you who have not obeyed me but rather have copied the nations all around you."

13 While I was still speaking and telling them this, Pelatiah (son of Benaiah) suddenly died. Then I fell to the ground on my face and cried out: "O Lord God, are you going to kill everyone in all Israel?"

14 Again a message came from the Lord:

15 "Son of dust, the remnant left in Jerusalem are saying about your brother exiles: 'It is because they were so wicked that the Lord has deported them. Now the Lord has given us their land!'

16 "But tell the exiles that the Lord God says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, yet I will be a sanctuary to you for the time that you are there,

17 and I will gather you back from the nations where you are scattered and give you the land of Israel again.

18 And when you return, you will remove every trace of all this idol worship.

19 I will give you one heart and a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God,

20 so that you can obey my laws and be my people, and I will be your God.

21 But as for those now in Jerusalem who long for idols, I will repay them fully for their sins," the Lord God says.

22 Then the Guardian Angels lifted their wings and rose into the air with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel stood above them.

23 Then the glory of the Lord rose from over the city and stood above the mountain on the east side.

24 Afterwards the Spirit of God carried me back again to Babylon, to the Jews in exile there. And so ended the vision of my visit to Jerusalem.

25 And I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.

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1 Again a message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust," he said, "you live among rebels who could know the truth if they wanted to, but they don't want to; they could hear me if they would listen, but they won't,

3 for they are rebels. So now put on a demonstration to show them what being exiled will be like. Pack whatever you can carry on your back and leave your home--go somewhere else. Go in the daylight so they can see, for perhaps even yet they will consider what this means, even though they are such rebels.

4 Bring your baggage outside your house during the daylight so they can watch. Then leave the house at night, just as captives do when they begin their long march to distant lands.

5 Dig a tunnel through the city wall while they are observing and carry your possessions out through the hole.

6 As they watch, lift your pack to your shoulders and walk away into the night; muffle your face and don't gaze around. All this is a sign to the people of Israel of the evil that will come upon Jerusalem."

7 So I did as I was told. I brought my pack outside in the daylight--all I could take into exile--and in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I went out into the darkness with my pack on my shoulder while the people looked on.

8 The next morning this message came to me from the Lord:

9 "Son of dust, these rebels, the people of Israel, have asked what all this means.

10 Tell them the Lord God says it is a message to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem and to all the people of Israel.

11 Explain that what you did was a demonstration of what is going to happen to them, for they shall be driven out of their homes and sent away into exile.

12 "Even King Zedekiah shall go out at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him, with muffled face, for he won't be able to see.

13 I will capture him in my net and bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; but he shall not see it, and he shall die there.

14 I will scatter his servants and guards to the four winds and send the sword after them.

15 And when I scatter them among the nations, then they shall know I am the Lord.

16 But I will spare a few of them from death by war and famine and disease. I will save them to confess to the nations how wicked they have been, and they shall know I am the Lord."

17 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

18 "Son of dust, tremble as you eat your meals; ration out your water as though it were your last,

19 and say to the people, the Lord God says that the people of Israel and Jerusalem shall ration their food with utmost care and sip their tiny portions of water in utter despair because of all their sins.

20 Your cities shall be destroyed and your farmlands deserted, and you shall know I am the Lord."

21 Again a message came to me from the Lord:

22 "Son of dust, what is that proverb they quote in Israel--'The days as they pass make liars out of every prophet.'

23 The Lord God says, I will put an end to this proverb and they will soon stop saying it. Give them this one instead: 'The time has come for all these prophecies to be fulfilled.'

24 "Then you will see what becomes of all the false predictions of safety and security for Jerusalem.

25 For I am the Lord! What I threaten always happens. There will be no more delays, O rebels of Israel! I will do it in your own lifetime!" says the Lord God.

26 Then this message came:

27 "Son of dust, the people of Israel say, 'His visions won't come true for a long, long time.'

28 Therefore say to them: 'The Lord God says, All delay has ended! I will do it now!' "

13

1 Then this message came to me:

2 "Son of dust, prophesy against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own visions and claiming to have messages from me when I have never told them anything at all. Woe upon them!

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4 "O Israel, these 'prophets' of yours are as useless as foxes for rebuilding your walls!

5 O evil prophets, what have you ever done to strengthen the walls of Israel against her enemies--by strengthening Israel in the Lord?

6 Instead you have lied when you said, 'My message is from God!' God did not send you. And yet you expect him to fulfill your prophecies.

7 Can you deny that you have claimed to see 'visions' you never saw, and that you have said, 'This message is from God,' when I never spoke to you at all?"

8 Therefore the Lord God says: "I will destroy you for these 'visions' and lies.

9 My hand shall be against you, and you shall be cut off from among the leaders of Israel; I will blot out your names, and you will never see your own country again. And you shall know I am the Lord.

10 For these evil men deceive my people by saying, 'God will send peace,' when that is not my plan at all! My people build a flimsy wall, and these prophets praise them for it--and cover it with whitewash!

11 "Tell these evil builders that their wall will fall. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down.

12 And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, 'Why didn't you tell us that it wasn't good enough? Why did you whitewash it and cover up its faults?'

13 Yes, it will surely fall." The Lord God says: "I will sweep it away with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of wrath.

14 I will break down your whitewashed wall; it will fall on you and crush you, and you shall know I am the Lord.

15 Then at last my wrath against the wall will be completed; and concerning those who praised it, I will say: The wall and its builders both are gone.

16 For they were lying prophets, claiming Jerusalem will have peace when there is no peace," says the Lord God.

17 "Son of dust, speak out against the women prophets too who pretend the Lord has given them his messages.

18 Tell them, "The Lord God says: Woe to these women who are damning the souls of my people, of both young and old alike, by tying magic charms on their wrists, furnishing them with magic veils, and selling them indulgences. They refuse to even offer help unless they get a profit from it.

19 For the sake of a few paltry handfuls of barley or a piece of bread will you turn away my people from me? You have led those to death who should not die! And you have promised life to those who should not live by lying to my people--and how they love it!' "

20 And so the Lord says: "I will crush you because you hunt my people's souls with all your magic charms. I will tear off the charms and set my people free like birds from cages.

21 I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from you; they will no longer be your victims, and you shall know I am the Lord.

22 Your lies have discouraged the righteous when I didn't want it so. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising life, though they continue in their sins.

23 But you will lie no more; no longer will you talk of seeing 'visions' that you never saw nor practice your magic, for I will deliver my people out of your hands by destroying you, and you shall know I am the Lord."

14

1 Then some of the elders of Israel visited me to ask me for a message from the Lord,

2 and this is the message that came to me to give to them:

3 "Son of dust, these men worship idols in their hearts--should I let them ask me anything?

4 Tell them, 'The Lord God says: I the Lord will personally deal with anyone in Israel who worships idols and then comes to ask my help.

5 For I will punish the minds and hearts of those who turn from me to idols.'

6 "Therefore, warn them that the Lord God says: 'Repent and destroy your idols, and stop worshiping them in your hearts.

7 I the Lord will personally punish everyone, whether people of Israel or the foreigners living among you, who rejects me for idols and then comes to a prophet to ask for my help and advice.

8 I will turn upon him and make a terrible example of him, destroying him; and you shall know I am the Lord.

9 And if one of the false prophets gives him a message anyway, it is a lie. His prophecy will not come true, and I will stand against that 'prophet' and destroy him from among my people Israel.

10 False prophets and hypocrites--evil people who say they want my words--all will be punished for their sins,

11 so that the people of Israel will learn not to desert me and not to be polluted any longer with sin. They will be my people and I their God.' So says the Lord."

12 Then this message of the Lord came to me:

13 "Son of dust, if the people of a land sin against me, then I will crush them with my fist, break off their food supply, and send famine to destroy both man and beast.

14 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they alone would be saved by their righteousness, and I would destroy the remainder of Israel," says the Lord God.

15 "If I send an invasion of dangerous wild animals into the land to devastate the land,

16 even if these three men were there, the Lord God swears that it would do no good--it would not save the people from their doom. Those three only would be saved, but the land would be devastated.

17 "Or if I bring war against that land and tell the armies of the enemy to come and destroy everything,

18 even if these three men were in the land, the Lord God declares that they alone would be saved.

19 "And if I pour out my fury by sending an epidemic of disease into the land, and the plague kills man and beast alike,

20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, the Lord God says that only they would be saved because of their righteousness."

21 And the Lord says: "Four great punishments await Jerusalem to destroy all life: war, famine, ferocious beasts, plague.

22 If there are survivors and they come here to join you as exiles in Babylon, you will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and you will know it was right for me to destroy Jerusalem.

23 You will agree, when you meet them, that it is not without cause that all these things are being done to Israel."

15

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, what good are vines from the forest? Are they as useful as trees? Are they even as valuable as a single branch?

3 No, for vines can't be used even for making pegs to hang up pots and pans!

4 All they are good for is fuel--and even so, they burn but poorly!

5 So they are useless both before and after being put in the fire!

6 "This is what I mean," the Lord God says: "The people of Jerusalem are like the vines of the forest--useless before being burned and certainly useless afterwards!

7 And I will set myself against them to see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another; and then you shall know I am the Lord.

8 And I will make the land desolate because they worship idols," says the Lord God.

16

1 Then again a message came to me from the Lord.

2 "Son of dust," he said, "speak to Jerusalem about her loathsome sins.

3 Tell her, 'The Lord God says: You are no better than the people of Canaan--your father must have been an Amorite and your mother a Hittite!

4 When you were born, no one cared for you. When I first saw you, your umbilical cord was uncut, and you had been neither washed nor rubbed with salt nor clothed.

5 No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On that day when you were born, you were dumped out into a field and left to die, unwanted.

6 'But I came by and saw you there, covered with your own blood, and I said, 'Live!

7 Thrive like a plant in the field!' And you did! You grew up and became tall, slender and supple, a jewel among jewels. And when you reached the age of maidenhood, your breasts were full-formed and your pubic hair had grown; yet you were naked.

8 'Later, when I passed by and saw you again, you were old enough for marriage; and I wrapped my cloak around you to legally declare my marriage vow. I signed a covenant with you, and you became mine.

9 Then, when the marriage had taken place, I gave you beautiful clothes of linens and silk, embroidered, and sandals made of dolphin hide.

10

11 I gave you lovely ornaments, bracelets, and beautiful necklaces,

12 a ring for your nose and two more for your ears, and a lovely tiara for your head.

13 And so you were made beautiful with gold and silver, and your clothes were silk and linen and beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were!

14 Your reputation was great among the nations for your beauty; it was perfect because of all the gifts I gave you,' " says the Lord God.

15 'But you thought you could get along without me--you trusted in your beauty instead; and you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was his for the asking.

16 You used the lovely things I gave you for making idol shrines and to decorate your bed of prostitution. Unbelievable! There has never been anything like it before!

17 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I gave to you and made statues of men and worshiped them, which is adultery against me.

18 You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you--to cover your idols! And used my oil and incense to worship them!

19 You set before them as a lovely sacrifice--imagine it--the fine flour and oil and honey I gave you!

20 And you took my sons and daughters you had borne to me and sacrificed them to your gods; and they are gone. Wasn't it enough that you should be a prostitute?

21 Must you also slay my children by sacrificing them to idols?

22 'And in all these years of adultery and sin you have not thought of those days long ago when you were naked and covered with blood.

23 'And then, in addition to all your other wickedness--woe, woe upon you, says the Lord God--

24 you built a spacious brothel for your lovers and idol altars on every street,

25 and there you offered your beauty to every man who came by, in an endless stream of prostitution.

26 And you added lustful Egypt to your prostitutions by your alliance with her. My anger is great.

27 'Therefore I have crushed you with my fist; I have reduced your boundaries and delivered you into the hands of those who hate you--the Philistines--and even they are ashamed of you.

28 'You have committed adultery with the Assyrians too by making them your allies and worshiping their gods; it seems that you can never find enough new gods. After your adultery there, you still weren't satisfied,

29 so you worshiped the gods of that great merchant land of Babylon--and you still weren't satisfied.

30 What a filthy heart you have, says the Lord God, to do such things as these; you are a brazen prostitute,

31 building your idol altars, your brothels, on every street. You have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even charged for your love!

32 Yes, you are an adulterous wife who lives with other men instead of her own husband.

33 Prostitutes charge for their services--men pay with many gifts. But not you, you give them gifts, bribing them to come to you!

34 So you are different from other prostitutes. But you had to pay them, for no one wanted you.

35 'O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord:

36 The Lord God says: Because I see your filthy sins, your adultery with your lovers--your worshiping of idols--and the slaying of your children as sacrifices to your gods,

37 this is what I am going to do: I will gather together all your allies--these lovers of yours you have sinned with, both those you loved and those you hated--and I will make you naked before them that they may see you.

38 I will punish you as a murderess is punished and as a woman breaking wedlock living with other men.

39 I will give you to your lovers--these many nations--to destroy, and they will knock down your brothels and idol altars. They will strip you, take your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and ashamed.

40 They will burn your homes, punishing you before the eyes of many women. And I will see to it that you stop your adulteries with other gods and end your payments to your allies for their love.

41

42 'Then at last my fury against you will die away; my jealousy against you will end, and I will be quiet and not be angry with you anymore.

43 But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by all these evil things you do, I will fully repay you for all of your sins,' " says the Lord. 'For you are thankless in addition to all your other faults.

44 ' "Like mother, like daughter"--that is what everyone will say of you.

45 For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and you do too. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly, your mother must have been a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46 'Your older sister is Samaria, living with her daughters north of you; your younger sister is Sodom and her daughters, in the south.

47 You have not merely sinned as they do--no, that was nothing to you; in a very short time you far surpassed them.

48 'As I live, the Lord God says, Sodom and her daughters have never been as wicked as you and your daughters.

49 Your sister Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and too much food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.

50 She insolently worshiped many idols as I watched. Therefore I crushed her.

51 'Even Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have worshiped idols far more than your sisters have; they seem almost righteous in comparison with you!

52 Don't be surprised then by the lighter punishment they get. For your sins are so awful that in comparison with you, your sisters seem innocent!

53 (But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria again, and those of Judah too.)

54 Your terrible punishment will be a consolation to them, for it will be greater than theirs.

55 'Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored again, and Judah, too, will prosper in that day.

56 In your proud days you held Sodom in unspeakable contempt.

57 But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned--by Edom and all her neighbors and by all the Philistines.

58 This is part of your punishment for all your sins,' " says the Lord.

59 For the Lord God says: "I will repay you for your broken promises. You lightly broke your solemn vows to me,

60 yet I will keep the pledge I made to you when you were young. I will establish an everlasting covenant with you forever,

61 and you will remember with shame all the evil you have done; and you will be overcome by my favor when I take your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, and make them your daughters, for you to rule over. You will know you don't deserve this gracious act, for you did not keep my covenant.

62 I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know I am the Lord.

63 Despite all you have done, I will be kind to you again; you will cover your mouth in silence and in shame when I forgive you all that you have done," says the Lord God.

17

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, give this riddle to the people of Israel:

3 "A great eagle with broad wings full of many-colored feathers came to Lebanon

4 and plucked off the shoot at the top of the tallest cedar tree and carried it into a city filled with merchants.

5 There he planted it in fertile ground beside a broad river, where it would grow as quickly as a willow tree.

6 It took root and grew and became a low but spreading vine that turned toward the eagle and produced strong branches and luxuriant leaves.

7 But when another great, broad-winged, full-feathered eagle came along, this tree sent its roots and branches out toward him instead,

8 even though it was already in good soil with plenty of water to become a splendid vine, producing leaves and fruit.

9 The Lord God asks: "Shall I let this tree grow and prosper? No! I will pull it out, roots and all! I will cut off its branches and let its leaves wither and die. It will pull out easily enough--it won't take a big crew or a lot of equipment to do that.

10 Though the vine began so well, will it thrive? No, it will wither away completely when the east wind touches it, dying in the same choice soil where it had grown so well."

11 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

12 "Ask these rebels of Israel: Don't you understand what this riddle of the eagles means? I will tell you. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon the first of the two eagles, came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes her topmost buds and shoots, and brought them to Babylon.

13 Nebuchadnezzar made a covenant with a member of the royal family Zedekiah, and made him take an oath of loyalty. He took a seedling and planted it in fertile ground beside a broad river. He also exiled the top men of Israel's government,

14 so that Israel would not be strong again and revolt. But by keeping her promises, Israel could be respected and maintain her identity.

15 "Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to seek for a great army and many horses to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. But will Israel prosper after breaking all her promises like that? Will she succeed?

16 No! For as I live," says the Lord, "the king of Israel shall die. (Nebuchadnezzar will pull out the tree, roots and all!) Zedekiah shall die in Babylon, where the king lives who gave him his power, and whose covenant he despised and broke.

17 Pharaoh and all his mighty army shall fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and slaughters many lives.

18 For the king of Israel broke his promise after swearing to obey; therefore he shall not escape."

19 The Lord God says: "As I live, surely I will punish him for despising the solemn oath he made in my name.

20 I will throw my net over him, and he shall be captured in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and deal with him there for this treason against me.

21 And all the best soldiers of Israel will be killed by the sword, and those remaining in the city will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken these words."

22 The Lord God says: "I will take a tender sprout from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel's highest mountain.

23 It shall become a noble cedar, bringing forth branches and bearing seed. Animals of every sort will gather under it; its branches will shelter every kind of bird.

24 And everyone shall know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts down the high trees and exalts the low, that I make the green tree wither and the dead tree grow. I, the Lord, have said that I would do it, and I will."

18

1 Then the Lord's message came to me again.

2 "Why do people use this proverb about the land of Israel: The children are punished for their fathers' sins?

3 As I live," says the Lord God, "you will not use this proverb any more in Israel,

4 for all souls are mine to judge--fathers and sons alike--and my rule is this: It is for a man's own sins that he will die.

5 "But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right,

6 and has not gone out to the mountains to feast before the idols of Israel and worship them, and does not commit adultery nor lie with any woman during the time of her menstruation;

7 if he is a merciful creditor, not holding onto the items given to him in pledge by poor debtors, and is no robber but gives food to the hungry and clothes to those in need;

8 and if he grants loans without interest, stays away from sin, is honest and fair when judging others,

9 and obeys my laws--that man is just," says the Lord, "and he shall surely live.

10 "But if that man has a son who is a robber or murderer and who fulfills none of his responsibilities,

11 who refuses to obey the laws of God but worships idols on the mountains and commits adultery,

12 oppresses the poor and helpless, robs his debtors by refusing to let them redeem what they have given him in pledge, loves idols and worships them,

13 and loans out his money at interest --shall that man live? No! He shall surely die, and it is his own fault.

14 "But if this sinful man has, in turn, a son who sees all his father's wickedness, so that he fears God and decides against that kind of life;

15 he doesn't go up on the mountains to feast before the idols and worship them and does not commit adultery;

16 he is fair to those who borrow from him and doesn't rob them, but feeds the hungry, clothes the needy,

17 helps the poor, does not loan money at interest, and obeys my laws--he shall not die because of his father's sins; he shall surely live.

18 But his father shall die for his own sins because he is cruel and robs and does wrong.

19 'What?' you ask. 'Doesn't the son pay for his father's sins?' No! For if the son does what is right and keeps my laws, he shall surely live.

20 The one who sins is the one who dies. The son shall not be punished for his father's sins, nor the father for his son's. The righteous person will be rewarded for his own goodness and the wicked person for his wickedness.

21 But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins and begins to obey my laws and do what is just and right, he shall surely live and not die.

22 All his past sins will be forgotten, and he shall live because of his goodness.

23 "Do you think I like to see the wicked die?" asks the Lord. "Of course not! I only want him to turn from his wicked ways and live.

24 However, if a righteous person turns to sinning and acts like any other sinner, should he be allowed to live? No, of course not. All his previous goodness will be forgotten and he shall die for his sins.

25 "Yet you say: 'The Lord isn't being fair!' Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one who is unfair, or is it you?

26 When a good man turns away from being good, begins sinning, and dies in his sins, he dies for the evil he has done.

27 And if a wicked person turns away from his wickedness and obeys the law and does right, he shall save his soul,

28 for he has thought it over and decided to turn from his sins and live a good life. He shall surely live--he shall not die.

29 "And yet the people of Israel keep saying: 'The Lord is unfair!' O people of Israel, it is you who are unfair, not I.

30 I will judge each of you, O Israel, and punish or reward each according to his own actions. Oh, turn from your sins while there is yet time.

31 Put them behind you and receive a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O Israel?

32 I do not enjoy seeing you die," the Lord God says. "Turn, turn and live!

19

1 "Sing this death dirge for the leaders of Israel:

2 What a woman your mother was--like a lioness! Her children were like lion's cubs!

3 One of her cubs King Jehoahaz grew into a strong young lion and learned to catch prey and became a man-eater.

4 Then the nations called out their hunters; they trapped him in a pit and brought him in chains to Egypt.

5 "When Israel, the mother lion, saw that all her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs King Jehoiachin and taught him to be 'king of the beasts.'

6 He became a leader among the lions and learned to catch prey, and he too became a man-eater.

7 He demolished the palaces of the surrounding nations and ruined their cities; their farms were desolated, their crops destroyed; everyone in the land shook with terror when they heard him roar.

8 Then the armies of the nations surrounded him, coming from every side, and trapped him in a pit and captured him.

9 They prodded him into a cage and brought him before the king of Babylon. He was held in captivity so that his voice could never again be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

10 "Your mother was like a vine beside an irrigation ditch, with lush, green foliage because of all the water.

11 Its strongest branch became a ruler's scepter, and it was very great, towering above the others and noticed from far away.

12 But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. Its branches were broken and withered by a strong wind from the east; the fruit was destroyed by fire.

13 Now the vine is planted in the wilderness where the ground is hard and dry.

14 It is decaying from within; no strong branch remains. The fulfillment of this sad prophecy has already begun, and there is more ahead."

20

1 Late in July, six years after King Jeconiah was captured, some of the elders of Israel came to ask instructions from the Lord and sat before me awaiting his reply.

2 Then the Lord gave me this message:

3 "Son of dust, say to the elders of Israel, 'The Lord God says: How dare you come to ask my help? I swear that I will tell you nothing.'

4 Judge them, son of dust; condemn them; tell them of all the sins of this nation from the times of their fathers until now.

5 Tell them, 'The Lord God says: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore to her and her descendants

6 that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them--a good land, flowing as it were with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.'

7 "Then I said to them: 'Get rid of every idol; do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the Lord your God.'

8 But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They didn't get rid of their idols nor forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and fulfill my anger against them while they are still in Egypt.

9 "But I didn't do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name, lest the Egyptians laugh at Israel's God who couldn't keep them back from harm.

10 So I brought my people out of Egypt right before the Egyptians' eyes and led them into the wilderness.

11 There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. If anyone keeps them, he will live.

12 And I gave them the Sabbath--a day of rest every seventh day--as a symbol between them and me, to remind them that it is I, the Lord, who sanctifies them--that they are truly my people.

13 "But Israel rebelled against me. There in the wilderness they refused my laws. They would not obey my rules even though obeying them means life. And they misused my Sabbaths. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and utterly consume them in the desert.

14 "But again I refrained in order to protect the honor of my name, lest the nations who saw me bring them out of Egypt would say that it was because I couldn't care for them that I destroyed them.

15 But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land full of milk and honey, the choicest spot on earth,

16 because they laughed at my laws, ignored my wishes, and violated my Sabbaths--their hearts were with their idols!

17 Nevertheless, I spared them. I didn't finish them off in the wilderness.

18 "Then I spoke to their children and said: 'Don't follow your fathers' footsteps. Don't defile yourselves with their idols,

19 for I am the Lord your God. Follow my laws; keep my ordinances;

20 hallow my Sabbaths; for they are a symbol of the contract between us to help you remember that I am the Lord your God.'

21 "But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused my laws--the laws that if a person keeps them, he will live. And they defiled my Sabbaths. So then I said: 'Now at last I will pour out my fury upon you in the wilderness.'

22 "Nevertheless, again I withdrew my judgment against them to protect my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.

23 But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness that I would scatter them, dispersing them to the ends of the earth

24 because they did not obey my laws but scorned them and violated my Sabbaths and longed for their fathers' idols.

25 I let them adopt customs and laws which were worthless. Through the keeping of them they could not attain life.

26 In the hope that they would draw back in horror and know that I alone am God, I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I gave them. They burnt their firstborn children as offerings to their gods!

27 "Son of dust, tell them that the Lord God says: 'Your fathers continued to blaspheme and betray me

28 when I brought them into the land I promised them, for they offered sacrifices and incense on every high hill and under every tree! They roused my fury as they offered up their sacrifices to those "gods." They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their drink offerings to them!

29 I said to them: "What is this place of sacrifice where you go?" And so it is still called 'The Place of Sacrifice'--that is how it got its name.

30 "The Lord God wants to know whether you are going to pollute yourselves just as your fathers did and keep on worshiping idols.

31 For when you offer gifts to them and give your little sons to be burned to ashes as you do even today, shall I listen to you or help you, Israel? As I live," the Lord God says, "I will not give you any message, though you have come to me to ask.

32 "What you have in mind will not be done--to be like the nations all around you, serving gods of wood and stone.

33 I will rule you with an iron fist and in great anger and with power.

34 With might and fury I will bring you out from the lands where you are scattered,

35 and will bring you into my desert judgment hall. I will judge you there and get rid of the rebels,

36 just as I did in the wilderness after I brought you out of Egypt.

37 I will count you carefully and let only a small quota return.

38 And the others--the rebels and all those who sin against me--I will purge from among you. They shall not enter Israel, but I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile. And when that happens, you will know I am the Lord.

39 "O Israel," the Lord God says: "If you insist on worshiping your idols, go right ahead, but then don't bring your gifts to me as well! Such desecration of my holy name must stop!

40 "For at Jerusalem in my holy mountain," says the Lord, "all Israel shall worship me. There I will accept you and require you to bring me your offerings and the finest of your gifts.

41 You will be to me as an offering of perfumed incense when I bring you back from exile, and the nations will see the great change in your hearts.

42 Then, when I have brought you home to the land I promised your fathers, you will know I am the Lord.

43 Then you will look back at all your sins and loathe yourselves because of the evil you have done.

44 And when I have honored my name by blessing you despite your wickedness, then, O Israel, you will know I am the Lord."

45 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

46 "Son of dust, look toward Jerusalem and speak out against it and the forest lands of the Negeb.

47 Prophesy to it and say: 'Hear the word of the Lord. I will set you on fire, O forest, and every tree will die, green and dry alike. The terrible flames will not be quenched, and they will scorch the world.

48 And all the world will see that I, the Lord, have set the fire. It shall not be put out.' "

49 Then I said, "O Lord God, they say of me, 'He only talks in riddles!' "

21

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against Israel and against my Temple!

3 For the Lord says: 'I am against you, Israel. I will unsheath my sword and destroy your people, good and bad alike--

4 I will not spare even the righteous. I will make a clean sweep throughout the land from the Negeb to your northern borders.

5 All the world shall know that it is I, the Lord. His sword is in his hand, and it will not return to its sheath again until its work is finished.'

6 "Sigh and groan before the people, son of dust, in your bitter anguish; sigh with grief and broken heart.

7 When they ask you why, tell them: 'Because of the fearsome news that God has given me. When it comes true, the boldest heart will melt with fear; all strength will disappear. Every spirit will faint; strong knees will tremble and become as weak as water.' And the Lord God says: 'Your doom is on the way; my judgments will be fulfilled!' "

8 Then again this message came to me from God:

9 "Son of dust, tell them this: 'A sword is being sharpened and polished

10 for terrible slaughter. Now will you laugh? For those far stronger than you have perished beneath its power. It is ready now to hand to the executioner.'

11

12 Son of dust, with sobbing, beat upon your thigh, for that sword shall slay my people and all their leaders. All alike shall die.

13 It will put them all to the test--and what chance do they have?" the Lord God asks.

14 "Prophesy to them in this way: Clap your hands vigorously, then take a sword and brandish it twice, thrice, to symbolize the great massacre they face!

15 Let their hearts melt with terror, for a sword glitters at every gate; it flashes like lightning; it is razor-edged for slaughter.

16 O sword, slash to the right and slash to the left, wherever you will, wherever you want.

17 And you have prophesied with clapping hands that I, the Lord, will smite Jerusalem and satisfy my fury."

18 Then this message came to me. The Lord said:

19 "Son of dust, make a map and on it trace two routes for the king of Babylon to follow--

20 one to Jerusalem and the other to Rabbah in Trans-Jordan. And put a signpost at the fork in the road from Babylon.

21 For the king of Babylon stands at a fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He will call his magicians to use divination; they will cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver; they will sacrifice to idols and inspect the liver of their sacrifice.

22 They will decide to turn toward Jerusalem! With battering rams they will go against the gates, shouting for the kill; they will build siege towers and make a hill against the walls to reach the top.

23 Jerusalem won't understand this treachery; how could the diviners make this terrible mistake? For Babylon is Judah's ally and has sworn to defend Jerusalem! But (the king of Babylon) will think only of the times the people rebelled. He will attack and defeat them.

24 The Lord God says: "Again and again your guilt cries out against you, for your sins are open and unashamed. Wherever you go, whatever you do, all is filled with sin. And now the time of punishment has come.

25 "O King Zedekiah, evil prince of Israel, your final day of reckoning is here.

26 Take off your jeweled crown," the Lord God says. "The old order changes. Now the poor are exalted and the rich brought very low.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn the kingdom, so that even the new order that emerges will not succeed until the Man appears who has a right to it. And I will give it all to him.

28 "Son of dust, prophesy to the Ammonites too, for they mocked my people in their woe. Tell them this: 'Against you also my glittering sword is drawn from its sheath; it is sharpened and polished and flashed like lightning.

29 Your magicians and false prophets have told you lies of safety and success--that your gods will save you from the king of Babylon. Thus they have caused your death along with all the other wicked, for when the day of final reckoning has come, you will be wounded unto death.

30 Shall I return my sword to its sheath before I deal with you? No, I will destroy you in your own country where you were born.

31 I will pour out my fury upon you and blow upon the fire of my wrath until it becomes a roaring conflagration, and I will deliver you into the hands of cruel men skilled in destruction.

32 You are the fuel for the fire; your blood will be spilled in your own country, and you will be utterly wiped out, your memory lost in history. For I, the Lord, have spoken it.' "

22

1 Now another message came from the Lord. He said:

2 "Son of dust, indict Jerusalem as the City of Murder. Publicly denounce her terrible deeds.

3 City of Murder, doomed and damned--City of Idols, filthy and foul--

4 you are guilty both of murder and idolatry. Now comes your day of doom. You have reached the limit of your years. I will make you a laughingstock and a reproach to all the nations of the world.

5 Near and far they will mock you, a city of infamous rebels.

6 "Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.

7 Fathers and mothers are contemptuously ignored; immigrants and visitors are forced to pay you for your 'protection'; orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed.

8 The things of God are all despised; my Sabbaths are ignored.

9 Prisoners are falsely accused and sent to their death. Every mountaintop is filled with idols; lewdness is everywhere.

10 There are men who commit adultery with their fathers' wives and lie with menstruous women.

11 Adultery with a neighbor's wife, a daughter-in-law, a half sister--this is common.

12 Hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners are everywhere. You never even think of me and my commands," the Lord God says.

13 "But now I snap my fingers and call a halt to your dishonest gain and bloodshed.

14 How strong and courageous will you be then, in my day of reckoning? For I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do all that I have said.

15 I will scatter you throughout the world and burn out the wickedness within you.

16 You will be dishonored among the nations, and you shall know I am the Lord."

17 Then the Lord said this:

18 "Son of dust, the people of Israel are the worthless slag left when silver is smelted. They are the dross, compounded from the brass, the tin, the iron and the lead.

19 Therefore the Lord God says: 'Because you are worthless dross, I will bring you to my crucible in Jerusalem,

20 to smelt you with the heat of my wrath.

21 I will blow the fire of my wrath upon you,

22 and you will melt like silver in fierce heat, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured my wrath upon you.' "

23 Again the message of the Lord came to me, saying:

24 "Son of dust, say to the people of Israel: 'In the day of my indignation you shall be like an uncleared wilderness or a desert without rain.'

25 Your 'prophets' have plotted against you like lions stalking prey. They devour many lives; they seize treasures and extort wealth; they multiply the widows in the land.

26 Your priests have violated my laws and defiled my Temple and my holiness. To them the things of God are no more important than any daily task. They have not taught my people the difference between right and wrong, and they disregard my Sabbaths, so my holy name is greatly defiled among them.

27 Your leaders are like wolves, who tear apart their victims, and they destroy lives for profit.

28 Your 'prophets' describe false visions and speak false messages they claim are from God, when he hasn't spoken one word to them at all. Thus they repair the walls with whitewash!

29 Even the common people oppress and rob the poor and needy and cruelly extort from aliens.

30 "I looked in vain for anyone who would build again the wall of righteousness that guards the land, who could stand in the gap and defend you from my just attacks, but I found not one."

31 And so the Lord God says: "I will pour out my anger upon you; I will consume you with the fire of my wrath. I have heaped upon you the full penalty for all your sins."

23

1 The Lord's message came to me again, saying:

2 "Son of dust, there were two sisters who as young girls became prostitutes in Egypt.

3

4 "The older girl was named Oholah; her sister was Oholibah. (I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem!) I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. But then Oholah turned to other gods instead of me and gave her love to the Assyrians, her neighbors,

5

6 for they were all attractive young men, captains and commanders, in handsome blue, dashing about on their horses.

7 And so she sinned with them--the choicest men of Assyria--worshiping their idols, defiling herself.

8 For when she left Egypt, she did not leave her spirit of prostitution behind, but was still as lewd as in her youth when the Egyptians poured out their lusts upon her and robbed her of her virginity.

9 "And so I delivered her into the evil clutches of the Assyrians whose gods she loved so much.

10 They stripped her and killed her and took away her children as their slaves. Her name was known to every woman in the land as a sinner who had received what she deserved.

11 "But when Oholibah Jerusalem saw what had happened to her sister she went right ahead in the same way and sinned even more than her sister.

12 She fawned over her Assyrian neighbors, those handsome young men on fine steeds, those army officers in handsome uniforms--all of them desirable.

13 I saw the way she was going, following right along behind her older sister.

14 "She was in fact more debased than Samaria, for she fell in love with pictures she saw painted on a wall! They were pictures of Babylonian military officers, outfitted in striking red uniforms,

15 with handsome belts, and flowing turbans on their heads.

16 When she saw these paintings, she longed to give herself to the men pictured, so she sent messengers to Chaldea to invite them to come to her.

17 And they came and committed adultery with her, defiling her in the bed of love, but afterward she hated them and broke off all relations with them.

18 "And I despised her, just as I despised her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to their lust.

19 But that didn't bother her. She turned to even greater prostitution, sinning with the lustful men she remembered from her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt.

20

21 And thus you celebrated those former days when as a young girl you gave your virginity to those from Egypt.

22 "And now the Lord God says that he will raise against you, O Oholibah Jerusalem, those very nations from which you turned away, disgusted.

23 For the Babylonians will come, and all the Chaldeans from Pekod and Shoa and Koa; and all the Assyrians with them--handsome young men of high rank, riding their steeds.

24 They will come against you from the north with chariots, wagons, and a great army fully prepared for attack. They will surround you on every side with armored men, and I will let them at you, to do with you as they wish.

25 And I will send my jealousy against you and deal furiously with you. They will cut off your nose and ears; your survivors will be killed; your children will be taken away as slaves, and everything left will be burned.

26 They will strip you of your beautiful clothes and jewels.

27 "And so I will put a stop to your lewdness and prostitution brought from the land of Egypt; you will no more long for Egypt and her gods."

28 For the Lord God says: "I will surely deliver you over to your enemies, to those you loathe.

29 They will deal with you in hatred and rob you of all you own, leaving you naked and bare. And the shame of your prostitution shall be exposed to all the world.

30 "You brought all this upon yourself by worshiping the gods of other nations, defiling yourself with all their idols.

31 You have followed in your sister's footsteps, so I will punish you with the same terrors that destroyed her.

32 Yes, the terrors that fell upon her will fall upon you--and the cup from which she drank was full and large. And all the world will mock you for your woe.

33 You will reel like a drunkard beneath the awful blows of sorrow and distress, just as your sister Samaria did.

34 In deep anguish you will drain that cup of terror to the very bottom and will lick the inside to get every drop. For I have spoken," says the Lord.

35 "Because you have forgotten me and turned your backs on me, therefore you must bear the consequence of all your sin.

36 "Son of dust, you must accuse Jerusalem and Samaria of all their awful deeds.

37 For they have committed both adultery and murder; they have worshiped idols and murdered my children whom they bore to me, burning them as sacrifices on their altars.

38 On the same day they defiled my Temple and ignored my Sabbaths,

39 for when they had murdered their children in front of their idols, then even that same day they actually came into my Temple to worship! That is how much regard they have for me!

40 "You even sent away to distant lands for priests to come with other gods for you to serve, and they have come and been welcomed! You bathed yourself, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them.

41 You sat together on a beautifully embroidered bed and put my incense and my oil upon a table spread before you.

42 From your apartment came the sound of many men carousing--lewd men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns upon your head.

43 Will they commit adultery with these who have become old harlot hags?

44 Yet that is what they did. They went in to them--to Samaria and Jerusalem, these shameless harlots--with all the zest of lustful men who visit prostitutes.

45 But just persons everywhere will judge them for what they really are--adulteresses and murderers. They will mete out to them the sentences the law demands.

46 The Lord God says: "Bring an army against them and hand them out to be crushed and despised.

47 For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords; they will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes.

48 Thus will I make lewdness and idolatry to cease from the land. My judgment will be a lesson against idolatry for all to see.

49 For you will be fully repaid for all your harlotry, your worshiping of idols. You will suffer the full penalty, and you will know that I alone am God."

24

1 One day late in December of the ninth year (of King Jehoiachin's captivity), another message came to me from the Lord.

2 "Son of dust," he said, "write down this date, for today the king of Babylon has attacked Jerusalem.

3 And now give this parable to these rebels, Israel; tell them, 'The Lord God says: Put a pot of water on the fire to boil.

4 Fill it with choicest mutton, the rump and shoulder and all the most tender cuts.

5 Use only the best sheep from the flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot. Boil the meat well, until the flesh falls off the bones.'

6 For the Lord God says: "Woe to Jerusalem, City of Murderers; you are a pot that is pitted with rust and with wickedness. So take out the meat chunk by chunk in whatever order it comes--for none is better than any other.

7 For her wickedness is evident to all--she boldly murders, leaving blood upon the rocks in open view for all to see; she does not even try to cover it.

8 And I have left it there, uncovered, to shout to me against her and arouse my wrath and vengeance.

9 "Woe to Jerusalem, City of Murderers. I will pile on the fuel beneath her.

10 Heap on the wood; let the fire roar and the pot boil. Cook the meat well, and then empty the pot and burn the bones.

11 Now set it empty on the coals to scorch away the rust and corruption.

12 But all for naught--it all remains despite the hottest fire.

13 It is the rust and corruption of your filthy lewdness, of worshiping your idols. And now, because I wanted to cleanse you and you refused, remain filthy until my fury has accomplished all its terrors upon you!

14 I, the Lord, have spoken it; it shall come to pass and I will do it."

15 Again a message came to me from the Lord, saying:

16 "Son of dust, I am going to take away your lovely wife. Suddenly, she will die. Yet you must show no sorrow. Do not weep; let there be no tears.

17 You may sigh, but only quietly. Let there be no wailing at her grave; don't bare your head nor feet, and don't accept the food brought to you by consoling friends."

18 I proclaimed this to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did all the Lord had told me to.

19 Then the people said: "What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?"

20 And I answered, "The Lord told me to say to the people of Israel:

21 'I will destroy my lovely, beautiful Temple, the strength of your nation. And your sons and daughters in Judea will be slaughtered by the sword.

22 And you will do as I have done; you may not mourn in public or console yourself by eating the food brought to you by sympathetic friends.

23 Your head and feet shall not be bared; you shall not mourn or weep. But you will sorrow to one another for your sins and mourn privately for all the evil you have done.

24 Ezekiel is an example to you,' the Lord God says. 'You will do as he has done. And when that time comes, then you will know I am the Lord.' "

25 "Son of dust, on the day I finish taking from them in Jerusalem the joy of their hearts and their glory and joys--their wives and their sons and their daughters--

26 on that day a refugee from Jerusalem will start on a journey to come to you in Babylon to tell you what has happened.

27 And on the day of his arrival, your voice will suddenly return to you so that you can talk with him; and you will be a symbol for these people, and they shall know I am the Lord."

25

1 Then the Lord's message came to me again. He said:

2 "Son of dust, look toward the land of Ammon and prophesy against its people.

3 Tell them: 'Listen to what the Lord God says. Because you scoffed when my Temple was destroyed, and mocked Israel in her anguish, and laughed at Judah when she was marched away captive,

4 therefore I will let the Bedouins from the desert to the east of you overrun your land. They will set up their encampments among you. They will harvest all your fruit and steal your dairy cattle.

5 And I will turn the city of Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all the country of the Ammonites into a wasteland where flocks of sheep can graze. Then you will know I am the Lord.' "

6 For the Lord God says: "Because you clapped and stamped and cheered with glee at the destruction of my people,

7 therefore I will lay my hand heavily upon you, delivering you to many nations for devastation. I will cut you off from being a nation any more. I will destroy you; then you shall know I am the Lord."

8 And the Lord God says: "Because the Moabites have said that Judah is no better off than any other nation,

9 therefore I will open up the eastern flank of Moab, wiping out her frontier cities, the glory of the nation--Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon and Kiriathaim.

10 And Bedouin tribes from the desert to the east will pour in upon her, just as they will upon Ammon. And Moab will no longer be counted among the nations.

11 Thus I will bring down my judgment upon the Moabites, and they shall know I am the Lord."

12 And the Lord God says: "Because the people of Edom have sinned so greatly by avenging themselves upon the people of Judah,

13 I will smash Edom with my fist and wipe out her people, her cattle, and her flocks. The sword will destroy everything from Teman to Dedan.

14 By the hand of my people, Israel, this shall be done. They will carry out my furious vengeance."

15 And the Lord God says: "Because the Philistines have acted against Judah out of revenge and long-standing hatred,

16 I will shake my fist over the land of the Philistines, and I will wipe out the Cherithites and utterly destroy those along the seacoast.

17 I will execute terrible vengeance upon them to rebuke them for what they have done. And when all this happens, then they shall know I am the Lord."

26

1 Another message came to me from the Lord on the first day of the month, in the eleventh year (after King Jehoiachin was taken away to captivity).

2 "Son of dust, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying, 'Ha! She who controlled the lucrative north-south trade routes along the coast and along the course of the Jordan River has been broken, and I have fallen heir! Because she has been laid waste, I shall become wealthy!'

3 Therefore the Lord God says: "I stand against you, Tyre, and I will bring nations against you like ocean waves.

4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers. I will scrape away her soil and make her a bare rock!

5 Her island shall become uninhabited, a place for fishermen to spread their nets, for I have spoken it," says the Lord God. "Tyre shall become the prey of many nations,

6 and her mainland city shall perish by the sword. Then they shall know I am the Lord."

7 For the Lord God says: "I will bring Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon--the king of kings from the north--against Tyre with a great army and cavalry and chariots.

8 First he will destroy your suburbs; then he will attack your mainland city by building a siege wall and raising a roof of shields against it.

9 He will set up battering rams against your walls and with sledgehammers demolish your forts.

10 The hoofs of his cavalry will choke the city with dust, and your walls will shake as the horses gallop through your broken gates, pulling chariots behind them.

11 Horsemen will occupy every street in the city; they will butcher your people, and your famous, huge pillars will topple.

12 "They will plunder all your riches and merchandise and break down your walls. They will destroy your lovely homes and dump your stones and timber and even your dust into the sea.

13 I will stop the music of your songs. No more will there be the sound of harps among you.

14 I will make your island a bare rock, a place for fishermen to spread their nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I, the Lord, have spoken it." So says the Lord.

15 "The whole country will shake with your fall; the wounded will scream as the slaughter goes on.

16 "Then all the seaport rulers shall come down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and beautiful garments and sit on the ground shaking with fear at what they have seen.

17 And they shall wail for you, singing this dirge: 'O mighty island city, with your naval power that terrorized the mainland, how you have vanished from the seas!

18 How the islands tremble at your fall! They watch dismayed.' "

19 For the Lord God says: "I will destroy Tyre to the ground. You will sink beneath the terrible waves of enemy attack. Great seas shall swallow you.

20 I will send you to the pit of hell to lie there with those of long ago. Your city will lie in ruins, dead, like the bodies of those in the underworld who entered long ago the nether world of the dead. Never again will you be inhabited or be given beauty here in the land of those who live.

21 I will bring you to a dreadful end; no search will be enough to find you," says the Lord.

27

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord. He said:

2 "Son of dust, sing this sad dirge for Tyre:

3 'O mighty seaport city, merchant center of the world, the Lord God speaks. You say, "I am the most beautiful city in all the world."

4 You have extended your boundaries out into the sea; your architects have made you glorious.

5 You are like a ship built of finest fir from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.

6 They made your oars from oaks of Bashan. The walls of your cabin are of cypress from the southern coast of Cyprus.

7 Your sails are made of Egypt's finest linens; you stand beneath awnings bright with purple and scarlet dyes from eastern Cyprus.

8 'Your sailors come from Sidon and Arvad; your helmsmen are skilled men from Zemer.

9 Wise old craftsmen from Gebal do the calking. Ships come from every land with all their goods to barter for your trade.

10 'Your army includes men from far-off Paras, Lud, and Put. They serve you--it is a feather in your cap to have their shields hang upon your walls; it is the ultimate of honor.

11 Men from Arvad and from Helech are the sentinels upon your walls; your towers are manned by men from Gamad. Their shields hang row on row upon the walls, perfecting your glory.

12 'From Tarshish come all kinds of riches to your markets--silver, iron, tin, and lead.

13 Merchants from Javan, Tubal, and Meshech bring slaves and bronze dishes,

14 while from Togarmah come chariot horses, steeds, and mules.

15 'Merchants come to you from Rhodes, and many coastlands are your captive markets, giving payment in ebony and ivory.

16 Edom sends her traders to buy your many wares. They bring emeralds, purple dyes, embroidery, fine linen, and jewelry of coral and agate.

17 Judah and the cities in what was once the kingdom of Israel send merchants with wheat from Minnith and Pannag, and with honey, oil, and balm.

18 Damascus comes. She brings wines from Helbon and white Syrian wool to trade for all the rich variety of goods you make.

19 Vedan and Javan bring Arabian yarn, wrought iron, cassia, and calamus,

20 while Dedan brings expensive saddlecloths for riding.

21 'The Arabians and Kedar's wealthy merchant princes bring you lambs and rams and goats.

22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah come with all kinds of spices, jewels, and gold.

23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad all send their wares.

24 They bring choice fabrics to trade--blue cloth, embroidery, and many-colored carpets bound with cords and made secure.

25 The ships of Tarshish are your ocean caravans; your island warehouse is filled to the brim!

26 'But now your statesmen bring your ship of state into a hurricane! Your mighty vessel flounders in the heavy eastern gale, and you are wrecked in the heart of the seas!

27 Everything is lost. Your riches and wares, your sailors and pilots, your shipwrights, merchants, and soldiers; and all the people sink into the sea on the day of your vast ruin.

28 'The surrounding cities quake at the sound as your pilots scream with fright.

29 All your sailors out at sea come to land and watch upon the mainland shore,

30 weeping bitterly and casting dust upon their heads and wallowing in ashes.

31 They shave their heads in grief, put on sackcloth, and weep for you with bitterness of heart and deep mourning.

32 'And this is the song of their sorrow: "Where in all the world was there ever such a wondrous city as Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea?

33 Your merchandise satisfied the desires of many nations. Kings at the ends of the earth rejoiced in the riches you sent them.

34 Now you lie broken beneath the sea; all your merchandise and all your crew have perished with you.

35 All who live along the coastlands watch, incredulous. Their kings are horribly afraid and look on with twisted faces.

36 The merchants of the nations shake their heads, for your fate is dreadful; you have forever perished.' "

28

1 Here is another message given to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, say to the prince of Tyre, 'The Lord God says: You are so proud you think you are God, sitting on the throne of a god on your island home in the midst of the seas. But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast yourself to be like God.

3 You are wiser than Daniel, for no secret is hidden from you.

4 You have used your wisdom and understanding to get great wealth--gold and silver and many treasures.

5 Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich and very proud."

6 Therefore the Lord God says: "Because you claim that you are as wise as God,

7 an enemy army, the terror of the nations, shall suddenly draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom and defile your splendor!

8 They will bring you to the pit of hell, and you shall die as those pierced with many wounds, there on your island in the heart of the seas.

9 Then will you boast as a god? At least to these invaders you will be no god, but merely man!

10 You will die like an outcast at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken it," the Lord God says.

11 Then this further message came to me from the Lord:

12 "Son of dust, weep for the king of Tyre. Tell him, 'The Lord God says: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty.

13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; your clothing was bejeweled with every precious stone--ruby, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald--all in beautiful settings of finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.

14 I appointed you to be the anointed Guardian Angel. You had access to the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire.

15 'You were perfect in all you did from the day you were created until that time when wrong was found in you.

16 Your great wealth filled you with internal turmoil, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you out of the mountain of God like a common sinner. I destroyed you, O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Therefore, I have cast you down to the ground and exposed you helpless before the curious gaze of kings.

18 You defiled your holiness with lust for gain; therefore, I brought forth fire from your own actions and let it burn you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all those watching you.

19 All who know you are appalled at your fate; you are an example of horror; you are destroyed forever.' "

20 Then another message came to me from the Lord:

21 "Son of dust, look toward the city of Sidon and prophesy against it. Say to it,

22 'The Lord God says: I am your enemy, O Sidon, and I will reveal my power over you. When I destroy you and show forth my holiness upon you, then all who see shall know I am the Lord.

23 I will send an epidemic of disease and an army to destroy; the wounded shall be slain in your streets by troops on every side. Then you will know I am the Lord.

24 No longer shall you and Israel's other neighbor nations prick and tear at Israel like thorns and briars, though they formerly despised her and treated her with great contempt.

25 'The people of Israel will once more live in their own land, the land I gave their father Jacob. For I will gather them back again from distant lands where I have scattered them, and I will show the nations of the world my holiness among my people.

26 They will live safely in Israel and build their homes and plant their vineyards. When I punish all the bordering nations that treated them with such contempt, then they shall know I am the Lord their God.' "

29

1 Late in December of the tenth year (of the imprisonment of King Jehoiachin), this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, face toward Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh her king and all her people.

3 Tell them that the Lord God says: 'I am your enemy, Pharaoh, king of Egypt--mighty dragon lying in the middle of your rivers. For you have said, "The Nile is mine; I have made it for myself!"

4 I will put hooks into your jaws and drag you out onto the land with fish sticking to your scales.

5 And I will leave you and all the fish stranded in the desert to die, and you won't be buried, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.

6 'Because of the way your might collapsed when Israel called on you for aid instead of trusting me, all of you shall know I am the Lord.

7 Israel leaned on you but, like a cracked staff, you snapped beneath her hand and wrenched her shoulder out of joint and made her stagger with the pain.

8 Therefore the Lord God says: I will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both men and herds.

9 The land of Egypt shall become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I, the Lord, have done it.

10 'Because you said: "The Nile is mine! I made it!" therefore I am against you and your river, and I will utterly destroy the land of Egypt, from Migdol to Syene, as far south as the border of Ethiopia.

11 For forty years not a soul will pass that way, neither men nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited.

12 I will make Egypt desolate, surrounded by desolate nations, and her cities will lie as wastelands for forty years. I will exile the Egyptians to other lands.

13 'But the Lord God says that at the end of the forty years he will bring the Egyptians home again from the nations to which they will be banished.

14 And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring her people back to the land of Pathros in southern Egypt where they were born, but she will be an unimportant, minor kingdom.

15 She will be the lowliest of all the nations; never again will she raise herself above the other nations; never again will Egypt be great enough for that.

16 'Israel will no longer expect any help from Egypt. Whenever she thinks of asking for it, then she will remember her sin in seeking it before. Then Israel will know that I alone am God.' "

17 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, around the middle of March, this message came to me from the Lord:

18 "Son of dust, the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought hard against Tyre. The soldiers' heads were bald (from carrying heavy basketfuls of earth); their shoulders were raw and blistered (from burdens of stones for the siege). And Nebuchadnezzar received no compensation and could not pay the army for all this work."

19 Therefore, the Lord God says, "I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will carry off her wealth, plundering everything she has, for his army.

20 Yes, I have given him the land of Egypt for his salary because he was working for me during those thirteen years at Tyre," says the Lord.

21 "And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then at last her words will be respected, and Egypt shall know I am the Lord."

30

1 Another message from the Lord!

2 "Son of dust, prophesy and say: The Lord God says, 'Weep, for the terrible day is almost here;

3 A sword shall fall on Egypt; the slain shall cover the ground. Her wealth is taken away, her foundations destroyed. The land of Cush has been ravished.

4

5 For Cush, Put, Lud, Arabia, and Libya, and all the countries leagued with them shall perish in that war.'

6 For the Lord says: "All Egypt's allies shall fall, and the pride of her power shall end. From Migdol to Syene they shall perish by the sword.

7 She shall be desolate, surrounded by desolate nations, and her cities shall be in ruins, surrounded by other ruined cities.

8 And they will know I am the Lord when I have set Egypt on fire and destroyed her allies.

9 At that time I will send swift messengers to bring panic to the Ethiopians; great terror shall befall them at that time of Egypt's doom. This will all come true.

10 For the Lord God says: "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, will destroy the multitudes of Egypt.

11 He and his armies--the terror of the nations--are sent to demolish the land. They shall war against Egypt and cover the ground with the slain.

12 I will dry up the Nile and sell the whole land to wicked men. I will destroy Egypt and everything in it, using foreigners to do it. I, the Lord, have spoken it.

13 "And I will smash the idols of Egypt and the images at Memphis, and there will be no king in Egypt; anarchy shall reign!

14 "The cities of Pathros along the upper Nile, Zoan, and Thebes shall lie in ruins by my hand.

15 And I will pour out my fury upon Pelusium, the strongest fortress of Egypt, and I will stamp out the people of Thebes.

16 Yes, I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium will be racked with pain. Thebes will be torn apart; Memphis will be in daily terror.

17 The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis shall die by the sword, and the women will be taken away as slaves.

18 When I come to break the power of Egypt, it will be a dark day for Tahpanhes too; a dark cloud will cover her, and her daughters will be taken away as captives.

19 And so I will greatly punish Egypt and they shall know I am the Lord."

20 A year later, around the middle of March of the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, this message came to me:

21 "Son of dust, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and it has not been set nor put into a cast to make it strong enough to hold a sword again.

22 For the Lord God says, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I will break both his arms--the strong one and the one that was broken before, and I will make his sword clatter to the ground.

23 And I will banish the Egyptians to many lands.

24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and place my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he shall groan before the king of Babylon as one who has been wounded unto death.

25 I will strengthen the hands of the king of Babylon, while the arms of Pharaoh fall useless to his sides. Yes, when I place my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he swings it over the land of Egypt, Egypt shall know I am the Lord.

26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations; then they shall know I am the Lord."

31

1 In mid-May of the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his people: 'You are as Assyria was--a great and mighty nation--

3 like a cedar of Lebanon, full of thick branches and forest shade, with its head high up among the clouds.

4 Its roots went deep into the moist earth. It grew luxuriantly and gave streamlets of water to all the trees around.

5 It towered above all the other trees. It prospered and grew long thick branches because of all the water at its roots.

6 The birds nested in its branches, and in its shade the flocks and herds gave birth to young. All the great nations of the world lived beneath its shadow.

7 It was strong and beautiful, for its roots went deep to water.

8 This tree was taller than any other in the garden of God; no cypress had branches equal to it; none had boughs to compare; none equaled it in beauty.

9 Because of the magnificence that I gave it, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden.'

10 "But Egypt has become proud and arrogant", the Lord God says. "Therefore because she has set herself so high above the others, reaching to the clouds,

11 I will deliver her into the hands of a mighty nation, to destroy her as her wickedness deserves. I, myself, will cut her down.

12 A foreign army (from Babylon)--the terror of the nations--will invade her land and cut her down and leave her fallen on the ground. Her branches will be scattered across the mountains and valleys and rivers of the land. All those who live beneath her shade will go away and leave her lying there.

13 The birds will pluck off her twigs, and the wild animals will lie among her branches;

14 let no other nation exult with pride for its own prosperity, though it be higher than the clouds, for all are doomed, and they will land in hell along with all the proud men of the world."

15 The Lord God says: "When she fell, I made the oceans mourn for her and restrained their tides. I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of Lebanon to weep.

16 I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of her fall, for I threw her down to hell with all the others like her. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, are comforted to find her there with them in hell.

17 Her allies, too, are all destroyed and perish with her. They went down with her to the nether world--those nations that had lived beneath her shade.

18 "O Egypt, you are great and glorious among the trees of Eden--the nations of the world. And you will be brought down to the pit of hell with all these other nations. You will be among the nations you despise, killed by the sword. This is the fate of Pharaoh and all his teeming masses," says the Lord.

32

1 In mid-February of the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt and say to him: 'You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations, but you are merely a crocodile along the banks of the Nile, making bubbles and muddying the stream.' "

3 The Lord God says: "I will send a great army to catch you with my net. I will haul you out

4 and leave you stranded on the land to die. And all the birds of the heavens will light upon you, and the wild animals of the whole earth will devour you until they are glutted and full.

5 And I will cover the hills with your flesh and fill the valleys with your bones.

6 And I will drench the earth with your gushing blood, filling the ravines to the tops of the mountains.

7 I will blot you out, and I will veil the heavens and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give you her light.

8 Yes, darkness will be everywhere across your land--even the bright stars will be dark above you.

9 "And when I destroy you, grief will be in many hearts among the distant nations you have never seen.

10 Yes, terror shall strike in many lands, and their kings shall be terribly afraid because of all I do to you. They shall shudder with terror when I brandish my sword before them. They shall greatly tremble for their lives on the day of your fall.

11 For the Lord God says: "The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.

12 I will destroy you with Babylon's mighty army--the terror of the nations. It will smash the pride of Egypt and all her people; all will perish.

13 I will destroy all your flocks and herds that graze beside the streams, and neither man nor animal will disturb those waters any more.

14 Therefore, the waters of Egypt will be as clear and flow as smoothly as olive oil," the Lord God says.

15 "And when I destroy Egypt and wipe out everything she has, then she shall know that I, the Lord, have done it.

16 Yes, cry for the sorrows of Egypt. Let all the nations weep for her and for her people," says the Lord.

17 Two weeks later, another message came to me from the Lord. He said:

18 "Son of dust, weep for the people of Egypt and for the other mighty nations. Send them down to the nether world among the denizens of death.

19 What nation is as beautiful as you, O Egypt? Yet your doom is the pit; you will be laid beside the people you despise.

20 The Egyptians will die with the multitudes slain by the sword, for the sword is drawn against the land of Egypt. She will be drawn down to judgment.

21 The mighty warriors in the nether world will welcome her as she arrives with all her friends, to lie there beside the nations she despised, all victims of the sword.

22 "The princes of Assyria lie there surrounded by the graves of all her people, those the sword has slain.

23 Their graves are in the depths of hell, surrounded by their allies. All these mighty men who once struck terror into the hearts of everyone are now dead at the hands of their foes.

24 "Great kings of Elam lie there with their people. They scourged the nations while they lived, and now they lie undone in hell; their fate is the same as that of ordinary men.

25 They have a resting place among the slain, surrounded by the graves of all their people. Yes, they terrorized the nations while they lived, but now they lie in shame in the pit, slain by the sword.

26 "The princes of Meshech and Tubal are there, surrounded by the graves of all their armies--all of them idolaters--who once struck terror to the hearts of all; now they lie dead.

27 They are buried in a common grave and not as the fallen lords who are buried in great honor with their weapons beside them, with their shields covering them and their swords beneath their heads. They were a terror to all while they lived.

28 Now you will lie crushed and broken among the idolaters, among those who are slain by the sword.

29 "Edom is there with her kings and her princes; mighty as they were, they too lie among the others whom the sword has slain, with the idolaters who have gone down to the pit.

30 All the princes of the north are there and the Sidonians, all slain. Once a terror, now they lie in shame; they lie in ignominy with all the other slain who go down to the pit.

31 "When Pharaoh arrives, he will be comforted to find that he is not alone in having all his army slain," says the Lord God.

32 "For I have caused my terror to fall upon all the living. And Pharaoh and his army shall lie among the idolaters who are slain by the sword."

33

1 Once again a message came to me from the Lord. He said:

2 "Son of dust, tell your people: 'When I bring an army against a country, and the people of that land choose a watchman,

3 and when he sees the army coming and blows the alarm to warn them,

4 then anyone who hears the alarm but refuses to heed it--well, if he dies, the fault is his own.

5 For he heard the warning and wouldn't listen; the fault is his. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.

6 But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn't sound the alarm and warn the people, he is responsible for their deaths. They will die in their sins, but I will charge the watchman with their deaths.'

7 "So with you, son of dust. I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel; therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.

8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will die!' and you don't tell him what I say, so that he does not repent--that wicked person will die in his sins, but I will hold you responsible for his death.

9 But if you warn him to repent and he doesn't, he will die in his sin, and you will not be responsible.

10 "O people of Israel, you are saying: 'Our sins are heavy upon us; we pine away with guilt. How can we live?'

11 Tell them: 'As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; I desire that the wicked turn from his evil ways and live. Turn, turn from your wickedness, for why will you die, O Israel?

12 For the good works of a righteous man will not save him if he turns to sin; and the sins of an evil man will not destroy him if he repents and turns from his sins.'

13 "I have said the good man will live. But if he sins, expecting his past goodness to save him, then none of his good deeds will be remembered. I will destroy him for his sins.

14 And when I tell the wicked he will die, and then he turns from his sins and does what is fair and right--

15 if he gives back the borrower's pledge, returns what he has stolen, and walks along the paths of right, not doing evil--he shall surely live. He shall not die.

16 None of his past sins shall be brought up against him, for he has turned to the good and shall surely live.

17 "And yet your people are saying the Lord isn't fair. The trouble is they aren't fair.

18 For again I say, when the good man turns to evil, he shall die.

19 But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what's fair and just, he shall live.

20 Yet you are saying the Lord isn't fair. But I will judge each of you in accordance with his deeds."

21 In the eleventh year of our exile, late in December, one of those who escaped from Jerusalem arrived to tell me, "The city has fallen!"

22 Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the previous evening, and he had healed me so that I could speak again by the time the man arrived.

23 Then this message came to me:

24 "Son of dust, the scattered remnants of Judah living among the ruined cities keep saying, 'Abraham was only one man and yet he got possession of the whole country! We are many, so we should certainly be able to get it back!'

25 But the Lord God says: 'You are powerless, for you do evil! You eat meat with the blood, you worship idols, and murder. Do you suppose I'll let you have the land?

26 Murderers! Idolators! Adulterers! Should you possess the land?'

27 "Tell them, 'The Lord God says: As I live, surely those living in the ruins shall die by the sword. Those living in the open fields shall be eaten by wild animals, and those in the forts and caves shall die of disease.

28 I will desolate the land and her pride, and her power shall come to an end. And the mountain villages of Israel shall be so ruined that no one will even travel through them.

29 When I have ruined the land because of their sins, then they shall know I am the Lord.'

30 "Son of dust, your people are whispering behind your back. They talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors, saying, 'Come on, let's have some fun! Let's go hear him tell us what the Lord is saying!'

31 So they come as though they are sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them to; they talk very sweetly about loving the Lord, but with their hearts they are loving their money.

32 You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings lovely songs with a beautiful voice or plays well on an instrument. They hear what you say but don't pay any attention to it!

33 But when all these terrible things happen to them--as they will--then they will know a prophet has been among them."

34

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Say to them, 'The Lord God says to you: Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves instead of their flocks. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep?

3 You eat the best food and wear the finest clothes, but you let your flocks starve.

4 You haven't taken care of the weak, nor tended the sick, nor bound up the broken bones, nor gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty.

5 So they were scattered, without a shepherd. They have become a prey to every animal that comes along.

6 My sheep wandered through the mountains and hills and over the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or care about them.

7 'Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

8 As I live, says the Lord God, you abandoned my flock, leaving them to be attacked and destroyed, and you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn't search for them. You fed yourselves and let them starve;

9 therefore, I am against the shepherds, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock--and take away their right to eat. I will save my flock from being taken for their food.' "

10

11 For the Lord God says: "I will search and find my sheep.

12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places they were scattered in that dark and cloudy day.

13 And I will bring them back from among the people and nations where they were, back home to their own land of Israel, and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel and by the rivers where the land is fertile and good.

14 Yes, I will give them good pasture on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in peace and feed in luscious mountain pastures.

15 I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace," the Lord God says.

16 "I will seek my lost ones, those who strayed away, and bring them safely home again. I will put splints and bandages upon their broken limbs and heal the sick. And I will destroy the powerful, fat shepherds; I will feed them, yes--feed them punishment!

17 "And as for you, O my flock--my people," the Lord God says, "I will judge you and separate good from bad, sheep from goats.

18 "Is it a small thing to you, O evil shepherds, that you not only keep the best of the pastures for yourselves, but trample down the rest? That you take the best water for yourselves and muddy the rest with your feet?

19 All that's left for my flock is what you've trampled down; all they have to drink is water that you've fouled."

20 Therefore the Lord God says: "I will surely judge between these fat shepherds and their scrawny sheep.

21 For these shepherds push and butt and crowd my sick and hungry flock until they're scattered far away.

22 So I myself will save my flock; no more will they be picked on and destroyed. And I will notice which is plump and which is thin, and why!

23 "And I will set one Shepherd over all my people, even my Servant David. He shall feed them and be a Shepherd to them.

24 "And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my Servant David shall be a Prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken it.

25 "I will make a peace pact with them and drive away the dangerous animals from the land, so that my people can safely camp in the wildest places and sleep safely in the woods.

26 I will make my people and their homes around my hill a blessing. And there shall be showers, showers of blessing, for I will not shut off the rains but send them in their seasons.

27 Their fruit trees and fields will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken off their chains of slavery and delivered them from those who profiteered at their expense, they shall know I am the Lord.

28 No more will other nations conquer them nor wild animals attack. They shall live in safety and no one shall make them afraid.

29 "And I will raise up a notable Vine the Messiah, in Israel so that my people will never again go hungry nor be shamed by heathen conquest.

30 In this way they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the people of Israel, are my people," says the Lord God.

31 "You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my men and I am your God, so says the Lord."

35

1 Again a message came from the Lord. He said:

2 "Son of dust, face toward Mount Seir and prophesy against the people saying,

3 'The Lord God says: I am against you, and I will smash you with my fist and utterly destroy you.

4 Because you hate my people Israel, I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you shall know I am the Lord.

5 You butchered my people when they were helpless, when I had punished them for all their sins.

6 As I live, the Lord God says, since you enjoy blood so much, I will give you a blood bath--your turn has come!

7 I will utterly wipe out the people of Mount Seir, killing off all those who try to escape and all those who return.

8 I will fill your mountains with the dead--your hills, your valleys, and your rivers will be filled with those the sword has killed.

9 Never again will you revive. You will be abandoned forever; your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you shall know I am the Lord.

10 'For you said, "Both Israel and Judah shall be mine. We will take possession of them. What do we care that God is there!"

11 Therefore as I live, the Lord God says, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine--I will punish you for all your acts of envy and of hate. And I will honor my name in Israel by what I do to you.

12 And you shall know that I have heard each evil word you spoke against the Lord, saying, "His people are helpless; they are food for us to eat!"

13 Saying that, you boasted great words against the Lord. And I have heard them all!

14 'The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.

15 You rejoiced at Israel's fearful fate. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, O people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! And then you will know I am the Lord!'

36

1 "Son of dust, prophesy to Israel's mountains. Tell them: 'Listen to this message from the Lord.

2 'Your enemies have sneered at you and claimed your ancient heights as theirs;

3 they have destroyed you on every side and sent you away as slaves to many lands. You are mocked and slandered.

4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. He says to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys, and to the ruined farms and the long-deserted cities, destroyed and mocked by heathen nations all around:

5 My anger is afire against these nations, especially Edom, for grabbing my land with relish, in utter contempt for me, to take it for themselves.'

6 "Therefore prophesy and say to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys of Israel: 'The Lord God says, I am full of fury because you suffered shame before the surrounding nations.

7 Therefore, I have sworn with hand held high that those nations are going to have their turn of being covered with shame,

8 but for Israel good times will return. There will be heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people's return--and they will be coming home again soon!

9 See, I am for you, and I will come and help you as you prepare the ground and sow your crops.

10 I will greatly increase your population throughout all Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.

11 Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, again you will be filled with homes. I will do even more for you than I did before. Then you shall know I am the Lord.

12 My people will walk upon you once again, and you will belong to them again; and you will no longer be a place for burning their children on idol altars.' "

13 The Lord God says: "Now the other nations taunt you, saying, 'Israel is a land that devours her people!'

14 But they will not say this any more. Your birth rate will rise, and your infant mortality rate will drop off sharply," says the Lord.

15 "No longer will those heathen nations sneer, for you will no longer be a nation of sinners," the Lord God says.

16 Then this further word came to me from the Lord:

17 "Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.

18 They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them.

19 And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived.

20 But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, 'These are the people of God and he couldn't protect them from harm!'

21 I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.

22 "Therefore say to the people of Israel, 'The Lord God says: I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you tarnished among the nations.

23 I will honor my great name, that you defiled, and the people of the world shall know I am the Lord. I will be honored before their eyes by delivering you from exile among them.

24 For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.

25 'Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean--your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone.

26 And I will give you a new heart--I will give you new and right desires--and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

28 'And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will cleanse away your sins. I will abolish crop failures and famine.

30 I will give you huge harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.

31 Then you will remember your past sins and loathe yourselves for all the evils you did.

32 But always remember this: It is not for your own sakes that I will do this, but for mine. O my people Israel, be utterly ashamed of all that you have done!'

33 The Lord God says: "When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins.

34 Acreage will be cultivated again that through the years of exile lay empty as a barren wilderness; all who passed by were shocked to see the extent of ruin in your land.

35 But when I bring you back, they will say, 'This God-forsaken land has become like Eden's garden! The ruined cities are rebuilt and walled and filled with people!'

36 Then the nations all around--all those still left--will know that I, the Lord, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the Lord, have promised it, and I will do it."

37 The Lord God says: "I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings and to grant them their requests. Let them but ask,

38 and I will multiply them like the flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at time of sacrifice. The ruined cities will be crowded once more, and everyone will know I am the Lord."

37

1 The power of the Lord was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them,

2

3 and then he said to me: "Son of dust, can these bones become people again?" I replied, "Lord, you alone know the answer to that."

4 Then he told me to speak to the bones and say: "O dry bones, listen to the words of God,

5 for the Lord God says, 'See! I am going to make you live and breathe again!

6 I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.' "

7 So I spoke these words from God, just as he told me to; and suddenly there was a rattling noise from all across the valley, and the bones of each body came together and attached to each other as they used to be.

8 Then, as I watched, the muscles and flesh formed over the bones, and skin covered them, but the bodies had no breath.

9 Then he told me to call to the wind and say: "The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain bodies, that they may live again."

10 So I spoke to the winds as he commanded me, and the bodies began breathing; they lived and stood up--a very great army.

11 Then he told me what the vision meant: "These bones," he said, "represent all the people of Israel. They say: 'We have become a heap of dried-out bones--all hope is gone.'

12 But tell them, 'The Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again and return to the land of Israel.

13 And, then at last, O my people, you will know I am the Lord.

14 I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live and return home again to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have done just what I promised you.' "

15 Again a message from the Lord came to me, saying:

16 "Take a stick and carve on it these words: 'This stick represents Judah and her allied tribes.' Then take another stick and carve these words on it: 'This stick represents all the other tribes of Israel.'

17 Now hold them together in your hand as one stick.

18 Tell these people (holding the sticks so they can see what you are doing), the Lord God says: 'I will take the tribes of Israel and join them to Judah and make them one stick in my hand.' "

19

20

21 For the Lord God says: "I am gathering the people of Israel from among the nations and bringing them home from around the world to their own land,

22 to unify them into one nation. One king shall be king of them all; no longer shall they be divided into two nations.

23 They shall stop polluting themselves with idols and their other sins, for I will save them from all this foulness. Then they shall truly be my people and I their God.

24 "And David, my Servant--the Messiah--shall be their King, their only Shepherd; and they shall obey my laws and all my wishes.

25 They shall live in the land of Israel where their fathers lived, the land I gave my servant Jacob. They and their children after them shall live there, and their grandchildren, for all generations. And my Servant David, their Messiah, shall be their Prince forever.

26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting pact. I will bless them and multiply them and put my Temple among them forever.

27 And I will make my home among them. Yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 And when my Temple remains among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel as my very own."

38

1 Here is another message to me from the Lord:

2 "Son of dust, face northward toward the land of Magog and prophesy against Gog king of Meshech and Tubal.

3 Tell him that the Lord God says: 'I am against you, Gog.

4 I will put hooks into your jaws and pull you to your doom. I will mobilize your troops and armored cavalry and make you a mighty host, all fully armed.

5 Peras, Cush, Put shall join you too with all their weaponry,

6 and so shall Gomer and all his hordes and the armies of Togarmah from the distant north, as well as many others.

7 Be prepared! Stay mobilized. You are their leader, Gog!

8 'A long time from now you will be called to action. In distant years you will swoop down onto the land of Israel that will be lying in peace after the return of its people from many lands.

9 You and all your allies--a vast and awesome army--will roll down upon them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.

10 For at that time an evil thought will have come to your mind.

11 You will have said, "Israel is an unprotected land of unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people living in such confidence!

12 I will go to those once-desolate cities that are now filled with people again--those who have returned from all the nations--and I will capture vast amounts of loot and many slaves. For the people are rich with cattle now, and the whole earth revolves around them!"

13 "But Sheba and Dedan and the merchant princes of Tarshish with whom she trades will ask, 'Who are you to rob them of silver and gold and drive away their cattle and seize their goods and make them poor?' "

14 The Lord God says to Gog: "When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself.

15 You will come from all over the north with your vast host of cavalry and cover the land like a cloud.

16 This will happen in the distant future--in the latter years of history. I will bring you against my land, and my holiness will be vindicated in your terrible destruction before their eyes, so that all the nations will know that I am God."

17 The Lord God says: "You are the one I spoke of long ago through the prophets of Israel, saying that after many years had passed, I would bring you against my people.

18 But when you come to destroy the land of Israel, my fury will rise!

19 For in my jealousy and blazing wrath, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day.

20 All living things shall quake in terror at my presence; mountains shall be thrown down; cliffs shall tumble; walls shall crumble to the earth.

21 I will summon every kind of terror against you," says the Lord God, "and you will fight against yourselves in mortal combat!

22 I will fight you with sword, disease, torrential floods, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone!

23 Thus will I show my greatness and bring honor upon my name, and all the nations of the world will hear what I have done and know that I am God!

39

1 "Son of dust, prophesy this also against Gog. Tell him: 'I stand against you, Gog, leader of Meshech and Tubal.

2 I will turn you and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. And I will destroy 85 percent of your army in the mountains.

3 I will knock your weapons from your hands and leave you helpless.

4 You and all your vast armies will die upon the mountains. I will give you to the vultures and wild animals to devour you.

5 You will never reach the cities--you will fall upon the open fields; for I have spoken, the Lord God says.

6 And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts, and they shall know I am the Lord.

7 'Thus I will make known my holy name among my people Israel; I will not let it be mocked at anymore. And the nations, too, shall know I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

8 That day of judgment will come; everything will happen just as I have declared it.

9 'The people of the cities of Israel will go out and pick up your shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, javelins and spears, to use for fuel--enough to last them seven years.

10 For seven years they will need nothing else for their fires. They won't cut wood from the fields or forests, for these weapons will give them all they need. They will use the possessions of those who abused them.

11 'And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog and his armies in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the path of the travelers. There Gog and all his armies will be buried. And they will change the name of the place to 'The Valley of Gog's Army.'

12 It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies.

13 Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel on that day when I demonstrate my glory, says the Lord.

14 At the end of the seven months, they will appoint men to search the land systematically for any skeletons left and bury them, so that the land will be cleansed.

15 Whenever anyone sees some bones, he will put up a marker beside them so that the buriers will see them and take them to the Valley of Gog's Army to bury them.

16 A city named "Multitude" is there! And so the land will finally be cleansed.'

17 "And now, son of dust, call all the birds and animals and say to them: 'Gather together for a mighty sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel. Come, eat the flesh and drink the blood!

18 Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes--they are the rams, the lambs, the goats, and the fat young bulls of Bashan for my feast!

19 Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted, drink blood until you are drunk; this is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you.

20 Feast at my banquet table--feast on horses, riders, and valiant warriors, says the Lord God.'

21 "Thus I will demonstrate my glory among the nations; all shall see the punishment of Gog and know that I have done it.

22 And from that time onward the people of Israel will know I am the Lord their God.

23 And the nations will know why Israel was sent away to exile--it was punishment for sin, for they acted in treachery against their God. Therefore, I turned my face away from them and let their enemies destroy them.

24 I turned my face away and punished them in proportion to the vileness of their sins.

25 "But now," the Lord God says, "I will end the captivity of my people and have mercy upon them and restore their fortunes, for I am concerned about my reputation!

26 Their time of treachery and shame will all be in the past; they will be home again, in peace and safety in their own land, with no one bothering them or making them afraid.

27 I will bring them home from the lands of their enemies--and my glory shall be evident to all the nations when I do it. Through them I will vindicate my holiness before the nations.

28 Then my people will know I am the Lord their God--responsible for sending them away to exile, and responsible for bringing them home. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations.

29 And I will never hide my face from them again, for I will pour out my Spirit upon them," says the Lord God.

40

1 Early in April of the twenty-fifth year of our exile--the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured--the hand of the Lord was upon me,

2 and in a vision he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain where I saw what appeared to be a city opposite me.

3 Going nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze, standing beside the Temple gate, holding in his hand a measuring tape and a measuring stick.

4 He said to me: "Son of dust, watch and listen and take to heart everything I show you, for you have been brought here so I can show you many things; and then you are to return to the people of Israel to tell them all you have seen."

5 The man began to measure the wall around the outside of the Temple area with his measuring stick, which was 10 1/2 feet long. He told me, "This wall is 10 1/2 feet high and 10 1/2 feet wide."

6 Then he took me over to the passageway that goes through the eastern wall. We climbed the seven steps into the entrance, and he measured the entry hall of the passage; it was 10 1/2 feet wide.

7 Walking on through the passageway I saw that there were three guardrooms on each side; each of these rooms was 10 1/2 feet square, with a distance of 8 3/4 feet along the wall between them.

8 In front of these rooms was a low barrier

9

10 Beyond the guardrooms was a 10 1/2-foot doorway opening into a 14-foot hall with 3 1/2-foot columns.

11

12 Beyond this hall, at the inner end of the passageway, was a vestibule 22 3/4 feet wide and 17 1/2 feet long.

13 Then he measured the entire outside width of the passageway, measuring across the roof from the outside doors of the guardrooms; this distance was 43 3/4 feet.

14 Then he estimated the pillars on each side of the porch to be about 100 feet high.

15 The full length of the entrance passage was 87 1/2 feet from one end to the other.

16 There were windows that narrowed inward through the walls along both sides of the passageway and along the guardroom walls. The windows were also in the exit and in the entrance halls. The pillars were decorated with palm tree decorations.

17 And so we passed through the passageway to the court inside. A stone pavement ran around the inside of the walls, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto this pavement.

18 This was called "the lower pavement." It extended out from the walls into the court the same distance as the passageway did.

19 Then he measured across to the wall on the other side of this court (which was called "the outer court" of the Temple) and found that the distance was 175 feet.

20 As I followed, he left the eastern passageway and went over to the passage through the northern wall and measured it.

21 Here, too, there were three guardrooms on each side, and all the measurements were the same as for the east passageway--87 1/2 feet long and 43 3/4 feet from side to side across the top of the guardrooms.

22 There were windows, an entry hall, and the palm tree decorations just the same as on the east side. And there were seven steps leading up to the doorway to the entry hall inside.

23 Here at the north entry, just as at the east, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to an inner wall and a passageway through it to an inner court. The distance between the two passageways was 175 feet.

24 Then he took me around to the south gate and measured the various sections of its passageway and found they were just the same as in the others.

25 It had windows along the walls as the others did, and an entry hall. And like the others, it was 87 1/2 feet long and 43 3/4 feet wide.

26 It, too, had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and there were palm tree decorations along the walls.

27 And here again, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to the inner wall and a passageway through it to the inner court. And the distance between the passageways was 175 feet.

28 Then he took me over to the inner wall and its south passageway. He measured this passageway and found that it had the same measurements as the passageways of the outer wall.

29 Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance and exit hall were identical to all the others, and so were the windows along its walls and entry. And, like the others, it was 87 1/2 feet long by 43 3/4 feet wide.

30

31 The only difference was that it had eight steps leading up to it instead of seven. It had palm tree decorations on the pillars, just as the others.

32 Then he took me along the court to the eastern entrance of the inner wall, and measured it. It, too, had the same measurements as the others.

33 Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance hall were the same size as those of the other passageways, and there were windows along the walls and in the entry hall; and it was 87 1/2 feet long by 43 3/4 feet wide.

34 Its entry hall faced the outer court, and there were palm tree decorations on its columns, but there were eight steps instead of seven going up to the entrance.

35 Then he took me around to the north gate of the inner wall, and the measurements there were just like the others:

36 The guardrooms, pillars, and entry hall of this passageway were the same as the others, with a length of 87 1/2 feet and a width of 43 3/4 feet.

37 Its entry hall faced toward the outer court; it had palm tree decorations on the walls of each side of the passageway, and there were eight steps leading up to the entrance.

38 But a door led from its entry hall into a side room where the flesh of the sacrifices was washed before being taken to the altar;

39 on each side of the entry hall of the passageway there were two tables where the animals for sacrifice were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings to be presented in the Temple.

40 Outside the entry hall, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, there were two more tables.

41 So, in all there were eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the sacrifices were cut up and prepared.

42 There were also four stone tables where the butchering knives and other implements were laid. These tables were about 2 5/8 feet square and 1 3/4 feet high.

43 There were hooks, 3 or 4 inches long, fastened along the walls of the entry hall, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.

44 In the inner court there were two one-room buildings, one beside the northern entrance, facing south, and one beside the southern entrance, facing north.

45 And he said to me: "The building beside the inner northern gate is for the priests who supervise the maintenance.

46 The building beside the inner southern entrance is for the priests in charge of the altar--the descendants of Zadok--for they alone of all the Levites may come near to the Lord to minister to him."

47 Then he measured the inner court in front of the Temple and found it to be 175 feet square, and there was an altar in the court, standing in front of the Temple.

48 Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the Temple. Ten steps led up to it from the inner court. Its walls extended up on either side to form two pillars, each of them 8 3/4 feet thick.

49 The entrance was 24 1/2 feet wide with 5 1/4-foot walls. Thus the entry hall was 35 feet wide and 19 1/4 feet long.

41

1 Afterward he brought me into the nave, the large main room of the Temple, and measured the pillars that formed its doorway. They were 10 1/2 feet square.

2 The entrance hall was 17 1/2 feet wide and 8 3/4 feet deep. The nave itself was 70 feet long by 35 feet.

3 Then he went into the inner room at the end of the nave and measured the columns at the entrance and found them to be 3 1/2 feet thick; its doorway was 10 1/2 feet wide, with a hallway 12 1/4 feet deep behind it.

4 The inner room was 35 feet square. "This," he told me, "is the Most Holy Place."

5 Then he measured the wall of the Temple and found that it was 10 1/2 feet thick, with a row of rooms along the outside. Each room was 7 feet wide.

6 These rooms were in three tiers, one above the other, with thirty rooms in each tier. The whole structure was supported by girders and not attached to the Temple wall for support.

7 Each tier was wider than the one below it, corresponding to the narrowing of the Temple wall as it rose higher. A stairway at the side of the Temple led up from floor to floor.

8 I noticed that the Temple was built on a terrace and that the bottom row of rooms extended out 10 1/2 feet onto the terrace.

9 The outer wall of these rooms was 8 3/4 feet thick, leaving a free space of 8 3/4 feet out to the edge of the terrace, the same on both sides.

10 Thirty-five feet away from the terrace, on both sides of the Temple, was another row of rooms down in the inner court.

11 Two doors opened from the tiers of rooms to the terrace yard, which was 8 3/4 feet wide; one door faced north and the other south.

12 A large building stood on the west, facing the Temple yard, measuring 122 1/2 feet wide by 157 1/2 feet long. Its walls were 8 3/4 feet thick.

13 Then he measured the Temple and its immediately surrounding yards. The area was 175 feet square.

14 The inner court at the east of the Temple was also 175 feet wide,

15 and so was the building west of the Temple, including its two walls.

16 The nave of the Temple and the Holy of Holies and the entry hall were paneled, and all three had recessed windows. The inner walls of the Temple were paneled with wood above and below the windows.

17 The space above the door leading into the Holy of Holies was also paneled. The walls were decorated

18 with carvings of Guardian Angels, each with two faces, and of palm trees alternating with the Guardian Angels.

19 One face--that of a man--looked toward the palm tree on one side, and the other face--that of a young lion--looked toward the palm tree on the other side.

20 And so it was, all around the inner wall of the Temple.

21 There were square doorposts at the doors of the nave, and in front of the Holy of Holies was what appeared to be an altar, but it was made of wood.

22 This altar was 3 1/2 feet square and 5 1/4 feet high; its corners, base, and sides were all of wood. "This," he told me, "is the Table of the Lord."

23 Both the nave and the Holy of Holies had double doors,

24 each with two swinging sections.

25 The doors leading into the nave were decorated with cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls. And there was a wooden canopy over the entry hall.

26 There were recessed windows and carved palm trees on both sides of the entry hall, the hallways beside the Temple, and on the canopy over the entrance.

42

1 Then he led me out of the Temple, back into the inner court to the rooms north of the Temple yard, and to another building.

2 This group of structures was 175 feet long by 87 1/2 feet wide.

3 The rows of rooms behind this building were the inner wall of the court. The rooms were in three tiers, overlooking the outer court on one side, and having a 35-foot strip of inner court on the other.

4 A 17 1/2-foot walk ran between the building and the tiers of rooms, extending the entire length, with the doors of the building facing north.

5 The upper two tiers of rooms were not as wide as the lower one, because the upper tiers had wider walkways beside them.

6 And since the building was not built with girders as those in the outer court were, the upper stories were set back from the ground floor.

7 The north tiers, next to the outer court, were 87 1/2 feet long--only half as long as the inner wing that faced the Temple court, which was 175 feet long. But a wall extended from the end of the shorter wing, parallel to the longer wing.

8

9 And there was an entrance from the outer court to these rooms from the east.

10 On the opposite side of the Temple a similar building composed of two units of tiers was on the south side of the inner court, between the Temple and the outer court, arranged the same as the other.

11 There was a walk between the two wings of the building, the same as in the other building across the court--the same length and width and the same exits and doors--they were identical units.

12 And there was a door from the outer court at the east.

13 Then he told me: "These north and south tiers of rooms facing the Temple yard are holy; there the priests who offer up the sacrifices to the Lord shall eat of the most holy offerings and store them--the cereal offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings, for these rooms are holy.

14 When the priests leave the Holy Place--the nave of the Temple--they must change their clothes before going out to the outer court. The special robes in which they have been ministering must first be removed, for these robes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building open to the public."

15 When he had finished making these measurements, he led me out through the east passageway to measure the entire Temple area.

16 He found that it was in the form of a square, 875 feet long on each side, with a wall all around it to separate the restricted area from the public places.

17

18

19

20

43

1 Afterward he brought me out again to the passageway through the outer wall leading to the east.

2 And suddenly the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape lighted up with his glory.

3 It was just as I had seen it in the other visions, first by the Chebar Canal, and then later at Jerusalem when he came to destroy the city. And I fell down before him with my face in the dust.

4 And the glory of the Lord came into the Temple through the eastern passageway.

5 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple.

6 And I heard the Lord speaking to me from within the Temple (the man who had been measuring was still standing beside me).

7 And the Lord said to me: "Son of dust, this is the place of my throne and my footstool, where I shall remain, living among the people of Israel forever. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer through the adulterous worship of other gods or by worshiping the totem poles erected by their kings.

8 They built their idol temples beside mine, with only a wall between, and worshiped their idols. Because they sullied my holy name by such wickedness, I consumed them in my anger.

9 Now let them put away their idols and the totem poles erected by their kings, and I will live among them forever.

10 "Son of dust, describe the Temple I have shown you to the people of Israel. Tell them its appearance and its plan so they will be ashamed of all their sins.

11 And if they are truly ashamed of what they have done, then explain to them the details of its construction--its doors and entrances--and everything about it. Write out all the directions and the rules for them to keep.

12 And this is the basic law of the Temple: Holiness! The entire top of the hill where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the primary law concerning it.

13 "And these are the measurements of the altar: The base is 21 inches high, with a 9 inch rim around its edge, and it extends 21 inches beyond the altar on all sides.

14 The first stage of the altar is a stone platform 3 1/2 feet high. This platform is 21 inches narrower than the base block on all sides. Rising from this is a narrower platform, 21 inches narrower on all sides, and 7 feet high.

15 From it a still narrower platform rises 7 feet, and this is the top of the altar, with four horns projecting 21 inches up from the corners.

16 This top platform of the altar is 21 feet square.

17 The platform beneath it is 24 1/2 feet square with a 10 1/2-inch curb around the edges. The entire platform extends out from the top 21 inches on all sides. On the east side are steps to climb the altar."

18 And he said to me: "Son of dust, the Lord God says: These are the measurements of the altar to be made in the future, when it is erected for the burning of offerings and the sprinkling of blood upon it.

19 At that time the Zadok family of the Levite tribe, who are my ministers, are to be given a bullock for a sin offering.

20 You shall take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the top platform and in the curb around it. This will cleanse and make atonement for the altar.

21 Then take the bullock for the sin offering and burn it at the appointed place outside the Temple area.

22 "The second day, sacrifice a young male goat without any defects--without sickness, deformities, cuts or scars--for a sin offering. Thus the altar shall be cleansed, as it was by the bullock.

23 When you have finished this cleansing ceremony, offer another perfect bullock and a perfect ram from the flock.

24 Present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them as a burnt offering.

25 "Every day for seven days a male goat, a bullock and a ram from the flock shall be sacrificed as a sin offering. None are to have any defects or unhealthiness of any kind.

26 Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus consecrating it.

27 On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and thank offerings of the people, and I will accept you, says the Lord God."

44

1 Then the Lord brought me back to the outer wall's eastern passageway, but it was closed.

2 And he said to me: "This gate shall remain closed; it shall never be opened. No man shall pass through it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, entered here, and so it shall remain shut.

3 Only the prince--because he is the prince--may sit inside the passageway to feast there before the Lord. But he shall go and come only through the entry hall of the passage."

4 Then he brought me through the north passageway to the front of the Temple. I looked and saw that the glory of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord, and I fell to the ground with my face in the dust.

5 And the Lord said to me: "Son of dust, notice carefully; use your eyes and ears. Listen to all I tell you about the laws and rules of the Temple of the Lord. Note carefully who may be admitted to the Temple and who is to be excluded from it.

6 And say to these rebels, the people of Israel, 'The Lord God says: O Israel, you have sinned greatly

7 by letting the uncircumcised into my sanctuary--those who have no heart for God--when you offer me my food, the fat and the blood. Thus you have broken my covenant in addition to all your other sins.

8 You have not kept the laws I gave you concerning these holy affairs, for you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.' "

9 The Lord God says: "No foreigner of all the many among you shall enter my sanctuary if he has not been circumcised and does not love the Lord.

10 And the men of the tribe of Levi who abandoned me when Israel strayed away from God to idols must be punished for their unfaithfulness.

11 They may be Temple guards and gatemen; they may slay the animals brought for burnt offerings and be present to help the people.

12 But because they encouraged the people to worship other gods, causing Israel to fall into deep sin, I have raised my hand and taken oath," says the Lord God, "that they must be punished.

13 They shall not come near me to minister as priests; they may not touch any of my holy things, for they must bear their shame for all the sins they have committed.

14 They are the Temple caretakers, to do maintenance work and to assist the people in a general way.

15 "However, the sons of Zadok, of the tribe of Levi, continued as my priests in the Temple when Israel abandoned me for idols. These men shall be my ministers; they shall stand before me to offer the fat and blood of the sacrifices," says the Lord God.

16 "They shall enter my sanctuary and come to my Table to minister to me; they shall fulfill my requirements.

17 "They must wear only linen clothing when they enter the passageway to the inner court, for they must wear no wool while on duty in the inner court or in the Temple.

18 They must wear linen turbans and linen trousers; they must not wear anything that would cause them to perspire.

19 When they return to the outer court, they must take off the clothes they wear while ministering to me, leaving them in the sacred chambers, and put on other clothes lest they harm the people by touching them with this clothing.

20 "They must not let their hair grow too long nor shave it off. Regular, moderate haircuts are all they are allowed.

21 No priest may drink wine before coming to the inner court.

22 He may marry only a Jewish maiden, or the widow of a priest; he may not marry a divorced woman.

23 "He shall teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is secular, what is right and what is wrong.

24 "They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among my people. Their decisions must be based upon my laws. And the priests themselves shall obey my rules and regulations at all the sacred festivals, and they shall see to it that the Sabbath is kept a sacred day.

25 "A priest must not defile himself by being in the presence of a dead person, unless it is his father, mother, child, brother, or unmarried sister. In such cases it is all right.

26 But afterward he must wait seven days before he is cleansed and able to perform his Temple duties again.

27 The first day he returns to work and enters the inner court and the sanctuary, he must offer a sin offering for himself," the Lord God says.

28 "As to property, they shall not own any, for I am their heritage! That is enough!

29 "Their food shall be the gifts and sacrifices brought to the Temple by the people--the cereal offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Whatever anyone gives to the Lord shall be the priests'.

30 The first of the first-ripe fruits and all the gifts for the Lord shall go to the priests. The first samples of each harvest of grain shall be donated to the priests too, so that the Lord will bless your homes.

31 Priests may never eat meat from any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that dies after being attacked by other animals.

45

1 "When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you shall first give a section of it to the Lord as his holy portion. This piece shall be 8 1/3 miles long and 6 2/3 miles wide. It shall all be holy ground.

2 "A section of this land, 875 feet square, shall be designated for the Temple. An additional 87 1/2-foot strip all around is to be left empty.

3 The Temple shall be built within the area which is 8 1/3 miles long and 3 1/3 miles wide.

4 All this section shall be holy land; it will be used by the priests, who minister in the sanctuary, for their homes and for my Temple.

5 "The strip next to it, 8 1/3 miles long and 3 1/3 miles wide, shall be the residence area for the Levites who work at the Temple.

6 Adjacent to the holy lands will be a section 8 1/3 miles by 1 2/3 miles for a city open to everyone in Israel.

7 "Two special sections of land shall be set apart for the prince--one on each side of the holy lands and city; it is contiguous with them in length, and its eastern and western boundaries are the same as those of the tribal sections.

8 This shall be his allotment. My princes shall no longer oppress and rob my people but shall assign all the remainder of the land to the people, giving a portion to each tribe."

9 For the Sovereign Lord says to the rulers: "Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land and expelling them from their homes. Always be fair and honest.

10 You must use honest scales, honest bushels, honest gallons.

11 A homer about five bushels shall be your standard unit of measurement for both liquid and dry measure. Smaller units shall be the ephah about one half bushel for dry measure, and the bath about seventeen quarts for liquid.

12 The unit of weight shall be the silver shekel about half an ounce; it must always be exchanged for twenty gerahs, no less; five shekels shall be valued at five shekels, no less; and ten shekels at ten shekels! Fifty shekels shall always equal one mina.

13 "This is the tax you must give to the prince: a bushel of wheat or barley for every sixty you reap;

14 and one percent of your olive oil;

15 from each 200 sheep in all your flocks in Israel, give him one sheep. These are the meal offerings, burnt offerings and thank offerings to make atonement for those who bring them," says the Lord God.

16 "All the people of Israel shall bring their offerings to the prince.

17 "The prince shall be required to furnish the people with sacrifices for public worship--sin offerings, burnt offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, and thank offerings--to make reconciliation for the people of Israel. This shall be done at the time of the religious feasts, the new moon ceremonies, the Sabbaths, and all other similar occasions.

18 The Lord God says: "On each New Year's Day sacrifice a young bull with no blemishes, to purify the Temple.

19 The priest shall take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the door posts of the Temple, upon the four corners of the base of the altar, and upon the walls at the entry of the inner court.

20 Do this also on the seventh day of that month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance, and so the Temple will be cleansed.

21 "On the fourteenth day of the same month, you shall celebrate the Passover. It will be a seven-day feast. Only bread without yeast shall be eaten during those days.

22 On the day of Passover the prince shall provide a young bull for a sin offering for himself and all the people of Israel.

23 On each of the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord. This daily offering will consist of seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish. A male goat shall also be given each day for a sin offering.

24 And the prince shall provide one half bushel of grain with each bullock and ram for a meal offering, and three quarts of olive oil.

25 "Early in October during each of the seven days of the annual festival of shelters, he shall provide these same sacrifices for the sin offering, burnt offering, meal offering, and oil offering.

46

1 The Lord God says, "The inner wall's eastern entrance shall be closed during the six work days but open on the Sabbath and on the days of the new moon celebrations.

2 The prince shall enter the outside entry hall of the passageway and proceed to the inner wall at the other end while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He shall worship inside the passageway and then return back to the entrance, which shall not be closed until evening.

3 The people shall worship the Lord in front of this passageway on the Sabbaths and on the days of the new moon celebrations.

4 "The burnt offering that the prince sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbath days shall be six lambs and a ram, all unblemished.

5 He shall present a meal offering of one half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount he is willing for to go with each lamb. And he shall bring three quarts of olive oil for each half bushel of flour.

6 At the new moon celebration, he shall bring one young bull in perfect condition, six lambs, and one ram, all without any blemish.

7 With the young bull, he must bring one half bushel of flour for a meal offering. With the ram he must bring one half bushel of flour. With the lamb he is to bring whatever he is willing to give. With each half bushel of grain he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.

8 "The prince shall go in at the entry hall of the passageway and out the same way;

9 but when the people come in through the north passageway to sacrifice during the religious feasts, they must go out through the south passageway. Those coming in from the south must go out by the north. They must never go out the same way they come in, but must always use the opposite passageway.

10 The prince shall enter and leave with the common people on these occasions.

11 "To summarize: At the special feasts and sacred festivals the meal offering shall be one half bushel with the young bull; one half bushel with the ram; as much as the prince is willing to give with each lamb; and three quarts of oil with each half bushel of grain.

12 Whenever the prince offers an extra burnt offering or peace offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the inner eastern gate shall be opened up for him to enter, and he shall offer his sacrifices just as on the Sabbaths. Then he shall turn around and go out, and the passage shall be shut behind him.

13 "Each morning a yearling lamb must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord.

14 And there must be a meal offering each morning--five pounds of flour with one quart of oil with which to mix it.

15 This is a permanent ordinance--the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil shall be provided every morning for the daily sacrifice.

16 The Sovereign Lord says: "If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him forever.

17 But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Release (every seventh year) when he is set free; then the land returns to the prince. Only gifts to his sons are permanent.

18 And the prince may never take anyone's property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I don't want my people losing their property and having to move away."

19 After that, using the door through the wall at the side of the main passageway, he led me through the entrance to the block of sacred chambers that faced north. There, at the extreme west end of these rooms, I saw a place where,

20 my guide told me, the priests boil the meat of the trespass offering and sin offering and bake the flour of the flour offerings into bread. They do it here to avoid the necessity of carrying the sacrifices through the outer court, in case they harm the people.

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court again and led me to each of the four corners of the court.

22 I saw that in each corner there was a room 70 feet long by 52 1/2 feet wide, enclosed by walls.

23 Around the inside of these walls there ran a line of brick boiling vats with ovens underneath.

24 He said these rooms were where the Temple assistants--the Levites--boil the sacrifices the people offer.

47

1 Then he brought me back to the door of the Temple. I saw a stream flowing eastward from beneath the Temple and passing to the right of the altar, that is, on its south side.

2 Then he brought me outside the wall through the north passageway and around to the eastern entrance, where I saw the stream flowing along on the south side of the eastern passageway.

3 Measuring as he went, he took me 1,500 feet east along the stream and told me to go across. At that point the water was up to my ankles.

4 He measured off another 1,500 feet and told me to cross again. This time the water was up to my knees.

5 Fifteen hundred feet after that it was up to my waist. Another 1,500 feet and it had become a river so deep I wouldn't be able to get across unless I were to swim. It was too deep to cross on foot.

6 He told me to keep in mind what I had seen, then led me back along the bank.

7 And now, to my surprise, many trees were growing on both sides of the river!

8 He told me: "This river flows east through the desert and the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, where it will heal the salty waters and make them fresh and pure.

9 Everything touching the water of this river shall live. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will be healed. Wherever this water flows, everything will live.

10 Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea, fishing all the way from Engedi to Eneglaim. The shores will be filled with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea just as they do the Mediterranean!

11 But the marshes and swamps will not be healed; they will still be salty.

12 All kinds of fruit trees will grow along the riverbanks. The leaves will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit. There will be a new crop every month--without fail! For they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for medicine."

13 The Lord God says: "Here are the instructions for dividing the land to the twelve tribes of Israel: The tribe of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) shall be given two sections.

14 Otherwise, each tribe will have an equal share. I promised with hand raised in oath of truth to give the land to your fathers, and you shall inherit it now.

15 "The northern boundary will run from the Mediterranean toward Hethlon, then on through Labweh to Zedad;

16 then to Berothah and Sibraim, which are on the border between Damascus and Hamath, and finally to Hazer-hatticon, on the border of Hauran.

17 So the northern border will be from the Mediterranean to Hazar-enan, on the border with Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south.

18 "The eastern border will run south from Hazar-enan to Mount Hauran, where it will bend westward to the Jordan at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, and down along the Jordan River separating Israel from Gilead, past the Dead Sea to Tamar.

19 "The southern border will go west from Tamar to the springs at Meribath-kadesh and then follow the course of the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) to the Mediterranean.

20 "On the west side, the Mediterranean itself will be your boundary, from the southern boundary to the point where the northern boundary begins.

21 "Divide the land within these boundaries among the tribes of Israel.

22 Distribute the land as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who live among you with their families. All children born in the land--whether or not their parents are foreigners--are to be considered citizens and have the same rights your own children have.

23 All these immigrants are to be given land according to the tribe where they now live.

48

1 "Here is the list of the tribes and the territory each is to get. For Dan: From the northwest boundary at the Mediterranean, across to Hethlon, then to Labweh, and then on to Hazar-enan on the border between Damascus to the south and Hamath to the north. Those are the eastern and western limits of the land.

2 Asher's territory lies south of Dan's and has the same east and west boundaries.

3 Naphtali's land lies south of Asher's, with the same boundary lines on the east and the west.

4 Then comes Manasseh, south of Naphtali, with the same eastern and western boundary lines.

5 Next, to the south, is Ephraim, and then Reuben and then Judah, all with the same boundaries on the east and the west.

6

7

8 "South of Judah is the land set aside for the Temple. It has the same eastern and western boundaries as the tribal units, with the Temple in the center.

9 This Temple area will be 8 1/3 miles long and 6 2/3 miles wide.

10 "A strip of land measuring 8 1/3 miles long by 3 1/3 miles wide, north to south, surrounds the Temple.

11 It is for the priests, that is, the sons of Zadok who obeyed me and didn't go into sin when the people of Israel and the rest of their tribe of Levi did.

12 It is their special portion when the land is distributed, the most sacred land of all. Next to it lies the area where the other Levites will live.

13 It will be of the same size and shape as the first. Together they measure 8 1/3 miles by 6 2/3 miles.

14 None of this special land shall ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the Lord; it is holy.

15 "The strip of land 8 1/3 miles long by 1 2/3 miles wide, south of the Temple section, is for public use--homes, pasture, and parks, with a city in the center.

16 The city itself is to be 1 1/2 miles square.

17 Open land for pastures shall surround the city for approximately a tenth of a mile.

18 Outside the city, stretching east and west for three miles alongside the holy grounds, is garden area belonging to the city, for public use.

19 It is open to anyone working in the city, no matter where he comes from in Israel.

20 "The entire area--including sacred lands and city lands--is 8 1/3 miles square.

21 "The land on both sides of this area, extending clear out to the eastern and western boundaries of Israel, shall belong to the prince. This land, lying between the sections allotted to Judah and Benjamin, is 8 1/3 miles square on each side of the sacred and city lands.

22

23 "The sections given to the remaining tribes are as follows: Benjamin's section extends across the entire country of Israel, from its eastern border clear across to the western border.

24 South of Benjamin's area lies that of Simeon, also extending out to these same eastern and western borders.

25 Next is Issachar, with the same boundaries.

26 Then comes Zebulun, also extending all the way across.

27 Then Gad, with the same borders on east and west,

28 while its south border runs from Tamar to the Spring at Meribath-kadesh, and then follows the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) to the Mediterranean.

29 These are the allotments to be made to each tribe," says the Lord God.

30 "Each city gate will be named in honor of one of the tribes of Israel. On the north side, with its 1 1/2-mile wall, there will be three gates, one named for Reuben, one for Judah, and one for Levi.

31

32 On the east side, with its 1 1/2-mile wall, the gates will be named for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan.

33 The south wall, also the same length, will have the gates of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun;

34 on the 1 1/2 miles of the west side, they will be named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.

35 "The entire circumference of the city is six miles. And the name of the city will be 'The City of God.' "