3 And he said to me, c“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. tEat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” uThen I ate it, and it was in my mouth vas sweet as honey.
4 And he said to me, w“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. xSurely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 yBut the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel zhave a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 aBehold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like bemery harder than flint have I made your forehead. cFear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, dall my words that I shall speak to you receive ein your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, fto your people, and speak to them and say to them, g‘Thus says the Lord God,’ hwhether they hear or refuse to hear.”
12 iThen the Spirit1 lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice2 of ja great earthquake: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from its place!” 13 It was the sound of the wings of kthe living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, and the sound of la great earthquake. 14 mThe Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the nhand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 oAnd I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling oby the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling.3 And pI sat there qoverwhelmed among them rseven days.
A Watchman for Israel
16 sAnd at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 t“Son of man, uI have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall vgive them warning from me. 18 wIf I say to the wicked, x‘You shall surely die,’ vand you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person yshall die for4 his iniquity, zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 19 aBut if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, bbut you cwill have delivered your soul. 20 dAgain, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, eand I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. vBecause you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, dand his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, zbut his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”
22 fAnd the hand of the Lord was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into gthe valley,5 and hthere I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, ithe glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen jby the Chebar canal, iand I fell on my face. 24 kBut the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. 25 And you, O son of man, behold, lcords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that myou shall be mute and unable to reprove them, nfor they are a rebellious house. 27 oBut when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, p‘Thus says the Lord God.’ qHe who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
4 “And you, rson of man, stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 tAnd put siegeworks against it, uand build a siege wall against it, vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, wand plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; xand set your face toward it, yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is za sign for the house of Israel.
4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment1 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, b390 days, cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. aSo long shall you bear dthe punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ebear fthe punishment of the house of Judah. gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, iwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed kthe days of your siege.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,2 and put them into a single vessel and make your lbread from them. mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, n390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be oby weight, ptwenty shekels3 a day; from day to day4 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;5 from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it qin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, s“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.6 tFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten uwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has vtainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, w“Son of man, behold, xI will break the supply7 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread oby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water oby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ylook at one another in dismay, and zrot away because of their punishment.
Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed
5 “And you, aO son of man, take a bsharp sword. Use it as ca barber’s razor and dpass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 eA third part you shall burn in the fire fin the midst of the city, gwhen the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. hAnd a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and iI will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 jAnd you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 kAnd of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: lThis is Jerusalem. I have set her min the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness nmore than the nations, and against my statutes more than mthe countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are omore turbulent than the nations that are all around you, pand have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, qand have not1 even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ram against you. sAnd I will execute judgments2 in your midst tin the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you uwhat I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore vfathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. sAnd I will execute judgments on you, wand any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, xas I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ybecause you have defiled my sanctuary zwith all your detestable things and with all your aabominations, btherefore I will withdraw.3 cMy eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 dA third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; da third part shall fall by the sword all around you; dand a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 e“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that fI am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—ewhen I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you ga desolation and han object of reproach among ithe nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be4 a reproach and a taunt, a warning jand a horror, to ithe nations all around you, kwhen I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and lwith furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you5 mthe deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon nyou and break your supply6 of bread. 17 I will send famine and owild beasts against you, pand they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and qblood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
Judgment Against Idolatry
6 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 r“Son of man, sset your face toward tthe mountains of Israel, and uprophesy against them, 3 and say, vYou mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to wthe mountains and xthe hills, to ythe ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, zand I will destroy your high places. 4 zYour altars shall become desolate, and your aincense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. 5 zAnd I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, band I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you dwell, cthe cities shall be waste and dthe high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,1 your idols broken and destroyed, your aincense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
8 e“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations fsome who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9 then those of you who escape gwill remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how hI have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ithat go whoring after their idols. gAnd they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord. jI have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”
11 Thus says the Lord God: k“Clap your hands land stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, mfor they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 nHe who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. oThus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, pwhen their slain lie among their idols around their altars, qon every high hill, ron all the mountaintops, sunder every green tree, and under tevery leafy oak, wherever uthey offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14 And vI will stretch out my hand against them and wmake the land desolate and waste, xin all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to yRiblah.2 Then zthey will know that I am the Lord.”
The Day of the Wrath of the Lord
7 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “And you, aO son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: bAn end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.1 3 Now bthe end is upon you, and cI will send my anger upon you; dI will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 4 eAnd my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but fI will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. gThen you will know that I am the Lord.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster hafter disaster!2 Behold, it comes. 6 bAn end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. 7 iYour doom3 has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. jThe time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not kof joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will soon lpour out my wrath upon you, and mspend my anger against you, dand judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 9 eAnd my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. nThen you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.
10 o“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! pYour doom has come; qthe rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 rViolence has grown up into qa rod of wickedness. sNone of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.4 12 jThe time has come; the day has arrived. Let not tthe buyer rejoice, nor tthe seller mourn, ufor wrath is upon all their multitude.5 13 For vthe seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. wFor the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.6
14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, xfor my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 yThe sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. zHe who is in the field dies by the sword, zand him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 aAnd if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like bdoves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17 cAll hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 dThey put on sackcloth, and ehorror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and fbaldness on all their heads. 19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. gTheir silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. hFor it was ithe stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 jHis beautiful ornament they used for pride, and kthey made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore lI make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of mforeigners for prey, nand to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and lthey shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and lthey shall profane my treasured7 place. Robbers shall enter land profane it.
23 o“Forge a chain!8 pFor the land is full of bloody crimes qand the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring rthe worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. sI will put an end to the pride of the strong, tand their holy places9 shall be profaned. 25 uWhen anguish comes, vthey will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 wDisaster comes upon disaster; xrumor follows rumor. yThey seek a vision from the prophet, while zthe law10 perishes from the priest and acounsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way bI will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, cand they shall know that I am the Lord.”
