Ezekiel 9; Ezekiel 10; Ezekiel 11; Ezekiel 12

1 Then in my hearing he called out loudly: Draw near, you guardians of the city, and bring your weapons of destruction!

2 Suddenly, six men came from the Upper Gate that faces north. All of them were holding weapons of destruction. Among them was another man who was dressed in linen and had a writing case at his side. When they came in and stood beside the bronze altar,

3 the glory of Israel's God rose from above the winged creatures where he had been and moved toward the temple's threshold. The LORD called to the man who was dressed in linen with the writing case at his side:

4 Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and mark the foreheads of those who sigh and groan because of all the detestable practices that have been conducted in it.

5 To the others he said in my hearing: Go through the city after him, and attack. Spare no one! Be merciless!

6 Kill them all, old men, young men and women, babies and mothers. Only don't touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men, the elders in front of the temple.

7 He said to them: Make the temple unclean! Fill the courts with the slain! Go! And they went out and attacked the city.

8 While they were attacking, I was left alone. I fell on my face, and I cried out, "Oh, LORD God! When you pour out your wrath on Jerusalem, will you destroy all that is left of Israel?"

9 He said to me: “Judah and the house of Israel are very, very guilty. The land is filled with blood, and the city is full of injustice. They have said, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD sees nothing.'

10 I most definitely won't spare or pity anyone! I will hold them accountable for their ways.”

11 Just then the man who was dressed in linen with the writing case at his side returned and said, "I've done just as you commanded."

1 At that moment I saw a form of a throne in the dome above the heads of the winged creatures. It appeared above them, and it looked like lapis lazuli.

2 He said to the man clothed in linen: Go in between the wheels under the winged creatures. Fill your hands with fiery coals from between the winged creatures, and scatter them over the city. As I watched, he went in.

3 Now the winged creatures were standing to the right of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner courtyard.

4 Then the LORD's glory rose from above the winged creatures and moved toward the temple's threshold. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the LORD's glory.

5 The sound of the winged creatures' wings could be heard as far as the outer courtyard. It was like the sound of God Almighty when he speaks.

6 When he instructed the man clothed in linen to take fire from between the winged creatures and their wheels, the man went and stood next to the wheel.

7 Then one of the winged creatures stretched a hand between the winged creatures into the fire that was between them, and he drew out some of it and set it in the palm of the one clothed in linen. He took it and went out.

8 It appeared that the winged creatures had the form of a human hand under their wings.

9 Suddenly, I saw four wheels next to the winged creatures. There was a wheel next to each winged creature, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling topaz.

10 It appeared that there was one shape for all four of them, as if one wheel were inside another.

11 When they moved in any of the four directions, they moved without swerving. Whichever way the leading one faced, they moved in that direction without swerving.

12 Their whole body—backs, hands, and wings—as well as their wheels, all four of them, were covered with eyes all around.

13 It was these wheels that were called "the wheels" in my hearing.

14 Each winged creature had four faces. The first face was that of a winged creature, the second face was that of a human being, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

15 The winged creatures rose up, the same creatures that I had seen at the Chebar River.

16 When the winged creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the winged creatures lifted their wings to ascend above the earth, the wheels remained beside them without swerving.

17 When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose up, they rose up with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

18 Then the LORD's glory went out from above the temple's threshold and it stood over the winged creatures.

19 While I watched, the winged creatures raised their wings and rose from the ground to leave, with their wheels beside them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the temple, and the glory of Israel's God was up above them.

20 These were the same living creatures that I saw underneath Israel's God at the Chebar River, and I realized that they were winged creatures.

21 Each had four faces and four wings, with the form of a human hand under their wings.

22 The forms of their faces were the same faces that I saw at the Chebar River. Their appearance was also the same. All four of them moved straight ahead.

1 A wind lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD's temple. There at the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw that two officials of the people, Jaazaniah, Azzur's son, and Pelatiah, Benaiah's son, were with them.

2 He said to me: Human one, these men devise evil plans and give wicked advice in this city.

3 They are the ones who say, "The nearest relatives aren't building houses. The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat."

4 Therefore, prophesy against them, human one, prophesy!

5 The LORD's spirit took hold of me, and he said to me: Say, This is what the LORD God proclaims: So you have said, house of Israel! But I know what you really mean.

6 You continue to commit murder in this city, and you fill its streets with the slain.

7 Therefore, the LORD God proclaims: The city is the cooking pot, and the ones you have slain in it are the meat. But you will be taken out of it.

8 You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you. This is what the LORD God says!

9 I will lead you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you.

10 You will fall by the sword! At Israel's borders I will judge you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

11 The city won't be your cooking pot, and you won't be the meat in it. At Israel's borders, I will judge you.

12 You will know that I am the LORD, whose regulations you didn't observe and whose case laws you didn't follow. Instead, you followed the case laws of the nations around you.

13 While I was prophesying, Benaiah's son Pelatiah dropped dead. I fell on my face, and I wailed and said, "Oh, LORD God! Are you finishing off even the Israelites who are left?"

14 The LORD's word came to me:

15 Human one, when the people living in Jerusalem said, "They've gone far from the LORD, and we've been given the land as an inheritance," they were talking about your family, your nearest relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of it.

16 Therefore, say, The LORD God proclaims: Even though I made them go far away among the nations and caused them to scatter throughout the earth, I've provided some sanctuary for them in the countries to which they've gone.

17 Therefore, say, The LORD God proclaims: I will gather you from the nations, assemble you from the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you Israel's fertile land.

18 They will enter the land, and they will remove from it all its disgusting and detestable things.

19 I will give them a single heart, and I will put a new spirit in them. I will remove the stony hearts from their bodies and give them hearts of flesh

20 so that they may follow my regulations and carefully observe my case laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

21 As for those whose hearts continue to go after their disgusting and detestable things, I will hold them accountable for their ways. This is what the LORD God says!

22 Then the winged creatures raised their wings. The wheels were next to them, and the glory of Israel's God was above them.

23 The LORD's glory ascended from the middle of the city, and it stopped at the mountain east of the city.

24 And a wind lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea, through a vision with a divine wind. When the vision I had seen left me,

25 I spoke to the exiles about everything the LORD had shown to me.

1 The LORD's word came to me:

2 Human one, you live in a household of rebels. They have eyes to see but they don't see, ears to hear but they don't hear, because they are a household of rebels.

3 But you, human one, prepare a backpack for going into exile. In the daytime while they watch, go into exile; while they watch, go out from your place to another. Even though they are a household of rebels, perhaps they will understand.

4 In the daytime while they watch, carry your backpack as if for exile. At twilight while they watch, go out like those who are led out to exile.

5 While they watch, dig a hole through the wall and take your backpack out through it.

6 While they watch, shoulder your backpack and carry it out in the dark. Cover your face so that you can't see the land, because I'm making you a sign for the house of Israel.

7 So I did as I was commanded. I carried out my backpack like an exile's backpack in the daytime. At night I dug a hole through the wall with my hands. In the darkness, I shouldered my backpack and carried it out while they watched.

8 In the morning, the LORD's word came to me:

9 Human one, has the house of Israel, that household of rebels, asked you, "What are you doing?"

10 Say to them, The LORD God proclaims: This concerns the prince in Jerusalem, along with the entire house of Israel in it.

11 Say: I'm your sign. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into captivity in exile.

12 Their prince will shoulder his backpack at night and go out. They will dig through the wall to lead him out through it, and he will cover his face so that his eyes won't see the land.

13 But I will spread my net over him, catch him in my trap, and bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans. He won't see it, but he will die there.

14 As for all those who are in league with him, I will scatter his helpers and all his troops to the winds and let the sword loose after them.

15 They will know that I am the LORD when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.

16 But I will preserve a few of their number from the sword, famine, and plague, so that they may confess all their detestable practices among the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

17 The LORD's word came to me:

18 Human one, eat your bread in trembling, and drink your water in anxious agitation.

19 Say to the land's people, The LORD God proclaims to those living in Jerusalem regarding Israel's fertile land: As they anxiously eat up their bread and drink up their water in dismay, the land will be emptied of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.

20 The inhabited cities will be laid waste, the land left desolate, and you will know that I am the LORD.

21 The LORD's word came to me:

22 Human one, what is this proverb of your people concerning Israel's fertile land? They say, "The days go by, and every vision vanishes."

23 Therefore, say to them, The LORD God proclaims: I'll put an end to this proverb! It will never again be uttered in Israel. Tell them instead: The days are coming soon for the fulfillment of every vision.

24 Never again will there be any worthless vision or deceptive divination in the house of Israel.

25 I am the LORD! The word that I speak is the word that I will speak! It will happen and be delayed no longer. In your own days, household of rebels, I speak a word and make it happen. This is what the LORD God says!

26 The LORD's word came to me:

27 Human one, the house of Israel is now saying, "The vision that he sees is for distant days; he prophesies about future times."

28 Therefore, say to them, The LORD God proclaims: It will be delayed no longer. Every word of mine that I've spoken is certain, and it will happen. This is what the LORD God says.