Ezekiel in Babylon

1 ^aIn the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by ^bthe Chebar canal, ^cthe heavens were opened, and I saw ^dvisions of God.¹ 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was ^ethe fifth year of ^fthe exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel ^gthe priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by ^bthe Chebar canal, and ^hthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.

The Glory of the Lord

4 As I looked, behold, ⁱa stormy wind came ^jout of the north, and a great cloud, with ^kbrightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, ^las it were gleaming metal.² 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of ^mfour living creatures. ⁿAnd this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 ^obut each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled ^plike burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings ^qon their four sides ^rthey had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. ^sEach one of them went straight forward, ^qwithout turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, ^teach had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while ^utwo covered their bodies. 12 ^sAnd each went straight forward. ^vWherever the spirit³ would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was ^wlike burning coals of fire, ^wlike the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. ^xAnd the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures ^ydarted to and fro, ^zlike the appearance of a flash of lightning.

15 ^aNow as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.⁴ 16 ^aAs for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like ^bthe gleaming of beryl. ^cAnd the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 ^dWhen they went, they went ^ein any of their four directions^{5 f}without turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, ^gand the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19 ^hAnd when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; ⁱand when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 ^jWherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, ^jfor the spirit of the living creatures⁶ was in the wheels. 21 ^hWhen those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; ⁱand when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, ^jfor the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was ^kthe likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring ^lcrystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were ^mstretched out straight, one toward another. ⁿAnd each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings ^olike the sound of many waters, like ^pthe sound of the ^qAlmighty, a sound of tumult ^rlike the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above ^sthe expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

26 And above the expanse over their heads there was ^tthe likeness of a throne, ^tin appearance ^ulike sapphire;⁷ and seated above the likeness of a throne was ^va likeness with a human appearance. 27 And ^wupward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were ^xgleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and ^ythere was brightness around him.⁸ 28 Like the appearance of ^zthe bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of ^athe glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, ^bI fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel’s Call

1 And he said to me, ^c“Son of man,^{9 d}stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, ^ethe Spirit entered into me and ^fset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to ^gnations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. ^hThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are ⁱimpudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And ^jwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ^ga rebellious house) ^kthey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, ^lbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, ^mthough briers and thorns are with you and you sit on ⁿscorpions.¹⁰ Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, ^jwhether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^oBe not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^peat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, ^qa hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^ra scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^son the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

1 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 Spirit¹¹ lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice¹² 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.¹³ 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 for¹⁴ 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,¹⁵ 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

1 “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 punishment¹⁶ 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,¹⁷ 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 shekels¹⁸ a day; from day to day¹⁹ you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink ^oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;²⁰ 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.^{21 t}From 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 supply²² 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

1 “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 not²³ 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 judgments²⁴ 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.^{25 c}My 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 be²⁶ 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 you^{27 m}the 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 supply²⁸ 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

1 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,²⁹ 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.³⁰ Then ^zthey will know that I am the Lord.”